retirement eh
- Thread starter Nuggler
- Start date
"I hope to go to Africa and make myself useful."
How the bubble did that get in there? You don't retire to wander off to join some do-gooder crusade.
Actually, the thing that interests me most is the labour shortage conundrum. We often hear of this and have for years. Little ever comes of it. The great teacher shortage predicted for Ontario never arrived. The great trades shortage in Alberta doesn't seem large enough to hire all the locals.
A labour shortage would be a boon for retirees. They could actually begin to make a few demands in critical areas like working hours, compensation and benefits. May it come! Just don't hold your breath.
How the bubble did that get in there? You don't retire to wander off to join some do-gooder crusade.
Actually, the thing that interests me most is the labour shortage conundrum. We often hear of this and have for years. Little ever comes of it. The great teacher shortage predicted for Ontario never arrived. The great trades shortage in Alberta doesn't seem large enough to hire all the locals.
A labour shortage would be a boon for retirees. They could actually begin to make a few demands in critical areas like working hours, compensation and benefits. May it come! Just don't hold your breath.
I've a friend who did that for a couple of years. Swazliland I think it was. Most of the kids had never seen a white person before and were very interested in the way their hair felt. He went with his girlfriend.
They helped build a school, dug a well and helped design and implement an irrigation system.
One of my favorite letters from them was telling me about how they taught the kids how to make peanut butter. None of the kids ever had that before and they had great fun tasting it and so on.
I guess for a month or so their king or chief got mad about something and everything stopped. No work nothing, people just stayed home and wouldn't work. Then like that, it was over and everyone carried on as if nothing had happened.
Very rewarding work if you can stand the isolation and lack of everything.
Best of luck with that if you decide to go for it.
I've been retired for almost ten years now; my wife, one year less. When I first retired I was concerned as hell about going on a mostly fixed income and being at the mercy of gouging oil companies and dough-headed politicians. I needn't have worried. Our net worth has actually climbed since we retired. We might go to Africa if we can decide which country on that continent is not totally involved in shooting each other, but not as do-gooders.....maybe a camera safari. Not to worry, we still have at least a couple of trips planned within our own country.
Juan, sounds like you've found your little bit of heaven. That's good! I'm supposed to be retired but I'm not. I've gotten into a new business and it's going great. I just don't want my time dominated as much as it's becoming. I enjoy the work and love the people but I was supposed to be doing other things and I'm not. That's the way she goes... And my den is full of books I've collected and I'm not reading them. Just keeping up on the dailies and other fluff always coming my way. But I sleep well at night and always have something to wake up for. Each to his own, I guess.
Tamarin, I've seen too many people bite the dust soon after retirement or shortly before. I retired at 56 and haven't looked back. A couple of my older sibblings were awaiting the magical age of sixty five when they died. I can see that retirement is not for everyone but if I had any advice for those who want to retire, it would be to do it as soon as you are able.
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"have worked all their lives, paid a fortune in taxes, and are entitled to a few years beyond the reach of the daily grind."
Yet, we are not as productive as other countries, take alot of sick leave, vacations etc etc. Should we tax their retirement funds to make it fair to the next generation who has to pay for their health bills? I know for sure I will have no retirement funds to tax, no one wants to retire to open full-time positions.
Yet, we are not as productive as other countries, take alot of sick leave, vacations etc etc. Should we tax their retirement funds to make it fair to the next generation who has to pay for their health bills? I know for sure I will have no retirement funds to tax, no one wants to retire to open full-time positions.
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