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Why do some retired age people still work full time?


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I work at a company where there are some 65 and older people. Some have been here for years. I don't see why they don't want to retire? Is it because they are bored and have nothing better to do? Will staying home all day make them go crazy? Doesn't this prevent younger people from getting jobs or something?

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UpwardForward

Perhaps they don't feel they saved enough money for their retirement, yet.

 

Not a good economy at this time.

 

My third house, and my favorite because of location, cost $60,000 in 1971. Now, replacement cost of same house is nearly a million $.

 

Incomes haven't risen to accommodate this inflation.

 

I love the house I'm in now and because of it's size and updated amenities because of being newly built. But my Property taxes are $8700.00 yearly.

 

In other words, perhaps people want to live decently and need more income to do so. Or they love working. The latter, I doubt.

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Because you can't live on Social Security alone in America anymore. They most likely don't retire because they can't afford it.

 

 

If you have a $900 per month mortgage or rent and you get $1200 per month from Social Security but don't get a pension & don't have substantial savings, you can't live without continuing to work.

 

 

Staying home all day will make you go crazy especially if you can't afford to heat your house, get cable, pay for a cell phone / internet, or feed your family.

 

 

The older work force doesn't always prevent younger workers from getting jobs. The older workers usually aren't qualified for hi-tech jobs and they command higher salaries so it's easier & cheaper for a company to hire 2 younger workers.

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I have a number of male friends who are of retirement age (generally 60-70yo) and still work, mainly because they like to. As my best friend told me recently, 'what am I going to do, sit around, drink beer and fish?' So, yesterday, he was putting in a gas line for a new cooktop in his beach house. He could easily pay a contractor to do it for him but it gives him something to do. Other times he'll be helping me with my rehab projects, just for something to do.

 

I'll probably be more like the folks you see at the company, if they're around for the paycheck. I plan on working until I'm dead, though not for any company. I gave that up back in my mid 20's. IMO, if one does what they love, it's not work.

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to answer each question: 1: ask them directly 2: ask them directly, you might actually learn something 3: Retirement is for those who have more important causes to invest in. Unfortunately having medical bills paid and lining the pharmaceutical pockets takes its toll. How have you planned for retirement?

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whichwayisup
I work at a company where there are some 65 and older people. Some have been here for years. I don't see why they don't want to retire? Is it because they are bored and have nothing better to do? Will staying home all day make them go crazy? Doesn't this prevent younger people from getting jobs or something?

 

Some people need to keep busy and if that's how they've been all their life, why quit? If one is allowed to continue working after 65, they should have a choice.

 

Everybody is different, some retire, some don't.

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Mrs. John Adams

My husband will be 63 this year...and he plans to retire...but he has planned very carefully and has all of his ducks in a row. It is still quite scary...because once you retire...you cannot go back. You can get something else...but you cannot go back.

 

63 is really quite young to retire....and i don't think there should be pressure on anyone to retire...only you know if you are mentally ready...and monetarily ready....

 

The only possible reason why younger folks would want anyone to retire is because they are hoping to move up the ladder.

 

My husband tells everyone...he had a man working for him that retired at 80...he plans to go one day past 80..he has not made his retirement announcement yet...lol nor have i

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As Mrs. JA said, I plan to retire this year. It is a major life changing event. We are ready both financially and emotionally. Many no longer have pensions, I am very fortunate to work for a corporation that still has a pension. The stock market has done well the last several years, so our 401k is at a good place. I do feel bad for the next generation, no pension, difficult to save, I see the future generations working much longer.

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Retired military here. Yea I could live off of my retirement while waiting to draw my pennies from Social Security.

 

 

 

 

Why do I continue to work? Because ITS what I do. I plan on working in so long as I can get up out the bed and get vertical.

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thefooloftheyear

Heck I could technically retire pretty comfortably now if I want to move to another part of the country..

 

Ill never retire....Ill also never work for someone else...I actually enjoy working and being productive..Unless I become physiaclly disabled, ill always work..

 

Everyone has their reasons...Some cant afford it...Others like to work...Some do it because the thought of hanging around the house with their spouse all day terrifies them...:laugh:

 

TFY

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I work at a company where there are some 65 and older people. Some have been here for years. I don't see why they don't want to retire? Is it because they are bored and have nothing better to do? Will staying home all day make them go crazy? Doesn't this prevent younger people from getting jobs or something?

 

Are you mad about this?

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loveweary11
I work at a company where there are some 65 and older people. Some have been here for years. I don't see why they don't want to retire? Is it because they are bored and have nothing better to do? Will staying home all day make them go crazy? Doesn't this prevent younger people from getting jobs or something?

 

I used to think like you are thinking as well, until I heard their side of the story.

 

We get upset because we are starting life with severe economic headwinds as compared to that generation's relatively easy, "just show up and it happens" start.

 

But times have changed. They don't have the financial security they are accustomed to and yes, many work because it gives them something to do.

 

It's not their fault. They are caught in crappy conditions just as we all are. They are also regular people, just like you, who were taught certain things growing up which affect their world view. They're doing the best they can.

 

They do keep some jobs occupied that would have been open in earlier generations, but sadly, it's something I worked on that is decimating jobs... :(

 

Technology itself.

 

I used to think..."these systems are great I am creating! They put 100 people out of work when we deploy them, but efficiency in the company and profits increase...plus all the laid off workers will retrain to have tech jobs."

 

You know what? That's completely BS.

 

For a simple example, look at a toll booth on a highway.

 

There would normally be around 24 workers there if people were at each booth. 24 hours a day. Now fire 24 people and drop in "toll by plate" or EZ Pass or whatever. How many technical employees does it take to oversee and maintain a fully automated toll both system? Possibly 2 people.

 

The technology itself eliminated 22 jobs in one toll booth alone.

 

It does the same through all of the economy in nearly all applications.

 

This is why the rich (shreholders) get richer. The technology only benefits the profit margin, through the elimination of waste .... "jobs." That extra money saved goes right into enriching the shareholders at the expense of those eliminated jobs.

 

I feel terrible when I think of the literally thousands of people I personally put out of work creating technology to automate businesses and government. Their jobs did not shuffle to other comparable ones. They are now checking people out at Walmart.

 

But wait!!! Self Checkout lanes will eliminate that as well! :(

 

Soon, this trend will cause major problems as people get fed up with the disparity of wealth, created by technology.

 

A just society should provide for all, despite the fact that the US economy doesn't need as many workers as there are eligible people wanting to work. They'll have to do something about this in this lifetime as tech replaces most jobs.

Edited by loveweary11
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Recently, while listening to the radio, I heard the tail end of a survey that was taken of seniors who are choosing to work rather than just relax and enjoy their golden years. Since I didn't hear the beginning I don't where the survey was taken or by whom.

 

 

Only about a 1/3 of the working seniors were doing it for the money. The majority chose to work because they still wanted to be a functioning member of society. It gives their lives purpose and meaning. Even many of the ones who did retire the jobs they had when they reached retirement age went on to embark on new things. Some started their own business or tried new careers while others went to school. They felt that by continuing to learn and try new things they kept themselves mentally and physically healthy.

 

 

I don't plan to quit working until I absolutely have to. Where I live we have very long and very cold winters. If you don't have the means to travel to somewhere warm it's very easy to become isolated and lonely if you don't have somewhere to go where you can interact with others. Seniors who don't work or don't belong to any extra curricular activities can end up just spending all of their time alone indoors.

 

 

I agree with the above poster in regards to it being the greedy corporate world that is cutting jobs by using technology and every other means available to them to get richer.

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As my best friend told me recently, 'what am I going to do, sit around, drink beer and fish?' .

 

Kind of what I hope to do!

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Yup, and you likely won't describe the subset of people the OP is referring to. I have friends like that as well. Long careers and enjoying retirement a universe away from how they got there. One friend made millions doing the grunt work of moving houses and now he's out traveling the country in his 80's with a new wife (his first wife died) and houses are the last thing on his mind, probably for the last 20 years or so.

 

If I have my preference for work in retirement years, it would be apprenticing young tradesmen into the traditional methods and practices that form the basis for the new technologies in use today in my industry, along with doing some paying work to remind myself of the value of money and putting food in my mouth, as well as, yup, fishing, but perhaps not in the traditional sense. I been looking at buying a place on a river with access to the ocean and dabbling in submarines. There's always something to do.

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Most people don't have money to retire these days. To retire you need to have had a job that paid enough to save money, and over a third of the population in the US never make enough money to save money. I am one of them. I am 62 and have zero money saved and owe on my credit card, where I end up having to put my taxes each year, which are very high because I am partially self-employed and they charge more for that. I've had two jobs a good part of my life and basically made the same amount of money since the 1980s with inflation eroding how far that will go to the point it's barely enough to pay the utilities and mortgage, much less keep appliances going and the house in good shape.

 

Old people have to work. Lord knows I wish I didn't because I sit here working all day and my butt hurts, my back hurts, my knee hurts and I have to wear padding to even keep my wrists workable. And the older you get, the tireder you get.

 

Please think of these things, young people, when you start voting for Republicans who would like to do away with Social Security, which by the way still isn't nearly enough to live on. And we've all paid in tens of thousand of dollars into it.

 

One thing a lot of people in the US don't seem to know is that if you are elderly, you no longer have dependents, so your taxes are higher and you are not eligible for being on the government welfare dole like young people who have kids are, young people who could be working and/or taking birth control. It's all a bit backwards.

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It really shouldn't be surprising with the way the economy is these days...people can't make it off of SSI. I'm sure for some people being bored is one of the reasons, but I think it's more that most people can't retire at 65 anymore.

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Most people don't have money to retire these days. To retire you need to have had a job that paid enough to save money, and over a third of the population in the US never make enough money to save money. I am one of them. I am 62 and have zero money saved and owe on my credit card, where I end up having to put my taxes each year, which are very high because I am partially self-employed and they charge more for that. I've had two jobs a good part of my life and basically made the same amount of money since the 1980s with inflation eroding how far that will go to the point it's barely enough to pay the utilities and mortgage, much less keep appliances going and the house in good shape.

 

Old people have to work. Lord knows I wish I didn't because I sit here working all day and my butt hurts, my back hurts, my knee hurts and I have to wear padding to even keep my wrists workable. And the older you get, the tireder you get.

 

Please think of these things, young people, when you start voting for Republicans who would like to do away with Social Security, which by the way still isn't nearly enough to live on. And we've all paid in tens of thousand of dollars into it.

 

One thing a lot of people in the US don't seem to know is that if you are elderly, you no longer have dependents, so your taxes are higher and you are not eligible for being on the government welfare dole like young people who have kids are, young people who could be working and/or taking birth control. It's all a bit backwards.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself. I honestly think we should get some sort of tax credit for not having kids...not adding to overpopulation and lack pf resources.

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