Retirement rant

I am of the age where retirement news and information is repeatedly thrust at me.  So the topic is often in my thoughts.

Recently, I overheard a woman saying "I'm not unemployed.  I worked for 20 years.  I'm retired."

Working doesn't entitle you to retirement.  Saving enough money entitles you to retirement.

If you've got enough money to retire, great.  If you can't live on your Social Security (which you paid into so it's not an entitlement) and your pensions, then you have to keep working.

Simple as that.

When did retirement become the goal?  People didn't always expect to retire.  In many places, they still don't.  Work is what you do to survive. Or it's what you do to keep active and engaged.

My mother complained about being bored. I suggested she find a part-time job.

She was aghast.  "I'm 70 years old.  I deserve to not work."

Not if being retired is boring.

Not if you can use the money to support your activities, hobbies, charities.

Not if you can't afford it.

Not if you would miss the conversation, interaction, mental stimulation of work.

Retirement is an option, not a requirement.

When did working into your 70's and 80's become so newsworthy?  When Joan Rivers died, a fuss was made over the fact that she still worked.  She loved her job.  Why should she quit?

Betty White is 93 and still working.  Bob Newhart is 86 and still working.  When I started with my current company, one of the developers working there was 78.

People talk about When I retire, I'll do this.  I'll do that.  There is no guarantee that you will be able to do all the things you plan after you stop working.  Your health or finances may prevent it.  If it's important to you, do it now.

I've realized that if I retired I would spend time with the dogs, Bogie and I would visit the hospital, I would read, work on stained glass, putter in the garden, watch movies.

All of which I do now.  Work is my stimulation, the place I get my intellectual challenges.

Maybe it's different because I like my job.  I can understand why people would want to leave a job they hate.

Even so, retirement is something you have to plan for.  It's not something you are entitled to.  It's also not something you are required to do.  Work if you want.  Retire if you can afford it.

Maybe I don't want to retire

I just turned 60.  Since I turned 55, internet ads, spam, and snail mail have been full of tips about how to retire.  And I had generally expected that one day I would be able to retire.  Not for a while, but eventually.

I didn't consider whether I actually wanted to retire.  When Joan Rivers died, lots of attention was given to the fact that at 81 she was as busy as ever.  She had no desire to retire when she was already doing what she loved.

Retirement started out as a way to get old employees who could no longer handle the physical labor to get out of the way of new and younger employees.

Well, I work with my mind.  As long as I can think and can type, I'm good.   And when I started with the company, they had a 78-year-old developer.  Obviously, the company isn't averse to older employees.

I sat down to consider what I would gain if I retired?  What do I want to do when I retire?

Read?  I do that now.  I could read more, but I already read a book a week.

Travel?  I could do that now.  I don't because I don't like to leave my fur babies behind.  So logically, travel isn't that important to me.

Sleep in?  I can set my own hours now.  I don't sleep in because I don't like the later morning traffic.

Volunteer?  Sure, I could do more, but Bogie and I volunteer now.

So far, there isn't an overriding reason to retire.

What would I lose if I retired?  Well, income, of course.  But more importantly, the interaction with people and the challenges that keep my mind sharp.  I look forward to my weekends because they are different than my weekdays.

For now, I think my focus isn't going to be on retirement.  It's going to be on enjoying my job for as long as I can.

Update -
Apparently I'm not the only one not hurrying to retirement.  Washington Post