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

I won’t ever be able to afford to retire. So I will work until I drop dead. If I can’t work for longer than about a year and a half, then I will have to kill myself.

Research shows that people who maintain a sense of purpose live longer, healthier lives. Many people tie a sense of purpose and meaning to their work, especially if they enjoy it and they use it to help define who they are. They fear losing that with the retirement.

Some find other ways to nurture purpose and meaning as they age, whether it’s family, volunteering, gardening, writing, whatever. But many feel that doesn’t fill the particular void leaving their careers will bring.

This of course often doesn’t play out in real life. Technology passes them by. They can’t keep up the schedule. They aren’t productive. Memory issues get in the way. Then people get depressed.

This is why people who feel that way about work need to do more than plan financially for retirement. Traveling and puttering about gets old in about a year. They need to have a retirement plan for purpose.

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

This is the case for much of my family. My parents both worked until the day before their deaths. My brother’s MIL still works in her mid 70s. My FIL only retired because he had a stroke and couldn’t work. My grandmother retired only after she was physically unable to work and then lived in low income housing until she died.

Retirement is expensive. Also, for some, there isn’t much else for them to do. My mother took paratransit to work. It was the only regular outings that she had besides doctors appointments and she looked good led forward to going.

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?

Speak for yourself.

There are people who get well into their 80s or even older who remain more "productive" and "efficient" than the average person.

Smart enough to know the numbers needed for retirement. Dumb enough to have chosen a career that didn’t pay (and inflation has made it worse/more common to say).

I liked the line from my earlier profession: my retirement is a silver bullet.

I will never be able to afford to retire.

Financial

And when Republicans win you think you have enough to retire. LOL

And if you think prices are high now what do you think those CEO's are going to do when all restraints are off big business? Biden didn't raise prices CEO's did. And gee guess who supports them GOP darlings.

Americans are stupid.

In denial or defensive about their financial problems.

Saying that to communicate to others that they don't plan to be available for caregiving.

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.

My MIL is like this. She works part-time now in a remote admin job. She worked this job FT, then it went remote for Covid and my in-laws moved out of state and they were fine with her continuing part time. It is a fairly easy job which helps. She also nearly died before Covid and could have retired after and we have no idea why she didn't. She's 70 now and every year it is "oh maybe next year". She has hobbies, they enjoy traveling, they don't need the money. I think it is just a security thing.

I can't relate. I am counting down the days to retirement. I like my job but hate the paperwork and stress it brings.

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.)

Maybe they have a job where productivity and efficiency aren't really required, kind of like Trump and Biden.

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