Suze Orman – A Wet Blanket on FIRE

[marko]

Ever had a teacher who you still look up to? What about a pastor? A mentor at work?

Isn't that more about how they helped you/made you feel rather than their job title or status?

I truly find it hard to believe that 'most people do care' about what I did for a job.

My job had a lot of responsibility and paid exceptionally well with tons of bennies. A very few may have found it interesting but 'care'?

 

[bclover]

I am not in total disagreement with you, but people most certainly "do care" about what you do.

.

When I was still in Atlanta (we have recently moved) most of the folks that I associated with knew of my retirement status, so the "what do you do" question didn't really come up that much. However, now that we are moved and busy figuring out what we are doing home buying/building wise, I have had to meet a LOT of new people and when the question of "what do you do" comes up, I really cringe. Sure, it shouldn't bother me, but I don't want to lie but I don't want the awkwardness of the truth, either. I know I am rambling, but I just wanted to make the point that identity can be a tough thing when society puts a VERY HIGH value on your vocation.

I'll disagree with a caveat, hopefully by the time you get to retirement you've gain a lot of common sense and you realize that the people who care what you do are usually morons.

The people I know who are like that all work in Washington DC and use it as a tool to "name drop". I prefer if they stayed in DC.

Anyhoo,
I had a young manager name Jarnigin. lol horrible boss. we called him "wrong again Jarnigin".
He got laid off from the company during the 2008 and the only work he could was entry level. He took his life 6 months after. That was my eye opener and immediately told my kids that no one is impressed by what you do or where you went to school, so do not identify yourself by your school or your profession.

lol, I got my doctorate in Chemistry and when people ask what I do I tell them I bake.

 

[bclover]

Isn't that more about how they helped you/made you feel rather than their job title or status?

I truly find it hard to believe that 'most people do care' about what I did for a job.

My job had a lot of responsibility and paid exceptionally well with tons of bennies. A very few may have found it interesting but 'care'?

no one gives a crap. I agree.

 

[bclover]

It's not just Suze that's giving questionable advice. I watched Ed Schott on PBS yesterday while putzing in the kitchen. He was plugging his stuff while participating in PBS fundraising. According to Ed, ONLY a Roth IRA is suitable. Period. And, you NEED an annuity. Absolutely MUST have one.

The next goobnob was pontificating about a healthy diet and how the medical community had it all back asswards. Based on the sage advice of Suze and Ed, I had to ask myself if this dietary gasbag was just as wrong.

I wish Ed had stuck with the tax stuff. lol, I saw his PBS special, why is it that every women in the audience is an 80 year old white woman with glasses and white hair. Seriously like 90% of them had white hair. it was weird.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Suzy Orman is a wet blanket on life.

lol, I watched an episode of her show where she berated an 8 year old little girl for wanting to spend her birthday money on an American girl doll.

Jeez lady, if an 8 year old can't have a little fun then we're all doomed.

Never have I seen a supposed financial guru who looks at life as one long tragedy waiting to happen.

I remember like it was yesterday...1982. I was 8 years old and wanted an Atari 2600 so badly I could taste it. My Mom told me that is was a very expensive purchase and would take almost 50% of my savings to purchase it. I was on an allowance, but it had taken quite a long time to save that $100. But, I persisted in my wants and eventually Mom took me to get that oh so fancy game console, and it WAS AWESOME....well, for about a week. Then I had buyers regret and wished I had my $50 back. It was a very good lesson to learn.

I'll disagree with a caveat, hopefully by the time you get to retirement you've gain a lot of common sense and you realize that the people who care what you do are usually morons.

Not sure if you were responding directly to me, but I am already retired and was expressing what I have experienced being retired and my "identity". As I mentioned, when meeting people for the first time, "what I do" comes up almost 100% of the time...that's a LOT of morons!

 

[HFWR]

The first layoff: Here are my computer files, lab notebooks, etc., including project data used for patent filings.
Megaconglomocorp: Meh...

Second layoff: Delete all files, throw lab notebooks in the circular file...

Wasn’t important then, not important now...

 

[Andre1969]

I remember like it was yesterday...1982. I was 8 years old and wanted an Atari 2600 so badly I could taste it. My Mom told me that is was a very expensive purchase and would take almost 50% of my savings to purchase it. I was on an allowance, but it had taken quite a long time to save that $100. But, I persisted in my wants and eventually Mom took me to get that oh so fancy game console, and it WAS AWESOME....well, for about a week. Then I had buyers regret and wished I had my $50 back. It was a very good lesson to learn.

Shoulda spent a few more bucks and gotten the Intellivision! My Mom got me one for my 12th birthday in April, 1982. I played it until the hand controller circuitry fried. My stepdad got it fixed for me, for my 13th birthday, I think, but it fried again. By Christmas of '83, video game prices were crashing, thanks partly to a glut of them, and my grandparents bought me an Intellivision II for Christmas. It was basically an Intellivision, just less 70's looking, and with controllers that weren't hard-wired so they were easier to replace when they fried.


Looking back though, that stuff wasn't exactly cheap. I think the original Intellivision was around $229, while the II was about $80. Games were around $25-35 apiece, although I think by 1985 they were very cheap. I still have all that stuff, with probably about 35-40 games. Some were gifts, some I bought myself, but I'd say there was easily $1200-1500 tied up in that system, total. Still, it was fun, and I still get a bit nostalgic for it sometimes. I don't think I've played any of it in about 10 years, though.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Ever had a teacher who you still look up to? What about a pastor? A mentor at work?

Of course, I think everyone does. I look up to them for what they did as people and would regardless of their former occupation.

I go fishing often with a retired Pastor and Physician. All my life I address these professionals by their title. Both of these gentlemen insist on being called by their first names. They both say that it's not their identity anymore and they want to be regular guys now.

I also know a retired chiropractor who insists on being called Doctor at all times, even by waiters & waitresses...….I don't go fishing with him.

 

[GravitySucks]

What do I do?
Travel alot.
The newly met person usually enjoys my yarns about travel more than people enjoyed my adventures in UNIX Admin and Systems Planning stories.

 

[Retch The Grate]

Looking back though, that stuff wasn't exactly cheap. I think the original Intellivision was around $229, while the II was about $80. Games were around $25-35 apiece, although I think by 1985 they were very cheap. I still have all that stuff, with probably about 35-40 games. Some were gifts, some I bought myself, but I'd say there was easily $1200-1500 tied up in that system, total. Still, it was fun, and I still get a bit nostalgic for it sometimes. I don't think I've played any of it in about 10 years, though.

With inflation it was definitely not cheap. I have a closet full of first gen consoles and games that I picked up at flea markets and garage sales in the mid 90s. That actually was super cheap.

 

[HI Bill]

I usually start conversations with strangers with "what do you do", "what's your major", or "what did you do"? For me, it's a quick way of finding out a little about a person, and getting them to talk about themselves, their interests, etc. I asked one guy recently, and he reluctantly said "I make windows". Then (without judging), I asked what type, and how he made them. Just gives me talking points, and lets me see if we might have some common interests.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I asked someone what he did once in an effort to make chitchat and he was insulted and attacked me—he said I asked that only to determine how well off he might be. It was at church—just the place I like to go to, to figure out random strangers’ net worth.

 

[HI Bill]

I asked someone what he did once in an effort to make chitchat and he was insulted and attacked me—he said I asked that only to determine how well off he might be. It was at church—just the place I like to go to, to figure out random strangers’ net worth.

He he! Well, I've learned long ago that learning how much someone makes by learning their profession, and learning how much they're worth are two entirely different things! I know a 62-year old doctor living in a $2M house that's planning to work till 78 to pay it off, despite a government pension paying 87% of his former salary. As we know here, it's not about how much you make, it's about how much you save and invest!

 

[mh]

I experienced this when interviewing a builder. He asked what "I did" and I gave him a very plain, general "finance" answer. He wanted more details and kept asking me some very specific questions. It was uncomfortable for me and the more I tried to deflect, the more he would ask.

I suspect he was trying to figure out if you had the means to pay him.

 

[clifp]

I'll disagree with a caveat, hopefully by the time you get to retirement you've gain a lot of common sense and you realize that the people who care what you do are usually morons.


lol, I got my doctorate in Chemistry and when people ask what I do I tell them I bake.

I'm always interested in what people do or did, but I don't care. I find that as you get older the judging does decrease.

Ok, I have to ask do Chemistry PHd affect your baking.

The reason I ask is I often see in the recipe and especially YouTube cooking, I see something like "by gentle apply heat to such and such it releases the chemical bonds and makes it tastes, sweeter or removes bitterness.

And I'm always thinking to myself to these people really know what they are talking about. Did they really look up the chemical formulas for the food and figure this out, or are they just make stuff up?

 

[StillHacking]

"lol, I got my doctorate in Chemistry and when people ask what I do I tell them I bake."

This is golden!

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Did anybody else see the episode of Taxi when Elaine asked Alex to go to a party with her with a bunch of swell people, and she insisted that he didn't tell anyone that he was a cab driver ? He agreed, and he told people that he fought oil well fires. He was the most popular guy at the party. All the well-to-does were trying to talk to him and get his attention.

He wasn't ashamed to be a cab driver and later Elaine apologized for making him lie.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Our worst day at an art museum has always been better than our best day at work. I have wanted to retire since I was five and had to start kindergarten.

 

[brett]

I watched Suzie Orman once on TV for about ten minutes.

That was enough. Changed the dial and have avoided her ever since.

It is the kind of show that almost, but not quite, makes you want to turn off the TV and volunteer to do the vacuuming or wash the windows.

 

[joeea]

Ever had a teacher who you still look up to? What about a pastor? A mentor at work?

Yes! No. Yes!

 

[BeachOrCity]

Over 20 years ago I traveled to Australia. There they ask “what do you like to do”?

Totally different question and a great inference to how this is about culture.

I would suggest when people ask you what you do you answer with what you like to do. Then ask them what THEY like to do and every time they deflect to work deflect back to their actual interests.

It’s a great way to see if you actually have something in common with people and let people know in a reasonable polite way that you are not defined by work and won’t be.

 

[Milton]

I am not in total disagreement with you, but people most certainly "do care" about what you do.... For the most part, when you meet new people, the odds of them asking you "what do you do?" is about 100%.

For most people, it's just a way of making small talk. I wouldn't infer that such people are necessarily fascinated by your occupation, or planning to judge you for no longer being in paid employment.

Over 20 years ago I traveled to Australia. There they ask “what do you like to do”?

This is a classier version of the "what do you do" line. And discussing someone's hobbies and passions is almost certainly going to be more interesting than hearing about how they earn a crust.

Ever had a teacher who you still look up to? What about a pastor? A mentor at work?

Respectively: Yes. Hell no! Yes.

As Marko and Stormy Kromer have pointed out, my ongoing respect for various people who have played important positive roles in my life is based upon their characters rather than admiration of their formal titles or occupational status.

 

[youbet]

Probably somewhere in between the retire forward and retire back extremes is where most of us fall. At some point we might stop needing achievement and purpose to define us and just enjoy letting life flow around us.

Yeah, hanging around da house unshaven and still in my jammies at noon is really "life flowing around me!" For a "sense of achievement," I try to get dressed and have lunch on the table by the time DW comes home from the health club at 1:00 PM. My level of contribution to society cannot be overstated!

 

[Milton]

I have two friends, one of them 26 and the other 45 or so, who have been out of work for a bit now. I don't know that they tie up their identity in their job so much, but they both say the fact that they don't feel like they're contributing to society is weighing hard on them.

Point One: If they feel that they are not contributing to society, they might consider volunteering. There are plenty of worthwhile causes that can benefit from their unpaid work, and it will build their self esteem (and look better on a cv than nothing at all, should they choose to pursue paid work).

I should expressly acknowledge that, due to various screening and training requirements, it often takes longer to start a volunteer position than a paying job. That can be a bit frustrating, but in the grand scheme of things it's not a big deal.

Point Two: as we go through life, it becomes increasingly apparent to most of us that there is a lot of unproductive 'busy work' going on out there. Relatively few occupations provide all that much opportunity to make a positive contribution to society.

 

[youbet]

Over 20 years ago I traveled to Australia. There they ask “what do you like to do”?

Totally different question and a great inference to how this is about culture.

.

Interesting how we, as individuals, sometimes do this to ourselves. We all have the choice of prioritizing our personal values and living the life we choose, within our capabilities and the laws of the land, but so many fall into the line of lemmings and march off the cliff.

I didn't. I suspect there are others here that stepped out of line too.