Retiring?
tbray.org
tbray.org
In my mind, paid work is the 'degraded' form of life; you do it when you have to, for as long as you have to, and aim to not be doing it.
I've probably spent less than half of my adult life "working" (easy as a software dev, a starting salary is more than double minimum wage).
That doesn't mean I'm not studying/working in the abstract sense (I work on my own projects or play sysadmin or whatever), but money really shouldn't be an issue I think, unless you inflate lifestyle to require an always-on income.
I think another poster dealt with this well. A job is a job, work is work, they are seperate. Work is good; jobs are necessary evil.
1. more flexible hours
2. outcomes not tied to income (meaning you no longer worry about what you're paid as the deciding factor in why you work somewhere)
Regarding his comment about his father declining rapidly after retirement, this seems to be a frequent enough occurrence - I heard some statistic once about a large percentage of people dying within 6 months of retirement, but I’ve no idea if it’s accurate. I’m wondering if there are studies that have looked at why this is and what separates people who live long lives after retirement, and those who don’t.
After going independent, my impact has only gotten bigger and my work more interesting and engaging. Write and share what you’ve learned, consult, do OSS, be an “emeritus”, work part time... these require the ability to self-manage, but it’s a skill that can be learned like anything else.
Why a financially independent person would spend most of their waking hours chipping away on Amazon’s problems is baffling to me.
I guess the perfect work for him would be to find a way to start contracting for his current position, but I can see how he's happy at work.
On another note, I became independent myself recently and I totally agree with you. I don't see myself going back to another company ever, but I'm still opened to the idea, because it might allow me to get to work on super interesting problems somehow.
"I get to write software that filters and routes a million messages a second."
So it seems he likes the problems he gets to work on, and the resources he can access, at Amazon.
I also know a number of older folks (70+) who kept working and it seems like they are still quite a bit more “with it” because they have work to keep them motivated. That’s not to say there aren’t retired people like that, but my sense is that it’s more common among people who keep working beyond retirement age.
My late grandpa was still quite bright when he was in his 90's. He kept doing work around the house and going for hikes till his last days.
If I ever get to retire before I die, I'll find something to do for "work", but I'll probably not work for someone else.
1: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79766.A_Pattern_Language
I can understand his "reasons to retire" list, but his "reasons to keep working" 1-7 don't resonate with me at all. I mean, I'm glad my own career lets me do some of those kinds of things (moving the needle, working with great people, etc.) but it's not a "reason to not retire." Not saying I'm right and he's wrong, but I feel that strange feeling when you read something from someone whose world view totally unaligned with your own! To be so wrapped up in your career and to have it so strongly define who you are--it seems so alien.
I look at the CxOs and SVP level people in my TechMegaCorp employer and wonder why on earth they still come to work every day. They all have more money than God, and could literally stop any time they wanted, and do whatever they wished to do. Collect airplanes, travel the world, build a monorail for the city, but no, they simply keep on being SVP of software technology or whatever. The mind boggles!
I've three income legs - pensions, SS & 401K money. Each has its own perils; all of them seem to have the US's growing instability at their core. Being an expat is looking better and better.
The U.S. descending into anarchy is unlikely. The way you are talking it sounds like you're flying by the seat of your pants and feeding into your own paranoia, even though you may be just fine. The backtesting data used in firecalc includes the Great Depression, so is likely to already include your worst nightmares.
Please for the love of all, no.
Maybe the whole piece is satire.
I hope he's exaggerating. While I can see how friends can meaningfully criticise him, if he feels like shit afterwards, they are not very good friends.
Some projects need greybeards.
As I wrote elsewhere, this is the general problem with part-time activities for me. Cutting back on the hours per day or days per week is pretty straightforward. But extended absences are a lot harder.
It is possible in some roles where things don't change all that much, you don't need to deal with the business side, and tasks are fairly short in duration. (I knew someone who worked as a lawyer for around 6 months a year.) But for me, disappearing for a month or two at a time and unplugging would be hard to pull off while doing what I do now.
Social contact is good too, and an underrated aspect of in person day jobs. Social isolation kills.
I'm leaning more towards a second career around 50 at this point. Not any stop in work really, until much later. Just something less stressful; and to say I finally did it.