Go West Old Man

[Goober]

First of all no one has an automatic "right" to a job. That comes through successful competition. I doubt if there is any right or wrong answer. If you can provide a service better than anyone else then hanging in there is justified. Quite often an older person can afford to work cheaper than a younger person. However I would add that if a person is working solely because he/she is bored not working, they have a problem.

No - People are like that. I enjoy work- I have fun at work- no one bothers me - and those that do should have a good reason- People that get in my face I look after.
The managers and staff where I work are great.
And I do security work - contracted thru a security company. Dealing with some idiots is part of the job. Cleaned out the rednecks some time ago.
I work 4 on - 4 off - that is 6 months of the year- take approx 6 weeks vacation - only 3 paid - down to 4 1/2.

Life is good.

 

[L Gilbert]

Why quit working if you find stuff you like to do and people still find you useful? If you have skill sets to do jobs that kids can't handle, you can keep working and train them. I like sharing my knowledge with kids. Gawd knows they can't get everything from formal education and I can gain new techniques that they are taught in school that I didn't get.
So as long as I can still be of use in the workforce, I'll be in it and keep puttering away at stuff wifey and I find to do at home.
And boredom is for people with no imagination.

 

[captain morgan]

First of all no one has an automatic "right" to a job. That comes through successful competition. I doubt if there is any right or wrong answer. If you can provide a service better than anyone else then hanging in there is justified. Quite often an older person can afford to work cheaper than a younger person. However I would add that if a person is working solely because he/she is bored not working, they have a problem.

Very well said

Hypothetical #2
Suppose the old curmudgeon has a pension and therefore can work for less than a youth with family. Is that not like financial ethnic cleansing?

Financial ethnic cleansing?

... And the award for best over dramatization goes to... (envelope please).....

Why quit working if you find stuff you like to do and people still find you useful? If you have skill sets to do jobs that kids can't handle, you can keep working and train them. I like sharing my knowledge with kids. Gawd knows they can't get everything from formal education and I can gain new techniques that they are taught in school that I didn't get.
So as long as I can still be of use in the workforce, I'll be in it and keep puttering away at stuff wifey and I find to do at home.
And boredom is for people with no imagination.

I know of a few former businessmen that remain engaged in the community by assuming informal roles (and unpaid I might add) with young, local companies that need their level of experience and expertise.

These guys do this for the very reasons that you mentioned - keeps them busy, involved, provides the cognitive stimulation that they want, etc.

A win win for everyone

 

[karrie]

Just a thought...

In 1990, this article states that only 30% of the workforce was over 55. Baby boomers at this time were between approximately 46 and 26 years old.

Now, lo and behold, almost 50% of the work force is made up of people over 55. I wonder why?

 

[Goober]

Just a thought...

In 1990, this article states that only 30% of the workforce was over 55. Baby boomers at this time were between approximately 46 and 26 years old.

Now, lo and behold, almost 50% of the work force is made up of people over 55. I wonder why?

The financial meltdown affected many. Many retired with debt- as in substantial mortgages- personal debt.

 

[JLM]

Why quit working if you find stuff you like to do and people still find you useful? If you have skill sets to do jobs that kids can't handle, you can keep working and train them. I like sharing my knowledge with kids. Gawd knows they can't get everything from formal education and I can gain new techniques that they are taught in school that I didn't get.
So as long as I can still be of use in the workforce, I'll be in it and keep puttering away at stuff wifey and I find to do at home.
And boredom is for people with no imagination.

One of the main reasons I quit working, is a compulsion to perform when people are depending on me, hence my absenses or tardiness over a year could probably be counted on one finger if at all. Hence I have a problem with calendars and clocks, which doesn't work very well in work situations. I might not feel like working at 7AM Tues. but I may feel like working 2PM Tues. or I might not feel like working at all on Tues. Wed. or Thurs.- Bosses don't like that sh*t. Sometimes I get anxiety attacks about an upcoming task, and may get up at 4 AM. to get it done and over with. Everything that has to be done on a certain day I like to it over with so for the rest of the day I can relax.

Just a thought...

In 1990, this article states that only 30% of the workforce was over 55. Baby boomers at this time were between approximately 46 and 26 years old.

Now, lo and behold, almost 50% of the work force is made up of people over 55. I wonder why?

I sure questioned that one.............mathematics just doesn't bear it out, unless there are a hell of a lot of unemployed people between 15 and 55...............Nah!!!!!!!!!!!!

The financial meltdown affected many. Many retired with debt- as in substantial mortgages- personal debt.

There's two kinds of debt- the bad one which you haven't got covered and the interest is high and the good one which you do have covered at interest rates or dividends as high or higher than that on the debt. -

 

[karrie]

The financial meltdown affected many. Many retired with debt- as in substantial mortgages- personal debt.

Even without that, just basic population dynamics would dictate that as babyboomers hit over 55, we'd have more people over 55 working than we had when babyboomers were under 55.

Even before the market tanked retirement funds, most people I know wouldn't have retired out of the workforce. Working retirement is just too perfect for many.

 

[L Gilbert]

One of the main reasons I quit working, is a compulsion to perform when people are depending on me, hence my absenses or tardiness over a year could probably be counted on one finger if at all. Hence I have a problem with calendars and clocks, which doesn't work very well in work situations. I might not feel like working at 7AM Tues. but I may feel like working 2PM Tues. or I might not feel like working at all on Tues. Wed. or Thurs.- Bosses don't like that sh*t. Sometimes I get anxiety attacks about an upcoming task, and may get up at 4 AM. to get it done and over with. Everything that has to be done on a certain day I like to it over with so for the rest of the day I can relax.

Well, it's probably a good thing that you quit if you can't be counted upon until you feel compelled.

I show up because I don't want to let down the kid I train regardless of whether I feel like working or not. If I show up and see that everyone's managing I leave. The dude I contract to or the kid can phone if they need me.

 

[JLM]

Well, it's probably a good thing that you quit if you can't be counted upon until you feel compelled.

.

It's not a matter of "can't", but more a matter of not feeling like it not enjoying it so don't want Monday - Friday, 8-5 routine. Did that sh*t for over 35 years.-

 

[Goober]

It's not a matter of "can't", but more a matter of not feeling like it not enjoying it so don't want Monday - Friday, 8-5 routine. Did that sh*t for over 35 years.-

And you have no problem- yet people who choose to work past retirement have a problem. Why is that?

 

[JLM]

Hypothetical argument #1
If I were over 55, I would continue working because I am the only one on this planet who could do my job. However, that is not the case for all seniors of retirement age. Do you not think the elders are robbing youth of their rightful patrimony?

First of all no one has an automatic "right" to a job. That comes through successful competition. I doubt if there is any right or wrong answer. If you can provide a service better than anyone else then hanging in there is justified. Quite often an older person can afford to work cheaper than a younger person. However I would add that if a person is working solely because he/she is bored not working, they have a problem.

And you have no problem- yet people who choose to work past retirement have a problem. Why is that?

Probably for a multitude of reasons, depending on the person. I'm probably not the right person to ask-

Is there a problem with the thread? I see a post I posted earlier has mysteriously got posted again!

 

[karrie]

Odd that it posted again, but, I'm glad it did.

People working because they're bored may make them different from you, it doesn't make them wrong. Everyone has the right to seek out what makes them happy in life. For many people, work is a reason to follow a set schedule, exercise their brains and bodies, and visit people they wouldn't otherwise see. Being retired can cause depression, lethargy, and increased decline in health.

 

[Spade]

Hypothetical #3
When some of us were graduating, we were warned that by the time we were somewhat older, leisure time would be an issue, not working to sustain a modest lifestyle. It seems, leisure time was as much of a myth as flying cars. Finding things to do when retired is not the problem; but, finding the financial wherewithal is.

 

[karrie]

Yeah, most people I know have abundant leisure time... they just waste it in front of tech and don't even notice it was there in the first place. And they get stuck in stupid notions about what leisure must be. Like drinks on a foreign beach. They'll work 50 hour work weeks to fly away once a year, instead of working less, staying home, and finding a beach nearby instead.

 

[damngrumpy]

There are a lot of people who are not cut out for retirement anyway. Yes there are those
who can't afford it or they don't have enough and a lot of other reasons. I left my chosen
profession in the mid 90's and I got so bored I went working for others in different fields.
Still bored and I finally settled on farming, which will become more work thatn I want. I
have started writing again and I am working on an Internet radio station, that will be up and
running in a couple of months. I don't want to work for just anyone and I am sure as hell
not going to work for fifteen bucks an hour or less doing things I don't want to do.
People whine about union members making too much, and the worlds problems are
because of the union. That is not true anymore than one can say the union has no faults.

Two reasons to be against the union, the members are making more than you and you are
not making any money. The other reason is company owners that don't want to pay good
wages or benefits. I have always believed those companies get the union they deserve.
I have been in business and managed businesses and I have been a union leader I don't have
a problem with the union myself.
There are older workers and many don't want to retire period whether they can afford it or not.
Alberta the land of do no wrong is about to prove other wise anyway. They are going to face
a billion dollar deficit this year and as much as six billion next and the bloom will soon fade on that
rose for a while.

 

[JLM]

Odd that it posted again, but, I'm glad it did.

People working because they're bored may make them different from you, it doesn't make them wrong. Everyone has the right to seek out what makes them happy in life. For many people, work is a reason to follow a set schedule, exercise their brains and bodies, and visit people they wouldn't otherwise see. Being retired can cause depression, lethargy, and increased decline in health.

I guess everyone is different, Karrie, I'm just thinking from the view point of there being so many other things to do, stuff to learn about, books to read we never got a chance at while working and yet none of it under the pressure of a deadline or budget imposed by someone else or enjoying late evening activities without having to think about getting up in the morning.! -

Two reasons to be against the union, the members are making more than you and you are
not making any money. The other reason is company owners that don't want to pay good
wages or benefits. I have always believed those companies get the union they deserve.
I have been in business and managed businesses and I have been a union leader I don't have
a problem with the union myself.
There are older workers and many don't want to retire period whether they can afford it or not.
Alberta the land of do no wrong is about to prove other wise anyway. They are going to face
a billion dollar deficit this year and as much as six billion next and the bloom will soon fade on that
rose for a while.

It's not the Unions Grumpy, it's the stuff that goes on because of Unions- like an employee being able to work 6 minutes O.T. and then be able to claim for 1/2 an hour at time and a half! That is just one of many pieces of sh*t I saw happening! Of course there is a bigger problem with an employee who is like that.-

 

[Spade]

Part of the Alberta disease is the vain assumption that resource revenues rather than personal taxes are a birthright. Gawd help us if we were asked to pay our way.

 

[JLM]

Part of the Alberta disease is the vain assumption that resource revenues rather than personal taxes are a birthright. Gawd help us if we were asked to pay our way.

I guess that's a new twist since people have probably finally got it figured out that money doesn't grow on trees! -

 

[darkbeaver]

Why quit working if you find stuff you like to do and people still find you useful? If you have skill sets to do jobs that kids can't handle, you can keep working and train them. I like sharing my knowledge with kids. Gawd knows they can't get everything from formal education and I can gain new techniques that they are taught in school that I didn't get.
So as long as I can still be of use in the workforce, I'll be in it and keep puttering away at stuff wifey and I find to do at home.
And boredom is for people with no imagination.

Quite literally when we cease to work at what we love to do we are empty. People confuse work and job I think, they aren't the same I think. Happily puttering at home is very smart and efficient work that is no job at all, but pure joy, in my estimation.

 

[L Gilbert]

Finding things to do when retired is not the problem; but, finding the financial wherewithal is.

Costs me very little to mess around building things of wood, sharpening lawnmower blades, changing oil in the hoe or cat, channeling so the runoff water goes into the creek, improving the efficiency of the power supplies, etc. Doesn't cost the wife a lot to do her gardening, carving, playing her flutes, etc. We both read, hike, snowshoe, bike, shovel snow, go fishing, play with the mutts, etc.
Like I said, boredom is for those with no imagination. Can't find something you can afford to do? Also, due to a lack of imagination.