The joy of not being useful

[aja8888]

I would add to the joys of not being useful, the joy of not being visible. Its amazing what one an get away with when people don't notice the old guy hanging out by the punch bowl.

I have found out that old guys are invisible to anyone under 40.

 

[aja8888]

I get that. I’m in the same category as the rest of most of you on this forum. But inter generational wealth is a game changer. Right now, for example, I wouldn’t be getting ready soon to go work an overnight shift if I was handed $10 million at age 21 (a topic of another thread) but I’d probably be spending the summer at a beach on the east coast or the UK and having a few drinks and thinking about where to go to dinner or do we eat in?

Generational wealth? I was blessed with generational poverty and did OK. Others here have done the same. Why worry about this stuff? You are wasting your life if you are obsessing over good fortune that didn't fall in your lap at birth.

 

[Walt34]

That’s why saving for one’s retirement, instead of a pension, is such a poor idea as one is not a consumer, and it reduces GDP. And this is why, right out of college, paying someone paltry wages (or out of high school) is a stupid idea.

Because the employer is running a business. And HIS customers are looking for the best value for THEIR dollars. What some college kid is being paid is not not their concern, and to the employer, employees are an expense, and your personal problems with money are not his concern.

Lessee - I can to to the McDonald's in one place and buy my lunch for $7. Or I can go to another place, say Wendy's that pays their employees $30/hour, and buy my lunch for $40.

Really, which place do you think I'm going to go?

 

[MrBojangles]

Because the employer is running a business. And HIS customers are looking for the best value for THEIR dollars. What some college kid is being paid is not not their concern, and to the employer, employees are an expense, and your personal problems with money are not his concern.

Lessee - I can to to the McDonald's in one place and buy my lunch for $7. Or I can go to another place, say Wendy's that pays their employees $30/hour, and buy my lunch for $40.

Really, which place do you think I'm going to go?

I don’t have an answer. It’s called a conundrum. If you have high wages, then the cost of things go up. I wasn’t thinking McDonalds, however. Companies with multi billionaire managers that, presumably, got that wealth because they don’t pay superstars wages…but could. What Bezos paid for a wedding is a tremendous waste and could have gone towards wages.

I brown bag my lunch, contributing even less to GDP.

 

[thod]

I don’t have an answer. It’s called a conundrum. If you have high wages, then the cost of things go up. I wasn’t thinking McDonalds, however. Companies with multi billionaire managers that, presumably, got that wealth because they don’t pay superstars wages…but could. What Bezos paid for a wedding is a tremendous waste and could have gone towards wages.

I brown bag my lunch, contributing even less to GDP.

What Bezos paid for his wedding did go to wages. It went to the caterer's wages, the officiant's wages, the parking attendant's wages, etc.

Whether Bezos chooses to spend his money reinvesting in his company, investing in other companies, or simply consumption does not matter at the macro level. What is important is that the money is being exchanged and/or invested.

 

[aja8888]

What Bezos paid for his wedding did go to wages. It went to the caterer's wages, the officiant's wages, the parking attendant's wages, etc.

Whether Bezos chooses to spend his money reinvesting in his company, investing in other companies, or simply consumption does not matter at the macro level. What is important is that the money is being exchanged and/or invested.

Yes, Bezos was exercising the velocity of money and it was distributed to many companies and individuals. This is better than buying another yacht for himself!

Plus, I am sure he is having fun!

 

[Closet_Gamer]

You all do realize that no matter how much you did when working, no matter how much you saved, others are supporting you now. They grow your food, provide your electricity, water, and sewerage, and if they stopped, you couldn't survive.

So … you’re saying that we’re all still social animals who are members of an integrated society of specialists?

Right. Check.

The whole notion of FIRE is that you produce way more than you consume early in life so that you can consume more than you produce later in life.

By excelling at the former, one can enjoy the latter earlier than most members of society.

My consumption now is delivering resources to people who are producing … and hopefully they are LBYM so they can FIRE as well. Circle of life.

 

[scrabbler1]

When I first switched from working FT to PT back in 2001, I added 2 activities. One was resurrecting an old hobby, and the other was some volunteer work with several area schools.

I enjoyed both activities and was able to expand them when switched from working PT to full ER in 2008. They kept me busy for the next 10 years, and I enjoyed both of them although my enjoyment was declining a bit by 2018.

One activity ended in 2018, and the other (the one with the schools) went away in 2020 when Covid hit. It never returned, but I wasn't upset about that.

So, I retired from my ER activities. Do I care that I am not "useful" like I was before. Not a bit. I have always been a loner at heart, so these activities were never really a natural "fit" with my overall personality.

 

[socca]

... Many of my contemporaries are "waiting for someone to die" and feel great relief (perhaps coupled with some grief) when that happens. I feel a bit sorry that they are in that situation but I understand it happens more often than not. I felt the full grief of my loss and I also felt a great amount of blessing that both of my parents had lives well-lived all the way to the end. I hear comments from my contemporaries like, "it's really going to help them because they really needed the money" or "our plans for a comfortable retirement were miscalculated and we didn't expect our inheritance to come so late in life" and I cringe when I hear comments like this because I know they are truthful. Darn, someone died, someone lost their life and you have the audacity to verbalize something like that? The lack of judgement and theory of mind astounds me. Regardless of how you feel there are certain things that you should keep to yourself in life. Reminds me of King's phrase regarding "content of their character" or something like that. I guess I just have a different view on this. ...

Yep. Not to get off-topic but one of my distant relatives decided that my parent's funeral reception was an excellent time to badger me about the size of my parent's estate so they could better calculate the size of their inheritance. Unbelievable! For those of you who are parents, PLEASE don't raise kids like this!

 

[Calico]

I had to start growing up immediately at the age of 5, due to dysfunctional family dynamics. Between the ages of 5 and 65, I was useful to all and sundry in my family, as well as giving 110% in every work role I held for 48 years.

Now it is my time. I serve just one useful purpose in life, and I intend to continue that pattern for the rest of my days.

My one useful role on this planet is to serve as a can opener and general factotum for my masters (shown below). I provide for their every need, but once that is done, there is not one thing I "have to" do or "should" do. Nope - the days of "should" are over for me. I do what strikes my fancy every day, and it is not of any particular use to anyone else. It is, in fact, perfect - and filled with joy.

 

[jollystomper]

"Useful" can mean many things, and can be in the eye of the beholder. While I may not have a "useful" paid job, I still have friends asking me for retirement or potential retirement advice, and to them (it seems) my advice is useful. In addition, some of my hobby interests seem useful to others - one of my sons friends same my home computing lab, which got him interested in setting up his own, and he has deemed my information on my setup and why I do things certain ways - even if he does not choose to do it in the same way - useful.

I do not offer advice unsolicited. But one the nicest compliments I have ever received was from a young adult in her 20s who said "Mr. Jolly, you don't talk much. But when you do, it always is useful information". Being a "wide old sage" is useful, I think. E.F. Hutton, look out .

 

[imjustawarrior]

I don't think I could find joy in not being useful.

1. A lot of this forum is helping others. That is being useful.
2. I would rather say a kind word to someone who is suffering than turn a cold shoulder.
3. If someone needed help, I would rather help than turn a cold shoulder.

There are many more examples. I would rather live in a world where people care about one another.

I think some of the greatest joy comes from serving others. Do I want to w*rk ever again? Nope! But there are so many ways to be useful apart from w*rk.

 

[Koolau]

I now believe in the idea that every human has inherent worth. You don't have to do anything to prove your worthiness. You don't have to smart or beautiful or talented or rich.

You don't have to be anything. You just have to be.

And never forget. You are unique.



Just like everyone else.

 

[Slim11]

Reminds me of the joke if your a one and a million type of guy/gal , there are 8100 people just like you.

 

[CaptTom]

Darn. This thread keeps popping up in my head, making me ponder big questions.

Like, What can we ever really own or possess in life? Material things, money, all that stuff can be gone in a flash. Or remain elusive our whole lives.

No, the only thing we're really given, the only thing which is truly ours, is the time we're allotted here.

What we do with that time defines us. It is the meaning of the term "living." Life is the sum of our experiences. Lack of experiences is death. We each get to choose how much of that allotted time we spend living, and how much of it we spend not living. Our lives are the sum of the experiences we rack up; how much living we do during our time here.

That doesn't mean we have to be going full-speed all the time. I certainly don't. Relaxing is a legitimate way to spend your time. Especially if it helps to recover from whatever else you just did, or gives you something to look forward to when an activity is done. Still, to me, setting the goal of doing nothing is sort of like setting the goal of not living.

 

[MrBojangles]

There was a great Bloom County comic strip from decades ago that showed a pimply faced Bill Gates on the bridge of his super yacht and Bill the Cat or some other character reveals to him that he doesn’t actually own anything, including his super yacht, he’s just borrowing it for the time he’s on the planet, and he has a heart attack. I’d like to find it, or can any of you find it?

 

[lionfire]

After being "useful" to a faceless entity for 25+ years, I was tossed aside as "not useful anymore"... kicking start my retirement.

Now I try to be useful to me and my family, and that's it.

 

[CaptTom]

After being "useful" to a faceless entity for 25+ years, I was tossed aside as "not useful anymore"... kicking start my retirement.

Now I try to be useful to me and my family, and that's it.

This is the real tragedy of our times. The only loyalty any corporation has any more is to the stockholders. Not to the employees, customers, suppliers or society in general. There's something drastically broken here. The definition of a "company" is a collection of people working toward a common goal. Not just a tool for enriching investors.

And yes, being useful to family is a worthy goal. But so is being useful to friends, to community, to humanity. To somehow believe that in some small way, the world is a better place because we were here. That's gotta be worth something.