People who say they don’t plan to ever retire

[Anonymous]

I am on a second career and really enjoy it. Not particularly high pressure and plenty of PTO. I have no real hobbies and will probably continue to work not because I have to financially, but it gives me purpose, I enjoy the people and when I want to travel or do things, I have plenty of sick/vacation days to take.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My DH says this and hates his job. Why do you think people say this because they like their job? Maybe they fear they will never save enough or maybe realize they do not have enough to retire? 1%ers have more than $10M saved for retirement. (It may be $5M.)

OP - there were people saying this in another thread on money and retirement and they had plenty saved up to retire.

people say that but i often wonder whether they really know what's up.
At the current rate, my parents will spend $6m on care for my mom if she lives another 20 years.
That's not even counting care for my dad if he needs it, and them just being alive.
general tax and inheritance tax will eat a huge amount of the rest. So unless you have a $20m+ nest egg you can't count on being able to leave your kids much, which is super important to me. I feel like i will never be able to retire based on their experience.

How?? What kind of care does your mom require for 20 years?

The average long term care stay is less than two years.

Not the PP but my parents were responsible children of the Depression and lived very modest, thoughtful lives. They each retired at 65 with a solid financial plan. Combined, they had about 17 years of long term care that, of course, burned through every penny they had saved plus some from us.

I'm just a wage slave and don't even have my parents level of resources and have no plans for retirement as I hit my early 60s.
Like trips to Europe and playing golf, a "comfortable retirement" is for other people.

What's the point of even saving if it's all used for long-term care? Might as well be broke and go on Medicaid.

Easy to say when you're young. You need to see what many Medicaid facilities are like. It's like jail for old-people. No personal agency. Surrounded by the smell of ur*ne. Nicer ones frequently aren't much better, but it is all very much $$$ dependent.

absolutely do not rely on medicaid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am on a second career and really enjoy it. Not particularly high pressure and plenty of PTO. I have no real hobbies and will probably continue to work not because I have to financially, but it gives me purpose, I enjoy the people and when I want to travel or do things, I have plenty of sick/vacation days to take.

I'm about to retire and looking for a second career, without being to specific what do you do that has plenty of PTO?

[Anonymous]

It’s a cop out for people that want to spend all of their money while they are working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in a very specific niche of academia where no one ever teaches full time. The typical career path for people at the top of the field is to do roughly 80% field work and 20% teaching at a top program (T10, T20 etc isn't really relevant because only a handful of universities offer the subject, but there are a couple of known top programs where a lot end up resting on their laurels).

As people age, they tend to do less field work, and what work they "do" tends to be taken over by a growing army of assistants as you gain prestige, to the point where it's kind of a known secret that once you hit a certain age/status, your assistants are carrying most of the weight. At that point you hit professor emeritus status somewhere cushy and do a lot of speaking engagements until you can't string a sentence together anymore.

So, certainly not working full steam at 100%, but also not fully retired.

People are able to fully retire, but the field attracts the "my work is my life" types, which means a lot of people don't want to, and a lot of people also sacrificed having a family/hobbies/a shred of a personality, so this is all they have to cling onto.

that sounds amazing. is it something like anthropology?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because they own their own business and/oe have no hobbies.

Also this.

People like this over-identify with their jobs. This is for the people who could retire but don’t.

There is usually a fear/denial thing going on, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will never be able to afford to retire.

I'm worried this, too. I got started saving for retirement really late, haven't saved nearly enough (and not by some crazy DCUM standard).

My side hustle is writing fiction. If that ever brought in any real money I could see gladly doing it for the rest of my life. But I'm worried that I will have to have a real job forever to keep a roof over my head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does this mean? I understand liking to work, but at some point you aren’t going to be as productive or efficient right?

People tend to be forced out, you might not have as much control over the end date as you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will never be able to afford to retire.

I'm worried this, too. I got started saving for retirement really late, haven't saved nearly enough (and not by some crazy DCUM standard).

My side hustle is writing fiction. If that ever brought in any real money I could see gladly doing it for the rest of my life. But I'm worried that I will have to have a real job forever to keep a roof over my head.

I made $25k a year most of my working years since 1998. I made $40k only twice per my social security statement living in DC. Because I'm used to making so little, I can live on very little. Because I worked those minimum wage job, there was a lot of wage theft; not paid for all hours, not paid for training, minimum wage not met, and two jobs didn't even pay me at all. This can be seen in my SS statement. All normal in low wage jobs.
I also had lot of broke co-workers and 'friends' who always needed money and never paid back. Once I got rid of the losers, I started investing for myself.
I took ca $500 a month and invested it slowly into overall market over the years. I don't have to work anymore. The market gives me my income. I still work but very part time.
I have learned a lot during my investment years. If I lost it all, I could do it again on my fairly low salary. I do finally make about $28-$33 an hour but very part time.
You got to invest, not just save.

[Anonymous]

I could retire today but probably never will. My firm has mandatory retirement at age 58, and I'm 52, so someday soon I will need to think about what next but I just happen to like the substance of what I do. I don't like the office politics, and there are clients I don't like but that stuff is easy to ignore when you don't feel trapped in what you're doing. The only thing that would make me retire is if work becomes crowded out by more interesting hobbies, which is conceivable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I look at dh parents who retired in 60s and then they literally did NOTHING. they just wake up (early) and sit in their house and sometimes make up random errands. It's so weird to me. As long as I could contribute to the world, I want to be doing 'something'. Plus until i get to a certain income level i would feel bad to sit around when i could be making more $$ to help my kids as inflation skyrockets around us.

My codependent ILs, 25 years ago. They’re local. Bought a tiny beach condo but rarely go because FIL hobby is summer gardening he can’t let the garden go unattended. They’ve become tied to their house and yard (both are lovely) but now MIL can’t drive and has beginnings of dementia. Days are now doctor appointments.

[Anonymous]

This article explains it well for me. The thought of cruising, becoming obsessed with golf/tennis/scrap booking or researching my family tree depresses me. I have zero interest. I really like my job plus watched how quickly my dad faded away when he retired early, despite having money, going travelling, volunteering etc.

Eventually, like a pp stated, I am sure I will be pushed out for being too old. But I hope to just move to part time until that is the case.

Why you should never retire
https://www.economist.com/business/2024/01/25/why-you-should-never-retire
from The Economist

[Anonymous]

I will happily retire at age 67 and not look back. I guess it's possible that I might work part time but I have no intention at the moment.
The only thing that has less appeal than working after age 67 if volunteering. Not a chance. No way.