# Am I in the minority about this here?



## Hyperion (Nov 22, 2022)

I'm 62 and I have no plans to retire. My wife is still working too and she's older than me and also does not want to retire. We both work from home. I have my office, she has hers and what I really like is that I can work when I want and even where I want. Right now, 10:30pm, I'm working on some stuff so that a client can test something in the morning and I just thought of an idea and want to give it a try. So much better than a legacy office in some building in a city. If I had to go to an office like that, I might think of retiring in a few years, but since I can work any time and from literally anywhere in the world, I have no plans to retire. 

I call my current commute, the bathrobe commute. I wake up, go get my coffee, or if I get up first, make the coffee. Go walk down to my wife's office and take her a cup of coffee, give her a morning hug and kiss and get ready to face all the crazy clients I have to deal with.  But I'm not ready to call it a quit just yet. Maybe in 10 years if I can work up some sort of part time gig, OK, I hope I can still do it! but retirement is just not for me, not yet. 

My wife actually retired from 20 years of teaching, got her law degree, did that for a while and then retired again. And just about 6 months ago, she wanted to go back to work, so she did. 2 golden age, so they say it is, working peeps. Are we oddities? I don't know. If anyone else is planning to stay working, I'd love to hear about it!


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## Teacher Terry (Nov 22, 2022)

*I worked in human services so had to actually see my clients . After I retired at 58 I taught an online college class for 8 years and that was the best of both worlds. *


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## Hyperion (Nov 22, 2022)

Teacher Terry said:


> *I worked in human services so had to actually see my clients . After I retired at 58 I taught an online college class for 8 years and that was the best of both worlds. *


I have to see my clients too, except only on Teams and Zoom


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## Alligatorob (Nov 22, 2022)

Hyperion said:


> I'm 62 and I have no plans to retire.


At 62 I probably would have said the same, but now at 70 I am happy to be retiring.  Things change.

Nothing wrong with working as long as you can and want to.


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## Teacher Terry (Nov 22, 2022)

_I can’t administer psychological and vocational testing by zoom. _


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## Hyperion (Nov 22, 2022)

Alligatorob said:


> At 62 I probably would have said the same, but now at 70 I am happy to be retiring.  Things change.
> 
> Nothing wrong with working as long as you can and want to.



Yeah, I get it. I want to do it is a little different that I can do it. But I'm going to give it my best.


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## jujube (Nov 22, 2022)

Everyone has to do what's right for him or her.  Want to keep working? More power to you!

Me?  I started thinking about retirement when I got my first job at 17.  I hung on til 62 and then I bade a not-so-fond adieu to the working world and never looked back.


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## Ruthanne (Nov 22, 2022)

Many people are not retiring and working into their 80s now.  Sometimes it's because they really need the income and sometimes it just makes them feel vital  and useful. To each their own respectfully.

I had to retire due to severe disability.  I felt bad for a long time not working but I could not.  Now I'm accepting and enjoying since I torned  65.  Go figure how the human mind works.


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## terry123 (Nov 22, 2022)

Sounds good to me.  I did accounting at home for several years and it worked for me.


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## Lavinia (Nov 22, 2022)

Most of us like to keep busy but not necessarily with paid work. We don't all sit on our bums waiting for Death to call once our working days are over. I'm sure I'm not the only one who helps with charities. One of the advantages of being retired is that you can help with agencies which depend on volunteers.


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## Pookie (Nov 22, 2022)

I'm thinking of retiring next year and stepping down to part-time work. 

We'll see what happens.


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## Tish (Nov 23, 2022)

I'm 62 and I'm not retired, I will keep on working until I am sick of it, or if something unforeseen happens.


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## Capt Lightning (Nov 23, 2022)

I always planned to retire at 56 not 65 and that's what I did.  Never worked so hard since then , but retiring was the best "career move" that I made.  Just make sure you can afford it.


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## -Oy- (Nov 23, 2022)

Difficult to work as a professional photographer via Zoom  

In the Covid lockdown years I did some Graphic Design from home. Hated it. I need people! 

It was Covid and my bad experience with it that convinced me to retire late last year at 58. My wife followed suit 3 months later and we sold up and moved to be closer to family. We're loving it!


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## Georgiagranny (Nov 23, 2022)

82 here and have retired so many times I'm not really sure how many. When I leave this job it might be six? Seven? Needless to say, I flunked retirement.


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## horseless carriage (Nov 23, 2022)

Most of my working life has been in logistics, that's just a buzz word to try and make trucks, warehouses, delivery vans and so on, sound sexy. At 62 I called it a day then spent two years thinking how boring retirement was. A chance phone call from one of the previous major clients asked. "What are you doing?" They had a problem, someone of standing had what the medics termed, a T.I.A. I think it's like a mini stroke, how did I fancy covering him for the year that he has to take things easy? 

Going back to work at 64, who would  have thought? Twelve years later and I am still there and although I am now 76 I'm not the eldest, that honour goes to a hard working 78 year old.


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## hearlady (Nov 23, 2022)

As long as you're both happy. That's all that counts.
Sounds like a great situation to be in.


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## officerripley (Nov 23, 2022)

Working past the average age of retirement is great if you love what you do and are good at it. I never was; in spite of how hard I worked, I was only considered to be average, so it was a relief to retire.


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## charry (Nov 23, 2022)

you have to go with your gut ....MY .hubby is older than me , and he got offered a big design contract (hes an Architect)   aged 50, but felt he wanted to do his own thing which was build his own bungalow  and travel....!!!.....so he retired aged 50 and did what he wanted basically !!!
im so glad he did retire when he did, as he had a massive stroke aged 69. and has been immoble for 10yrs now....


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## Timewise 60+ (Nov 23, 2022)

Many of us that had careers and worked all our lives have trouble retiring.   I think this is partially due to the fact that all we have done for the last 40+ years is our work or stuff related to our work.  As many of us really know is our work and it is very fulfilling.   

Many never get out of that work habit until they lose their health or actually die.  Sad but true...life has more to offer.

It is scary to some thinking of leaving work for something unknown, but if you don't try you may miss out on the best part of your life.   You have to mentally and physically prepare for retirement, and this should start a few years prior to retiring.  Start trying things you think you might like to do, travel, hobbies, home upgrades, lifestyle changes, etc. in time you will find some things you want to do in retirement.  You have to work at it to find what you love, or maybe who you love.  But it is worth it, working until you live is not all there is.... much more awaits that you!


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## NorthernLight (Nov 23, 2022)

officerripley said:


> Working past the average age of retirement is great if you love what you do and are good at it. I never was; in spite of how hard I worked, I was only considered to be average, so it was a relief to retire.


AND if you get paid enough. For 15 years before retirement, I was self-employed. I liked what I did, and I was good at it. But my income was meager. On balance, not worth it. 

I regard work as "selling my life," which seems a sin. If others find work rewarding, I'm happy for them.


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## spectratg (Nov 23, 2022)

I do miss working.  Being a widower, it is just me and the dog, and of course being part of the lives of my daughters and their families.  I finally sold my company last year and moved to a retirement community.  I find myself volunteering for more and more activities and events here on campus with almost 300 other souls (on a not to interfere with family get togethers and help with babysitting grandchildren when needed on an infrequent basis).  At age 77 now, I don't know if I will eventually say enough is enough?


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## horseless carriage (Nov 23, 2022)

Timewise 60+ said:


> It is scary to some thinking of leaving work for something unknown, but if you don't try you may miss out on the best part of your life.   You have to mentally and physically prepare for retirement, and this should start a few years prior to retiring.  Start trying things you think you might like to do, travel, hobbies, home upgrades, lifestyle changes, etc. in time you will find some things you want to do in retirement.  You have to work at it to find what you love, or maybe who you love.  But it is worth it, working until you live is not all there is.... much more awaits that you!


Much as I enjoy the stimulus of work, it's never been the be all and end all. Outside of work my wife and I have a good group of friends who enjoy the vintage scene as much as we do. Then there's the MG scene and all that goes with that. We used to be out every night that my wife's shift pattern allowed. Our passion was Latin & Ballroom dancing. Work fills the daytime hours perfectly, it's like having a paid hobby.


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## Hyperion (Nov 23, 2022)

jujube said:


> I started thinking about retirement when I got my first job at 17.



LOL


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## Hyperion (Nov 23, 2022)

I'll confess that if I win a big Powerball, I'll be retiring the same day. But I like things that money can buy, right now we are home shopping for a new house, so that is a factor. At this point, I don't think I can live on SS and what I have for retirement. Maybe someday I can, or I will just wear or burn out and that will be it and I'll do my best. Right now, I'm just looking for the next best way to stay younger and will keep up that fight as long as I can.


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## Hyperion (Nov 23, 2022)

Lavinia said:


> Most of us like to keep busy but not necessarily with paid work. We don't all sit on our bums waiting for Death to call once our working days are over. I'm sure I'm not the only one who helps with charities. One of the advantages of being retired is that you can help with agencies which depend on volunteers.



Yeah, my wife is always talking about volunteering for stuff if she can't work. I'm too lazy for that, you have to pay me, lol.


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## David777 (Nov 23, 2022)

Depends on how one might spend their time retired.  For many, not much there of interest, and or not enough funds to do what they think they might want to do, and or too body degenerated even if there was.


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## ArnoldC (Nov 23, 2022)

Good on you and your wife, _Hyperion_.  More power to you both.

Traditionalist here.  Took social security retirement at 62.

What has me wondering though, with more individuals and couples like you opting to work from home.  Will this eventually drive up the SSA retirement age for those unable or unwilling to do that?


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## Hyperion (Nov 23, 2022)

ArnoldC said:


> Good on you and your wife, _Hyperion_.  More power to you both.
> 
> Traditionalist here.  Took social security retirement at 62.
> 
> What has me wondering though, with more individuals and couples like you opting to work from home.  Will this eventually drive up the SSA retirement age for those unable or unwilling to do that?



I hope not.


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## bowmore (Nov 23, 2022)

I was caregiver to my wife for 12 years after she was brain injured. I had to keep working to have her medical treatments covered. After she passed away I kept working as I had nothing better to do.
I met my present wife, wwanted to travel, so I retired so we could.


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## HoneyNut (Nov 23, 2022)

Hyperion said:


> working peeps. Are we oddities?


My brother is 70 yrs old and still works part-time (I assume it is part-time since he finds a lot of time to play tennis, golf, and go on biking trips in Europe), but he has the sort of work that he can choose to work with a client and he only has to create plans and the client has to do the work of implementing them (but my brother only gets paid if the plan is successful at growing the client's business).  So he has control of his work and gets to enjoy the success of it.  Plus it can be done like yours, at home, or wherever he is, and at the time convenient for him.

I retired almost half a year earlier than full retirement age because although I loved the work I did, I had no control of anything and had the frustration of seeing management frequently sabotage the work with stupid decisions and/or complete lack of effort at doing their own job, plus the whole irritation of the way corporations take advantage of employees and then insult us by distrusting us.  But also, probably more so, because I started feeling my age by my mid 60s.


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## Brookswood (Nov 23, 2022)

You're under no obligation to retire based upon what other people think.

All I can tell you is I decided to retire about four years early after experience about five early deaths of friends and relatives in a few short years.   As of today I have outlived them all, and I am glad I had the extra time.  I spent most of that time on traveling and grandkids
.


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## Right Now (Nov 23, 2022)

I had three distinctly different careers, totally enjoyed each one, and never thought about retiring until about 64.  I couldn't imagine doing nothing, then at 67 I decided it was time.  About 8 months later, I was asked to work as 1st Deputy Clerk for our town, so I did for a year.  Since then, I've volunteered for the Historic Assn, on the Board of Friends of the Library, work as a voting inspector for 5 years now at various local and federal elections and am still looking for  other volunteering projects.

You'll know when it's time to retire.  It will feel right.  Until then, enjoy what you are contributing to the work force.  It sounds like you are a smart guy.  Your wife, too.


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## Nemo2 (Nov 23, 2022)

jujube said:


> Me?  I started thinking about retirement when I got my first job at 17.  I hung on til 62 and then I bade a not-so-fond adieu to the working world and never looked back.


I tell people (some might even listen, or pretend to), that the only reason I started working in the first place was so I could quit.  Came back to Canada from Saudi Arabia at the end of 1988 and that was me done.....46.


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## Hyperion (Nov 23, 2022)

Thanks so much for the replies from everyone. I'm really enjoying hearing about everyone else's experiences.

Part of my story that has led up to me wanting to continue and not looking at retirement yet, is that I got a late start. Really a pretty late start in life.

For most of my younger days, I was very unfocused. I was all over the place and could not make up my mind what I wanted to do. I wasn't happy with anything I tried and as a result, I found myself passing 30 years of age and I had no real success in my life. I remember working for my grandfather who was a housing contractor. I didn't want to go to college, I played with some bands, and basically goofed off a lot. My grandpa would look at me some days, and just shake his head, that boy is never going to amount to nothing! So I finally decided I wanted to do something, went back to school and got a degree in Compsci and started developing business solutions. I had a couple of full time gigs and I hated it, lol. I was till in that rogue mode of mine. So then I went independent contractor and that's when I started working full time remote, about, well almost 15 years ago.

Then I met my current client and they finally talked me into taking a full time job with them. It's only 35 hours a week (on paper only, lol) and they know I take on other clients. All that matters is that I complete the projects they want and it came with lots of benefits. It took us about 2 years to negotiate while I continued to work for them as a contractor and finally they got me to give in, been 10 years now. Then I met my wife. I really wanted the health insurance since my wife and I were getting older, the old newlyweds, lol.

So I feel like I am just starting to enjoy the success of basically about 20+ years of hard work and I don't want it to stop, yet. If I can just pick the right numbers on the next billion dollar mega lottery thing. then I can go back to fulltime goof off...


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## NorthernLight (Nov 23, 2022)

Interesting life, @Hyperion !


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## OneEyedDiva (Nov 23, 2022)

I know and knew of people who don't want to retire either because they love what they do or feel they'd be bored and useless if they retired. You've got the best of both worlds, so I can understand why you're not ready to do it yet. I couldn't wait to retire and did so at age 50. I loved my interactions with patients as a state public health rep but hated the BS sometimes encountered by our regional manager. In addition, my mother was aging and I had health issues.


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## Paladin1950 (Nov 23, 2022)

I am 72 and I'm still working. Just about 4 hours a day. But while I am at work, I feel much younger. Like I'm in my 50's. Keeping active is good for your health and body. Working in nursing homes over the years, I have see a lot of people (mostly women) who were totally crippled up with arthritis, from not staying active when they got older.


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## oldpop (Nov 23, 2022)

More power to you Hyperion. I spent 35 years in the workforce working my butt off to raise two children on my own. After they were grown I worked my butt off to have an early retirement. I retired in 2007 at the age of 49 with no regrets. Different strokes for different folks.


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## Right Now (Nov 24, 2022)

Hyperion said:


> Thanks so much for the replies from everyone. I'm really enjoying hearing about everyone else's experiences.
> 
> Part of my story that has led up to me wanting to continue and not looking at retirement yet, is that I got a late start. Really a pretty late start in life.
> 
> ...


You got a late start at what you want to do with your life.  Now you know, there's another 10 years or so at this side of your work line.  We'll wait for you to catch up.


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## Disgustedman (Nov 24, 2022)

Well, there's many 60+ people out there still punching a clock. Some don't have a choice in the matter and have to retire . Enjoy your day and the money, there's  some who envy you.


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## Remy (Nov 24, 2022)

I'm 62. I'm working part time. But my job is hard on me physically, mentally and emotionally. I want to retire.


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## Leann (Nov 24, 2022)

Right Now said:


> I had three distinctly different careers, totally enjoyed each one, and never thought about retiring until about 64.  I couldn't imagine doing nothing, then at 67 I decided it was time.  About 8 months later, I was asked to work as 1st Deputy Clerk for our town, so I did for a year.  Since then, I've volunteered for the Historic Assn, on the Board of Friends of the Library, work as a voting inspector for 5 years now at various local and federal elections and am still looking for  other volunteering projects.
> 
> *You'll know when it's time to retire.  It will feel right. * Until then, enjoy what you are contributing to the work force.  It sounds like you are a smart guy.  Your wife, too.


Exactly!!


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