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The New Coffee Room

  1. TNCR
  2. General Discussion
  3. Things that make you think about life...

Things that make you think about life...

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General Discussion
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  • jon-nycJ Online
    jon-nycJ Online
    jon-nyc
    wrote on last edited by
    #3

    When I frequented the Early Retirement forums, this was a common theme. You’d hear about people that stayed too long and ‘died in the saddle’ as they would say, or were to infirm to enjoy their retirement when it finally came.

    Only non-witches get due process.

    • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
    1 Reply Last reply
    • Doctor PhibesD Doctor Phibes

      So, I've worked with this guy in Germany for about 15 years. He's a sales engineer, and a very entertaining guy to hang out with. I know I make tired old jokes about Germans and their lack of humour, but this guy really disproved that, he was hilarious.

      I met up with him last year, and he was talking about all his plans for retirement, how he was going to run a small travel business, and he'd already started doing it a bit, hosting trips.

      I chatted briefly with him by email last Friday.

      This morning we get the announcement that he died in his sleep over the weekend. Completely out of the blue.

      Shit.

      RenaudaR Offline
      RenaudaR Offline
      Renauda
      wrote on last edited by
      #4

      @Doctor-Phibes

      Happens all too often I’m afraid. Sorry to hear this, am certain he was one of those good men and women who deserve a long and healthy retirement.

      Elbows up!

      1 Reply Last reply
      • George KG Offline
        George KG Offline
        George K
        wrote on last edited by
        #5

        Sorry to hear, Phibes.

        There are people who define themselves as what their profession was. I knew an OB who was diagnosed with kidney cancer - kept on working though he could have retired. I don't get it.

        Sounds like your associate had a good plan, it's a pity that it was cut short.

        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

        1 Reply Last reply
        • MikM Offline
          MikM Offline
          Mik
          wrote on last edited by
          #6

          Then there are those who cannot adjust to retirement and die soon after. All sad.

          But tomorrow is not guaranteed.

          “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill

          1 Reply Last reply
          • Doctor PhibesD Offline
            Doctor PhibesD Offline
            Doctor Phibes
            wrote on last edited by
            #7

            It's fair to say that he wasn't exactly workaholic, but he was great entertainment value.

            He taught me all about the use of the insult 'weichei'.

            During the lockdown, I logged onto a meeting with him and a rather serious German customer. He had this very industrial looking wallpaper as his back-screen, and with a cheeky smile asked if I knew what it was. The look of horror on the other German's faces when he told me it was the Peenemünde research facility had me literally crying with laughter during the meeting.

            I was only joking

            1 Reply Last reply
            • 89th8 Offline
              89th8 Offline
              89th
              wrote on last edited by
              #8

              Darn it, sorry to hear Doc. That's a shame.

              1 Reply Last reply
              • JollyJ Offline
                JollyJ Offline
                Jolly
                wrote on last edited by Jolly
                #9

                And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

                There is no guarantee of tomorrow or even ten minutes from now. Live appropriately.

                “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

                Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

                1 Reply Last reply
                • taiwan_girlT Offline
                  taiwan_girlT Offline
                  taiwan_girl
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #10

                  A couple cliche, but still true:

                  You can't add time to the end of your retirement, only to the beginning.

                  No one on their deathbed ever said that they wished they would have spent more time at the office.

                  George KG MikM 2 Replies Last reply
                  • taiwan_girlT taiwan_girl

                    A couple cliche, but still true:

                    You can't add time to the end of your retirement, only to the beginning.

                    No one on their deathbed ever said that they wished they would have spent more time at the office.

                    George KG Offline
                    George KG Offline
                    George K
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #11

                    @taiwan_girl said in Things that make you think about life...:

                    You can't add time to the end of your retirement, only to the beginning.

                    I'd never heard that! So true.

                    I was able to stop taking call and work part time at age 64. Made all the difference. Then, a year later, I said, "Why bother at all?"

                    "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                    The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    • 89th8 Offline
                      89th8 Offline
                      89th
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #12

                      My goal is to retire in 15 years, if the market does better, perhaps earlier. I'd be 57. My wife said I'll get bored, but I've never been that personality, I have so many other things I'd rather do during the day... golf, workout, watch movies or tv, read classics, write, photography, hike, swim, get a massage, sleep in, travel... man oh man I would never ever get bored.

                      George KG 1 Reply Last reply
                      • 89th8 89th

                        My goal is to retire in 15 years, if the market does better, perhaps earlier. I'd be 57. My wife said I'll get bored, but I've never been that personality, I have so many other things I'd rather do during the day... golf, workout, watch movies or tv, read classics, write, photography, hike, swim, get a massage, sleep in, travel... man oh man I would never ever get bored.

                        George KG Offline
                        George KG Offline
                        George K
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #13

                        @89th said in Things that make you think about life...:

                        My goal is to retire in 15 years, if the market does better, perhaps earlier. I'd be 57.

                        I could have retired at 60 - except health insurance was unaffordable. My group covered me until I turned 65. That's the only reason I kept gong for another 4 years.

                        Boredom is not an issue for me either.

                        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                        AxtremusA 1 Reply Last reply
                        • HoraceH Offline
                          HoraceH Offline
                          Horace
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #14

                          My primary hobby of sitting on a chair in the middle of the room and staring at the wall, seems inexhaustible. It pains me to be torn away from it by work and other things.

                          Education is extremely important.

                          MikM 1 Reply Last reply
                          • Doctor PhibesD Offline
                            Doctor PhibesD Offline
                            Doctor Phibes
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #15

                            I'd retire this year if it wasn't for the cost of health insurance.

                            I was only joking

                            CopperC 1 Reply Last reply
                            • JollyJ Offline
                              JollyJ Offline
                              Jolly
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #16

                              Signed my first papers at 52.

                              I still work PRN.

                              “Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”

                              Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton

                              Doctor PhibesD 1 Reply Last reply
                              • Doctor PhibesD Doctor Phibes

                                I'd retire this year if it wasn't for the cost of health insurance.

                                CopperC Offline
                                CopperC Offline
                                Copper
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #17

                                @Doctor-Phibes said in Things that make you think about life...:

                                health insurance.

                                check obamacare

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                • JollyJ Jolly

                                  Signed my first papers at 52.

                                  I still work PRN.

                                  Doctor PhibesD Offline
                                  Doctor PhibesD Offline
                                  Doctor Phibes
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #18

                                  @Jolly said in Things that make you think about life...:

                                  Signed my first papers at 52.

                                  I still work PRN.

                                  I'd still happily work p/t if I retired, just not at what I do now.

                                  I was only joking

                                  CopperC RenaudaR JollyJ 3 Replies Last reply
                                  • jon-nycJ Online
                                    jon-nycJ Online
                                    jon-nyc
                                    wrote on last edited by jon-nyc
                                    #19

                                    I threw in the towel at 44. Special circumstances of course. My plan always (since I was probably 20) had been 50.

                                    Only non-witches get due process.

                                    • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    • HoraceH Offline
                                      HoraceH Offline
                                      Horace
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #20

                                      I'll keep doing this as long as they let me.

                                      Education is extremely important.

                                      AxtremusA 1 Reply Last reply
                                      • Doctor PhibesD Doctor Phibes

                                        @Jolly said in Things that make you think about life...:

                                        Signed my first papers at 52.

                                        I still work PRN.

                                        I'd still happily work p/t if I retired, just not at what I do now.

                                        CopperC Offline
                                        CopperC Offline
                                        Copper
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #21

                                        @Doctor-Phibes said in Things that make you think about life...:

                                        @Jolly said in Things that make you think about life...:

                                        Signed my first papers at 52.

                                        I still work PRN.

                                        I'd still happily work p/t if I retired, just not at what I do now.

                                        Check here for obamacare - this site will give an estimate for Massachusetts

                                        https://betterhealthconnector.com/get-an-estimate

                                        They will pay for health insurance based on income, not net worth. So if you are living off savings and and don't have much income they will pick up the tab. You can have a lot of money, but it is only income that matters.

                                        Doctor PhibesD 1 Reply Last reply
                                        • X Offline
                                          X Offline
                                          xenon
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #22

                                          I’m torn on this too now. I’ve got 25 years ahead of me until official retirement age… but I should be able to get there in 10 if I buckle down and grind out my middle-mgmt tech career. (Probably way too optimistic).

                                          Or do I really try to branch out and try something different while I still have the energy….

                                          MikM 1 Reply Last reply
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