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I have been semi retired for 14 years now i love it, work when i want, normally do about 20 hours a week, but if needed i can work 50
my brother in law retired from the police last week, 27 years in ( a few in the army before that, which also counted to his pension ) he is looking forward to sitting on his arse all day watching sky sports and going to florida every year, personally, i am worried for him, he will just slowly die in his armchair a waste imho
Ask Whitts
One thing every old person must do whether they are retired or not is to keep learning and exercising. I've been retired a long time and I've notice that those people my age who have declined are those who have stopped pushing themselves. If you can afford it I would say that gym membership is a must for a retiree. I suppose you could set up a gym in your shed but it wouldn't work for me. I like the extra things you get from a good gym - a pool, steam room, meeting people,etc.
There are many ways to keep your brain working. The best is probably language learning, but computer programming, crosswords, maths and memory exercises all work. As long as you find these things an effort then they are working, but if, for example, you find a crossword easy then it is not a useful mental exercise. It is a bit like weight training – if you find it easy you will not make any progress.
The sharpest old person I ever knew never worked a day in her life. Her secret was going for long walks and difficult crosswords. When she was in her late 90s people who walked behind her would think they were walking being someone in their 40s. She was a widow and she lived on her own until she was about 102.
I don't think she was ever lonely. She knew a lot of people and even in her 90s she would walk every day into town to do her shopping. She was extremely tough minded and was without an iota of sentimentality. When I chatted with her about her ancestors she said they were "rubbish from the East End of London". She had lived in her house since the early 1930s and it remained a museum piece from the 1930s. She never had a fridge or central heating.
Fantastic post, never ever stop learning, exercising and any doctor will tell you- working and having a purpose. These people in the public sector who cannot wait to retire and live off their pension which we pay for have got it all wrong and most of them deteriorate as soon as they start on their precious pension. Never ever retire, it's the beginning of the end........
I'm easing myself into retirement. I'm already down to 16 hours a week and if things go according to plan I reckon I will be less than ten hours a week in the next year.
The thought of doing bugger all does fill me with dread. Two hours a day seems reasonable.
"Public sector who cannot wait to retire and live off their pension which we pay for"
Really? Tell me how much you contribute to my pension!?!
I have worked in the public sector all my life, on substantially less pay than my private sector colleagues earn. We do it because we want to contribute to society, not for the money.
If we reach retirement age (which is currently 68), we have paid in a lot more than we'll ever receive. Especially, as shift workers, we're likely to die within 5 years of retiring!
Having worked in NHS ambulance services for over 20 years, I have lost count of the number of both serving and recently retired colleagues I have lost. Most recently a 52 year old paramedic who collapsed in cardiac arrest whilst resuscitating a patient
So before you go for the 'fashionable' dig at public sector workers. Consider that many of us are literally giving our lives, to save yours.
I finished from my public sector job 7 years ago today and yes,I do have a good pension but I paid 11% of my salary at the end but there were times when I first had a mortgage,where those contributions would have helped pay the bills. Like my emergency services colleague, quite a few of my friends from my old job,have sadly died young through cancer which is possibly job related and some only received their pension for a few short years or even months. When I joined the fire service, I joined because I wanted a job that offered something a bit different and also,to do something for the community.