too young to retire

[Nemo2]

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Originally Posted by Midpack No one should retire solely because they can afford to IMO despite what some anonymous strangers (here) might say. What works for others, may not for you.

Quite so....especially for those whose identity revolves around their work.

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Originally Posted by Midpack . I wasn’t going to hang out regularly with 70-80 year olds, many physically limited. Some people like solitary, so people don’t..

Again, true - my late wife & I, and now DW & I, hang out together; we don't socialize, per se, (friends we have are scattered around and generally long term but we don't see them often).

We're cordial/sociable with people but that's generally as far as it's taken.

Basically, if you're not autonomous....keep working.

[Teacher Terry]

I retired at 58 and within 7 months was teaching a online college class. I love doing it and it occupies some of my time. My friends are younger so still working. My husband is retired. I would be lonely if not for him. We are very social and invite people for dinner often.

[Dtail]

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Originally Posted by Andre1969 I think there's a bit of false equivalency, or whatever they call it, going on. A lot of men who retire early DO fall ill, and die at a young age. But, what they tend to forget, is why those men retired. Often, they were in physically stressful, demanding jobs that simply took their toll and wore their bodies out. Or they had other health conditions. In these cases, they retired at a fairly young age because of health problems, not necessarily because they wanted to, and there's a good chance they would have died young whether they retired early or not.

Well stated.
Retirement is also a lot more fun than work.

[Bryan Barnfellow]

One of the healthiest things I did when I retired (at 59) was to sleep more! I no longer am yawning in the mid-afternoon, like I did nearly every day at work.

I think back at my mid-afternoon meetings at work and realize that almost every person was yawning and looking exhausted. Sleeping appropriately (8-9 hours) has been a miracle for me and I don't think I could have added this healthy habit when I was working full time.

-BB

[Dd852]

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Originally Posted by braumeister Actually, you should care. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to many health problems, and it's easy to fix. Lots of good foods contain significant Vitamin D, and a little extra time in the sunshine can do wonders.

Thanks. My problem with sunshine is I’m a very white red head and I’m basically not only susceptible to burn but I also have an allergic reaction to too much sun. So I’m sure I’ve caused my own deficiency by slathering on sunscreen and wearing a hat but the alternative does seem worse. So I’m taking V-d supplements .... we shall see!

[HadEnuff]

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Originally Posted by Dd852 Thanks. My problem with sunshine is I’m a very white red head and I’m basically not only susceptible to burn but I also have an allergic reaction to too much sun. So I’m sure I’ve caused my own deficiency by slathering on sunscreen and wearing a hat but the alternative does seem worse. So I’m taking V-d supplements .... we shall see!

the good news is that redheads produce Vitamin D more efficiently than darker skinned people, which makes me wonder if when they measure your Vitamin D level, if they take skin type into account, or are they comparing your level to the same baseline they'd use to evaluate mine ( dark skin Sicilian/Mediterranean type).

[Dalmore]

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Originally Posted by Midpack I retired at 57, and I have mixed feelings (non financial) about it. Most of your peers and maybe all your friends will be at work all day Mon-Fri. Are you ready to be alone that much, or hang out with retirees much older than you are. It’s not that I didn’t know going in, but it’s not easy to get used to. I wasn’t going to hang out regularly with 70-80 year olds, many physically limited. Some people like solitary, so people don’t. Best of luck with your decision. You’re the only one who can decide what’s best for you.

I don't intend to fall into the sedentary lifestyle trap. I have worked from home for the last 5 years when I haven't been traveling (upto 50% per month) and plan on getting out and being less house bound.

Having spent much of our careers working 50+ hours a week, most of our social circles have dried up due to lack of attention. DW is my best friend and we are planning to retire together which is the only reason I haven't already pulled the plug. I am looking forward to spending most of my time with someone I really want to spend time with, rather than work friends who are often the ones I can tolerate the most.

[Andre1969]

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Originally Posted by Midpack I retired at 57, and I have mixed feelings (non financial) about it. Most of your peers and maybe all your friends will be at work all day Mon-Fri. Are you ready to be alone that much, or hang out with retirees much older than you are. It’s not that I didn’t know going in, but it’s not easy to get used to. I wasn’t going to hang out regularly with 70-80 year olds, many physically limited. Some people like solitary, so people don’t.

My grandmother's cousin ran into sort of the reverse of this problem, as she got older. She started feeling lonely, because most people in her age group were either dead, of limited mobility, or simply becoming recluses, and she was still pretty energetic. She quit going to the local senior citizens' meetings, because she said it was like hanging out with her kids.

I never really thought about it when I was younger. When you're in your 20's, I guess, everybody above a certain age just seems "old" and it's easy to lump them together. But, once you get there, there's a pretty big difference between, say, a 60 year old and an 80 year old.

She's 95 now, and the last one alive, of her generation in my family. Just sold her single-family home over the summer, which had a swimming pool, and was always the go-to place for parties, cookouts, etc. Now she's in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment, and hating it with a passion.

Now that I think about it, she was about 56 or 57 when she retired. She was sort of forced out, of the federal government, when they were playing politics and favoritism in her department. Basically had the choice of retire early, or get fired. Whenever I'd talk about wanting to retire early, she'd always try to talk me out of it, and say to work as long as I can. Her main regrets, though, were that money got tight as she got older...mostly because she was constantly bailing her family members out, and letting them leech off of her.

[cooch96]

You sound hale and healthy to me. I’d avoid the doctor until you notice something specific you need checked out. That may not be the best advice, but I’m pretty prickly about receiving cookie-cutter, hackneyed lectures.

[braumeister]

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Originally Posted by cooch96 You sound hale and healthy to me. I’d avoid the doctor until you notice something specific you need checked out. That may not be the best advice, but I’m pretty prickly about receiving cookie-cutter, hackneyed lectures.

Might be better to say just avoid that particular doctor.

[COcheesehead]

I’ll play the devil’s advocate. If you eat healthy and exercise regularly, how do get to be 10-20lbs overweight? The wine and heart attack comment doesn’t make sense either. Are you sure you understood the doctor completely. Do you have a printout of your blood numbers that you can use to research independently? I would guess there is more to the story than a bad doctor.

[Teacher Terry]

My best friend’s mom is 85 and in excellent health. She takes no medication and exercises regularly. Her husband died and I have been helping her with all the paperwork. It’s really just emotional support and a 2 heads are better than one situation. We have become friends and shop, exercise and go to lunch sometimes. It doesn’t matter that she is 20 years older than me but she is unusually healthy for her age.

[Sojourner]

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Originally Posted by COcheesehead I’ll play the devil’s advocate. If you eat healthy and exercise regularly, how do get to be 10-20lbs overweight? The wine and heart attack comment doesn’t make sense either. Are you sure you understood the doctor completely. Do you have a printout of your blood numbers that you can use to research independently? I would guess there is more to the story than a bad doctor.

I was going to say essentially the same thing. Being 15 pounds overweight, having high cholesterol, and drinking 14 glasses of wine per week are indicators of current and potential/future health problems. Having said that, I would certainly not be quick to begin a statin regimen without first trying lifestyle modifications, such as intermittent fasting. And cut down the drinking to no more than 8 glasses of wine per week.

[RAE]

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Originally Posted by braumeister How old is your doctor? Sounds like he is going by some older guidelines that have been called into question for quite some time now.

+1. I would fire your doctor and find a new one. His advice is terrible all-around. He needs to read some of the literature from the last 10-15 years on cholesterol, saturated fat, etc.. Two glasses of wine with dinner is fine (actually good for the heart). And go ahead and retire early if you want to........my health improved greatly after I retired, and had more time to exercise and cook healthy meals using real food.

[RAE]

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Originally Posted by Sojourner I was going to say essentially the same thing. Being 15 pounds overweight, having high cholesterol, and drinking 14 glasses of wine per week are indicators of current and potential/future health problems. Having said that, I would certainly not be quick to begin a statin regimen without first trying lifestyle modifications, such as intermittent fasting. And cut down the drinking to no more than 8 glasses of wine per week.

I have to respectfully disagree. While it would be good to lose the 15 lbs., drinking 14 glasses of wine per week is not going to hurt you. And cholesterol is a pretty worthless indicator of heart disease risk........at least 50% of people that have major heart attacks have normal cholesterol. I would ignore cholesterol and look at the triglyceride/HDL ratio - if it is below 2.0, you're fairly low risk for heart disease; if it's below 1.0, you are very low risk. The OP should be able to lose the 15 lbs. (and improve his trig/HDL ratio) by eating a lower-carb diet for a while. He says he already eats mostly real foods, so I'm guessing he would not find it very difficult to just lower his carb consumption slightly (while continuing to consume healthy fats, meat/fish, and veggies), to see if that helps lose the weight. My guess is that it will.

[Sojourner]

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Originally Posted by RAE I have to respectfully disagree. While it would be good to lose the 15 lbs., drinking 14 glasses of wine per week is not going to hurt you. And cholesterol is a pretty worthless indicator of heart disease risk........at least 50% of people that have major heart attacks have normal cholesterol. I would ignore cholesterol and look at the triglyceride/HDL ratio - if it is below 2.0, you're fairly low risk for heart disease; if it's below 1.0, you are very low risk. The OP should be able to lose the 15 lbs. (and improve his trig/HDL ratio) by eating a lower-carb diet for a while. He says he already eats mostly real foods, so I'm guessing he would not find it very difficult to just lower his carb consumption slightly (while continuing to consume healthy fats, meat/fish, and veggies), to see if that helps lose the weight. My guess is that it will.

Although I generally agree with most of this, consuming 14 glasses of wine each week is at the borderline for "at risk / heavy" drinking and could be an indication of alcohol use disorder. It also could lead to something like fatty liver disease over time. I suspect most doctors would advise OP to cut back on his drinking somewhat.

[Dalmore]

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Originally Posted by COcheesehead I’ll play the devil’s advocate. If you eat healthy and exercise regularly, how do get to be 10-20lbs overweight? The wine and heart attack comment doesn’t make sense either. Are you sure you understood the doctor completely. Do you have a printout of your blood numbers that you can use to research independently? I would guess there is more to the story than a bad doctor.

How? Calories in vs calories out. Eating real food is not the cure-all of being overweight. Portion control, wine, metabolism, etc all play a factor. Dr. was concerned that 2 glasses a day will affect my blood pressure for which I am high normal (130/80).

Don't have the blood work yet, doing that next week.

[Dalmore]

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Originally Posted by Sojourner Although I generally agree with most of this, consuming 14 glasses of wine each week is at the borderline for "at risk / heavy" drinking and could be an indication of alcohol use disorder. It also could lead to something like fatty liver disease over time. I suspect most doctors would advise OP to cut back on his drinking somewhat.

If it were 14 glasses of wine each week on Saturday, I might agree with you.

[RAE]

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Originally Posted by Sojourner Although I generally agree with most of this, consuming 14 glasses of wine each week is at the borderline for "at risk / heavy" drinking and could be an indication of alcohol use disorder. It also could lead to something like fatty liver disease over time. I suspect most doctors would advise OP to cut back on his drinking somewhat.

If the doctor were up on the latest research/recommendations (which is up to 1 glass of wine daily for women; 2 glasses for men), he/she would have said that 2 glasses daily is okay, but don't go too much higher than that. I highly doubt that consuming 2 glasses of wine daily would lead to fatty liver disease. Wine consumption (especially red wine) has all kinds of health benefits, not limited to protecting cardiovascular health. Here is one fairly recent paper about that:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6165230/

[COcheesehead]

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Originally Posted by Dalmore How? Calories in vs calories out. Eating real food is not the cure-all of being overweight. Portion control, wine, metabolism, etc all play a factor. Dr. was concerned that 2 glasses a day will affect my blood pressure for which I am high normal (130/80). Don't have the blood work yet, doing that next week.

I think you probably don’t exercise as much as you think then. 10 to 20lbs overweight is a lot.