this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2024
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A Boring Dystopia
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You can still have a very succesful retirement but just shift that working energy to yourself. Take up some hobbies and work on them often. Go hiking, cycling, skiing, or paddling. Spend more time with the family, maybe even moving in to help raise grandkids if space allows.
Retirement does not equal sitting on your ass the rest of your life, that sounds more like a mental illness.
I could be wrong, but I think the point that @weeeeum was making is that by the point you retire, your body and mind are so wrecked from having been overworked for 30+ years that 'just go outside' is an agonizing prospect. Yeah, if you make it to that point and can still go outside and do fun stuff then great. But if you retire at 65, are male, and American, then you're retiring at the average healthy life expectancy for your group and on average have about a decade of declining health to 'look forward to'. Chart
Yes, this is what I meant exactly. My mom has the aforementioned chronic pain from working 60 a week for like 20 years, and my dad had a stroke, partial blindness and high blood pressure after being so stressed at his work. My grandpa is nearly deaf from his time on an aircraft carrier in the Navy to get his GI bill. My great uncle died from asbestos exposure (from the Navy), for his GI bill and never saw retirement at all. Everyone aspired to retire early with tons of cash but ended up ruining their bodies or outright dying.
Instead of looking for a cutoff point to "finally live life", we should work comfortably and progressively easier as we age, mind and body intact.
A lot of that can be attributed to poor lifestyle choices as well, like smoking, alcohol, drugs, or inactive lifestyles. Some of that can certainly be attributed to too much work, poor conditions and low wages, but humans can certainly be healthy past 65.
And even if people are too sick to enjoy themselves past 65, I don't see how working longer is better than retiring in that state which is what the article ultimately wants.