Nope I am not really confined as I have a nice home with plenty of room a swimming pool to exercise and no issues with supplies. This has made me even more sure that I’d like to retire as soon as I’m able too.
I've been retired for 11 years and 6 days. Due to my age and medical conditions, I am starting my 4th week of isolation. It sucks but I don't miss going to work.
The opposite; although I am still working as we are "essential". Not having the usual outside activities and distractions is making it harder to fill up the time. I'm running out of home projects. I don't think I'll ever "retire".
I am retired and have an online business. However very depressed / fearful from current situation. It’s an ongoing nightmare. The virus has destroyed life as we know it with no end in sight. The current projected American deaths are multiples of Americans who died in Vietnam. 675 k Americans have died from aids, Will covid surpass this?
“The current projected American deaths are multiples of Americans who died in Vietnam......”
We are beginning to see how wildly inaccurate our “experts” were in projecting the disease impact. Hospitals are sitting empty around the country. People with serious, non-CoVid health issues can’t see a doctor because the doctors have cleared their calendars for the millions of CoVid patients the experts warned of. The deaths from these real patients will be the responsibility of these experts.
Rockie -when I was younger I assumed I'd go at 59 1/2. Then I took a year off from work and fucked around. I came back and decided 62. That was last year and I was working 70 hours a week until this happened. Been home 5 weeks and after going out and socializing an average of 200 days/nights a year since I was 15 I can honestly say I'd rather be roasted on a spit than do this. Nothing in life is bad. My wife and I get along great and do better the more time we spend together. She works at home now so its like she got a $100 a week raise. Money isn't an issue since I was having a great year and always keep 6 months of take home pay in my savings account, plus what is in my busienss account. Plenty of alcohol; plenty of weed; two parks and a ski area within walking distance and yet, to me, this is existing and not living and I would rather go get lap dances from a covid-19 infected dancer for 4 hours than watch tv or rake my yard.
I agree whole-heartedly on the sentiment and I am too often dumb-founded that so many people are incapable of understanding the difference. It is not at all nuanced as far as I’m concerned.
Who wants to live forever? Not me! I “retired” 13 -15 years ago in my mid-forties. I don’t know that there was a specific date but I just stopped working. As much as possible I try not to waste a single day of life so the current situation with the whole world closed really sucks for me.
That said my philosophy as it applies to the OP’s post about confinement (isolation) has been better stated by others than I can articulate. “Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage (Lovelace)” and “Never less alone than when alone (Cicero)”.
If you aren’t happy with your life or don’t enjoy your own company then IMO you should probably do something about it. One’s mental orientation is almost always of one’s own making with rare exceptions as in the case of @Stupid_Jerkoff_Guy.
Sorry about that bit of overstatement that the “whole world” is closed in my last post.
Sweden isn’t closed. They have made the intentional decision not to hide under their beds in panicky fear but rather they selectively isolate the most vulnerable while the remaining 95% of the population continues life as usual.
Of course they have millions and millions of dead bodies in the streets… no wait, no they don’t.
I am retired (by personal choice) with a decent pension, an excellent health insurance package, and a full social security benefit - when I choose to take it. My better half continues to work and could retire today, tomorrow, or whenever business or life dictates. I'm okay without the day to day demands of work and no longer working with idiots, but a slow day in the winter is less compelling than a slow day in the summer. My better half might be extremely antsy without the work distraction. While we both wish for the freedom and personal mobility to do as we please, - one of us can't define what that pleasure truly means.
I asked my question of you, as I've noticed over time that you have noted that working keeps things in balance for you!
Thanks for your response!
“this is existing and not living and I would rather go get lap dances from a covid-19 infected dancer for 4 hours than watch tv or rake my yard”
i’m almost there.
I'm working every day "essential work" but am thinking about your question these days. I could start drawing SS next year and be very comfortable. I will have to stay busy though.
Confinement is pretty different than being retired.
I've been retired 3 weeks today, and it's been great - except for the Corvid19 issues - making this a great time to have retired.
Retirement means you can stay up late and finish that movie. You can sleep in. You can do it later. You can go to the coast or mountains, or wherever you like to 'go out' to. There's still plenty to do but lots of time to pace oneself doing it.
Confinement, however, is plenty annoying - and I'm in a good place, compatible with wife, suburban house, garden, walks and parks nearby, no major shopping hassles yet. If who you're confined with or where is less than optimal, I'm sure it's gets old fast.
Can't say for every where, but here in Florida, If you GET the chinese virus you have about a 2% chance of dying from it. Check your state at:
https://ncov2019.live/
I'm 37 with so far the setup to retire at 60 as long as these pandemic things don't keep happening I can stay on that track . I want to retire young enough I can enjoy myself a little not be in the house all day I'd die if this was my life 24/7
Clubber even the panicked among us now predict the death toll at 80,000, by the end of august. We murdered America over it. Did the work of the Chinese for them.
"Retired" a little over two years. However, I have been fishing for work, as I have always had trouble sitting still. Last year I took on some part time work that allowed me to visit San Diego (aka the gateway to TJ) a few times. Pushing a little harder for work now as I have some expensive hobbies (including mongering) that I want to pursue.
For almost 10 years before retiring from my full time job, I was working from home, as my coworkers were in Canada and Ireland; no point in going into an office as long as I have an Internet connection. Now I am kind of kicking myself for leaving that job. My IRA has been crippled and heath insurance costs keep climbing.
Oh, and I had just renewed my VIP card the week before HK shut down. I am guessing that there is no refund policy. The same with my ski season pass, but I mourn the VIP card more than the ski pass.
I have a friend who retired a few years ago. However, he kept his favorite client since he enjoyed working with them. Last year, he made more money working part time on their special projects than when he was fully employed. There’s a lesson there.
Dude, when you raise a family you’ll never retire, because you’re always looking for an excuse
To get away from them all to do adult things. Idle hands are the devil’s tools.
"... For almost 10 years before retiring from my full time job, I was working from home, as my coworkers were in Canada and Ireland; no point in going into an office as long as I have an Internet connection. Now I am kind of kicking myself for leaving that job. My IRA has been crippled and heath insurance costs keep climbing ..."
Thanks for sharing your experience - a heads-up for those that are yet to retire; w/ the caveat that not everyone's situation is the same (e.g. type of work and if one still enjoys it; health status; etc).
I enjoy my work, and, if I can continue doing it after corona virus, I will, as long as I have my faculties. I do worry that my business won't recover or that the value of my assets will go down significantly. If that happens I'll have to reassess, but either way I doubt that retirement will be an option for a long time. Who knows what will become of social security, or even money market funds, for that matter, after this unprecedented hiccough in world history.
@Loper: "Who knows what will become of social security,"
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I was thinking along the same lines. I might be in denial, but I do think the medical emergency will pass in time with some combination of herd immunity, vaccines, or anti-viral drugs. But when this all clears we'll have to deal with the massive deficit spending of the CARES act. Don't be surprised if the deficit spending is used as an excuse to cut SS and Medicare. That may be difficult if the Dems control at least the House -- but GOP will be far more likely to choose austerity if they control all three branches of government.
I retired from my full-time career last September, but with an ulterior motive that only TUSCLers will understand, I created a paid, part-time, work-from-home executive position that requires that I go to Atlanta a few times a year on the employer's dime. However, if Follies doesn't survive the downturn, I will quit that job. I like the work, but not as much as I love Follies (and the rest of the Atlanta clubs are not enough of a draw for me).
"... Don't be surprised if the deficit spending is used as an excuse to cut SS and Medicare. That may be difficult if the Dems control at least the House -- but GOP will be far more likely to choose austerity if they control all three branches of government ..."
Retirees are an important and often very-active voting-block - cuts to these programs would likely come at a fairly sizeable political-cost especially if the Dems are stoking the fires against it - not saying it would never happen, just that it would be a pretty-big-fight and may not be able to be done.
Republicans have been mentioning entitlement program cuts for most of the 21st century - it's possible it can happen, but the fact it hasn't happened kinda indicates how tough a fight it would be especially now w/ the Dem side leaning more socialist these days
no one has a crystal-ball to know which way our country will go politically in the future - just saying the issue of deficits and entitlement-programs has been around for a good-while as well as many other types of government expenditures - no one is getting wealthy from social-security and the avg person is basically receiving peanuts - the little I know is that it would not take much to fix S.S. but Medicare is a much tougher/expensive problem - but taking away benefits from the elderly I don't think will play well w/ many people - but again, I can't claim to know which way it'll go.
38 comments
We are beginning to see how wildly inaccurate our “experts” were in projecting the disease impact. Hospitals are sitting empty around the country. People with serious, non-CoVid health issues can’t see a doctor because the doctors have cleared their calendars for the millions of CoVid patients the experts warned of. The deaths from these real patients will be the responsibility of these experts.
I agree whole-heartedly on the sentiment and I am too often dumb-founded that so many people are incapable of understanding the difference. It is not at all nuanced as far as I’m concerned.
Who wants to live forever? Not me! I “retired” 13 -15 years ago in my mid-forties. I don’t know that there was a specific date but I just stopped working. As much as possible I try not to waste a single day of life so the current situation with the whole world closed really sucks for me.
That said my philosophy as it applies to the OP’s post about confinement (isolation) has been better stated by others than I can articulate. “Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage (Lovelace)” and “Never less alone than when alone (Cicero)”.
If you aren’t happy with your life or don’t enjoy your own company then IMO you should probably do something about it. One’s mental orientation is almost always of one’s own making with rare exceptions as in the case of @Stupid_Jerkoff_Guy.
Live free or die!
Sweden isn’t closed. They have made the intentional decision not to hide under their beds in panicky fear but rather they selectively isolate the most vulnerable while the remaining 95% of the population continues life as usual.
Of course they have millions and millions of dead bodies in the streets… no wait, no they don’t.
I asked my question of you, as I've noticed over time that you have noted that working keeps things in balance for you!
Thanks for your response!
i’m almost there.
I've been retired 3 weeks today, and it's been great - except for the Corvid19 issues - making this a great time to have retired.
Retirement means you can stay up late and finish that movie. You can sleep in. You can do it later. You can go to the coast or mountains, or wherever you like to 'go out' to. There's still plenty to do but lots of time to pace oneself doing it.
Confinement, however, is plenty annoying - and I'm in a good place, compatible with wife, suburban house, garden, walks and parks nearby, no major shopping hassles yet. If who you're confined with or where is less than optimal, I'm sure it's gets old fast.
https://ncov2019.live/
Add that to the equation and one gets an even lower number.
Last I saw, about 4 times as many in the US had died from heart disease and cancer than the chinese virus.
For almost 10 years before retiring from my full time job, I was working from home, as my coworkers were in Canada and Ireland; no point in going into an office as long as I have an Internet connection. Now I am kind of kicking myself for leaving that job. My IRA has been crippled and heath insurance costs keep climbing.
To get away from them all to do adult things. Idle hands are the devil’s tools.
Thanks for sharing your experience - a heads-up for those that are yet to retire; w/ the caveat that not everyone's situation is the same (e.g. type of work and if one still enjoys it; health status; etc).
______________________
I was thinking along the same lines. I might be in denial, but I do think the medical emergency will pass in time with some combination of herd immunity, vaccines, or anti-viral drugs. But when this all clears we'll have to deal with the massive deficit spending of the CARES act. Don't be surprised if the deficit spending is used as an excuse to cut SS and Medicare. That may be difficult if the Dems control at least the House -- but GOP will be far more likely to choose austerity if they control all three branches of government.
Retirees are an important and often very-active voting-block - cuts to these programs would likely come at a fairly sizeable political-cost especially if the Dems are stoking the fires against it - not saying it would never happen, just that it would be a pretty-big-fight and may not be able to be done.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/teresaghila…