What to Do When You Can’t Retire

[Liberal_in_LA]

Posted November 18, 2010

What to Do When You Can’t Retire

By Jeanine Skowronski

Tip 6 or 7
change your perspective

Recent studies indicate that retirement may not be all it’s cracked up to be. Consider this study published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives that found that the sooner you retire, the sooner your memory and cognitive abilities begin to decline. An Ameriprise survey released last month also found that retirees these days are less likely to feel as if they are living out the golden years of their dreams. It also found that fewer Americans are using age to determine when they retire.

“We’re seeing that a lot of people actually quit and then contract back,” Brimmhall says, explaining that many people who can retire often don’t due to financial anxieties, fear of health care costs or even a personal desire to stay in the workforce. “People these days understand longevity. They say to themselves, ‘I’m not going to just golf the whole time.’”

Brimhall suggests would-be retirees adopt the same type of attitude. “Retirement is a 20th century phenomenon,” he says. “These days, many people are starting to rethink it.”

http://www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/retirement/what-do-when-you-can-t-retire?cm_ven=msnetzero

[lob1]

1. No worries. The Catfood Commission will fix that.

[Hannah Bell]

2. this article is bs.

"this study published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives that found that the sooner you retire, the sooner your memory and cognitive abilities begin to decline"

bs: they found the entirely predictable result: early retirees tend to be sicker.

[Monique1]

3. I'm retired and love - but I keep

my mind busy. I'm active and mobile - I play thinking games and planning events etc. I am 68 and don't take any medications. Maybe medications is the answer for seniors - stay away from them. My mother did - she lived until 88 and she died in peace.

[laughingliberal]

10. Yes. Guess it didn't occur to them some people retire when those abilities start to diminish. nt

[liberal N proud]

4. Personally, I hope to be working at something well into my 80's

But I had always hoped it would be doing charity or volunteer work and at a leisurely pace.

But the elite are making sure that I will "need" to work until I die just to eat.

[Zenlitened]

5. Sounds like an effort at social conditioning.

Now that the prospect of a comfortable retirement has been snatched away, watch for more experts cheerily helping us convince ourselves that we never really wanted to retire anyway.

[Nay]

7. Yep. Let's spend our WHOLE lives at one crappy workplace or

another, and be cheerful about it, too. Meanwhile, the fatcats make money off us and retire at 45.

[laughingliberal]

11. +1000 nt

[Nay]

6. Oh, goody. Another article about working until you drop dead. There

has been a lot of these articles and, frankly, I'm sick of seeing them. I've worked since I was 15, worked 2 jobs to put myself thru college, then worked all my life except for about three years when the kid was little. I'll be DAMNED if I am going to work a day after I'm 62. Even though I have no medical issues, I can sure tell, at age 59, that physical limitations are going to be coming up. I am NOT going to spend my whole life making other people rich -- and God knows the jobs most people have aren't worth spending 40 hours a week at. I know mine isn't. I can hardly wait to retire. I have a 3-yr calendar and I'm marking the months.

And yes, the poster above is right -- the study that says people who retire earlier decline faster may have a terrible flaw unless it controls for people who are retiring early BECAUSE they are declining.

Just the thought of being able to wake up every day and not be forced to go to a workplace practically makes me swoon.

[onethatcares]

19. hey, I'll race you to the ss office

I'll be 60 next year and am just chompin at the bit to get out of the race. I gotta talk the wife into selling the too big house and buying a doublewide somewhere that can house us and the dogs.

I have some hobbies that I would like to pursue again without having to clock in each morning/

May your hopes come true.:hi:

[Nay]

21. I have to talk my husband into selling the too-big house, too. I'm

sick of cleaning it, and when I don't clean (no, he doesn't do that stuff) I can't stand the dirt and mess. So I want a doublewide as well. Small, not enough room to keep a bunch of shit, and with an outbuilding so he can put all his junk out there.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. Sort of depends what is meany by retirement

We retired to teaching. When my wife was ill, I could afford to stop, so I did. Afterwards I focused on getting on with a university. I get retirement checks and survivor benefits, but I also get a meager state paycheck. Teaching keeps me active and alive.

[wo ooo]

9. heh

i'd link the George Carlin "now they're after your retirement" video, but i'm too lazy

[laughingliberal]

12. "Retirement is a 20th century phenomenon,"

Yes, they're furiously building that bridge right back to the 19th century.

[regnaD kciN]

14. Yep, and what kind of jobs do you think will be available...

...for 70- and 80-year-olds, even if they're physically and mentally able to work? Get ready to spend your golden years saying "Do you want fries with that?" and "Welcome to WalMart." :puke:

[Kat45]

15. Exactly. I'm 55 and I've been looking for a job for 2 years.

Haven't found anything but temporary things like Census work.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

16. The greeter lady at Walmart

Was sitting there in a chair with a cane. I'm not sure she was very able-bodied.

Work the peons until they drop!!

I was working retail, on my feet all day, and started getting serious leg swelling at age 45.

:banghead:

[femmocrat]

13. If we have to work forever, where will the younger workers find jobs?

This is just crazy. I would happily retire (if I could) and a recent graduate, full of youthful enthusiasm, would probably do a much better job. I'm burned out and worn out. Don't "they" get that?

Many older workers have health problems and physical limitations. Just let us retire with dignity already!

[Hannah Bell]

17. not to mention that workers in a single region in china can *already* turn out a quarter of the

world's goods. Thirty percent of plant & equipment in the world is sitting idle because they can't get rid of the production they're already turning out.

what is the *point* in making people work to 70 or 80 WHEN THEIR WORK ISN'T NEEDED?

driving down wages & killing people off before their time is the only point.

[crazyjoe]

18. if you do something you love to do, it's not really work.

and i don't think you would necessarily want to stop because you hit some pre-determined age. Everyone is different.

[B Calm]

20. I love to go fishing, but if it was a job I would hate it!