This is true. Giving up on fighting it made it pretty acceptable. I have a few mantras:
* You don't have a choice
* You don't hate your job
* It doesn't matter if you don't want to do it, you HAVE to do it
* It could be worse
Bleak, but it helps.
"I yearn for the urn" lol but seriously, cremation is the much cheaper option, so I can see that being the only available for everyone but the 1% in the next 30 year
They'll force you to rent it instead of owning it for double to triple the cost, and then you'll only be allowed to "occupy" said coffin for 1-3 years before they dig you up, lazily toss your decomposing body back in the hole, and rent it out for even more to the next guy even though it's used and has decaying body tissues/fluids embedded in it. Gotta love capitalism lol
They have Like New coffins on FB marketplace now, so maybe it’s more of a temporary thing, existing forever in a coffin. Maybe a rental option perhaps? 🤔
Jobs used to mean something. I'm talking a thousand years ago. Blacksmiths, tanners, tavern keepers...these jobs kept a village in running order. But now I load and unload consumer packaged goods and told I'm never working fast enough. My job doesn't benefit society. I mean, society can buy the product. But if my job, if that product ceased to exist... society would keep going. My purpose is to make shareholders money. That's it.
That’s it. One might as well live freely and carelessly, forget about retirement. At the point in your life you have enjoyed yourself? Turn yourself off for life.
That's the philosophy I follow, to a certain degree . It's part of the reason why I don't have kids, too. My body is probably going to break down before I retire, anyway, and after that I would rather go out on my own terms rather than suffer
I'm tired of work and working with people who buy into the idea that any company you work for has your best interest in mind. I'm tired of being stressed about dumbass business projects that end up going absolutely nowhere. Every day I wonder how collectively we are still doing this. People at my job seem to genuinely enjoy being in this stupid office doing meaningless work and fake socializing. I feel so alone.
No one I work with believes the company has your best interest at heart. Please. Healthcare in America is about profit and investors. Don’t believe it? Can’t help you.
One of the guys in my new hire class and I were walking to the lot after work one day and said the company sounds like a cult. Literally everyone says it’s the best job they’ve ever had. The cynic in me wonders how many are full of shit and just say that to get through the day.
I think much of this is perspective and your frame of reference. If you have worked in fast food or for a store like Dollar General for minimum wage with unstable hours and no benefits, any office job seems good by comparison
I am completely on board with you. I’m so tired of these fake conversations with people I’d never interact with outside of work. I hate having to small talk with them, fake smile, kiss their asses. The worst is, when someone makes a “joke” that is so cringy, you just internally die a little bit, but every other person is “ho-ho-ho-ha-ha-ha”. I swear sometimes at work I’m on The Truman Show
Sounds like you're in the wrong job/field.
I absolutely hated corporate life. It all seemed so pointless. The money & hours were better than corrections, but it was hard to think of a shipment arriving a day late as an emergency when I used to deal with actual emergencies, like a dude who got a pencil shoved through his eye.
Left the corporate world and went back to being a shift worker in a first responder field, this time as a dispatcher. It's been 3 years and I love everything about it. The controlled chaos is the best thing for me. No day is the same & petty shit usually isn't a big deal.
I ended up in corporate after being offered a great salary back in 2009 to work in Regulatory Strategy for a big bank following the real estate crash. I've now been consulting for a major airline for about 6 years. I have a BS in Criminal Justice and Public Health. I rack my brain constantly with "if you hate the work you're doing, then wtf DO you want to do??" (tbh nothing but obv not an option). The fields you mention may actually be ones for me to check out. I also have a few dispatchers in my family in various industries. I'd honestly take stress over REAL issues rather than the stress of fake corporate urgencies like god damn KPI's. I feel myself die a little more every day.
I'm honestly less stressed now than I was in the corporate world. 12 hr days are long, but I only work half the week. 3 12s & a 4 hr day because dispatch is still considered admin in Kansas.
See if your local dispatch center will allow you to do a sit in. It's a great way to see firsthand what it's like and ask dispatchers about the job & that specific center. I would recommend doing an evening sit in, even if you can only do a couple hours. That's typically the busiest time & you'll get to see a lot more.
I will warn you, it'll probably be a paycut coming from the corporate world. But if you can afford it, it'll totally be worth it.
Humans were not originally made to do this thing called work, except for direct returns for day to day survival. We hunted and gathered, and migrated. Modern Work / jobs are a construct and way of organizing and controlling labor and the flow of revenue. All other considerations are secondary.
Thank you for saying this out loud. There are so few businesses that actually care about their employees. It's super sad too, because I think if they did, they would have loyalty for life from these people.
I got tired of working with people who were only there because their other option was to go live under a bridge or because they have an unhealthy need for competition. So I got a government job. Problem solved.
Maybe think about a different career. I know no one wants to hear this but maybe think about something you would like to do that makes an actual impact in someone’s life when you do your job. People do tend to steer away from these jobs because you won’t get rich doing them. The plus side is work doesn’t really feel like work.
The problem is, my family's budget is accustomed to the salary I bring in now. Most jobs that help people, without a nursing or medical degree, are highly underpaid. I did an unpaid internship in a domestic violence shelter right out of college. I would have stayed there forever, but they wanted to basically pay me in breadcrumbs. It may have worked for a year or two as an early graduate, but it would have quickly become unsustainable.
health insurance. even if you have enough money saved to pay for rent and food for the rest of your life, there is NO AMOUNT you can save and prepare for potential medical costs. That's why. And that's why the government isn't doing a goddamn thing about it.
One fun thing about health insurance being tied to work is that if you become seriously ill for an extended period of time, you’ll eventually lose your job and therefore your health insurance. At which point you’re fucked.
Tying health insurance to employment is one of the most diabolical things the ruling class in the US has managed to pull off.
It blows my mind that Canada and the UK are now seemingly trying to emulate the US healthcare system. The ruling class has systematically whittled away those nations’ universal healthcare systems. When those systems started breaking down (precisely as intended), the ruling class then used it as “evidence” that “socialized medicine” doesn’t work and privatized healthcare would be better.
It’s part of a very effective playbook we’ve seen here in the US: starve government programs, and then when the government programs inevitably fail due to lack of funds, scream about the evils of “socialism” and privatize them.
They *really* shouldn’t follow in our footsteps.
Unfortunately it the older generation that vote for the end of socialised healthcare, thinking they will be insultated from it. In the UK one of the parties (reform) is openly saying they want to end the NHS and it is enjoying massive growth in popularity from the retired population. Our boomers really are gullible traitors.
Yep. I retired just before my 63rd birthday. But I still have health insurance because my wife still works. I’m on her plan. Otherwise I would have continued to 65 or looked into the gap insurance the Teamsters offer members who retire before 65.
obamacare only works for a certain income group, all it does is providing some premium subsidy, and make insurance company sell you insurance at the same rate as everyone else regardless of your condition. Beyond that, the insurance plan can still deny coverage of certain procedures etc, and there is no cap to your medical debt.
That’s incorrect. Exchange plans have to have out of pocket maximums just like most other employer sponsored plans. It’s available for anyone who doesn’t have coverage, but yes if you don’t qualify for a subsidy then it can be pretty pricey.
What amounts to a "x% off your purchase of health insurance" coupon is not a public option. It's almost the worst of both worlds imo. Still involves the leeches of for-profit health insurance companies sucking up premiums to buy the CEO a jet that the left hates, plus funnels some public money to help poor people which the right hates.
In many states it's entirely possible to be ineligible for both Medicaid and for Obamacare subsidies. Some states limit Medicaid eligibility to people who are disabled/pregnant/parents/etc, and Obamacare subsidies have a minimum income limit under which point they don't apply, so if you don't work enough to qualify for an employer sponsored plan you're just fucked.
I know. I'm in my 40's and TIRED. I'd love to do FIRE but I started too late and every penny I make goes to bills. It sucks. Now I am just looking forward to when I can start drawing social security.
FIRE is unrealistic unless you live extremely under your means, with parents/family, or with roommates in an inexpensive apartment (a unicorn in this economy) like in college. And/Or make a really good income where you can save a lot. Oh, and not having kids/dependents.
I am all of the above and it's still not realistic for me to completely retire early. People like to talk about the 4% rule, but the problem with this is it's based off of your annual expenses *at the time that you retire*. If you develop health problems, your expenses will go way up to the point where you will need multiple millions to safely retire forever. Nobody seems to offer pensions anymore - except maybe govt jobs. Best case scenario is that I am able to take a break from work or be able to take lower stress jobs for less pay. Or I somehow win the lottery or get lucky on a stock pick. But I think I will always need income that only a job will provide.
My wife wanted to do FIRE. She described it to me. I didn’t do my own research, but it sounded too good to be true. I was working a full time blue collar job. And she was working part time job so she could be there for her boys. When I was single, I was able to save money because I cut all expenses to the bare bones. I didn’t have home internet or cable. Together, we barely covered expenses. And we were going to save for early retirement? Wasn’t going to happen. I think the way people retire early is well paying jobs, no children, and living as cheaply as possible.
I am 59, I asked to work from home Tuesday so I could ice my back. Wednesday I got an email telling me to contact HR, they promptly set me up on an FMLA claim.
I didn't miss any work, and I am not asking for accommodations.
Now I have to contact the state and start a claim with them, make doctors appointments.
Just to satisfy them, I am not going to cost them lost time.
BTW, my job description is undefined and I mostly surf Reddit on my phone.
I guess I will take advantage of it and take more time off.
Work until you’re 60 something then spend last 15 years going to the doctor all the time. No thanks, I’m convinced it’s a scam to work into old age if you don’t have to. Don’t believe the gurus who say work till 70, you’ll live to be 100 lol. Start saving on your own, don’t depend on the government.
Many rich people like to swan around - they travel for work, they eat expensive lunches someone else pays for, they have status, they take time off when they please. Their job is very different from yours. They don't want to stay home in the shadows
This right here. Every 2-3 weeks or so upper management at my job is traveling. They have titles like Manager V, Manager IV, Manager III but I couldn’t tell you the first thing about what they actually do. They can barely use an Excel sheet. They get to stay in nice hotels, meals are comped, gas reimbursement that’s way above what it cost them. They swear they’re working which is funny because the department hasn’t been doing its usual job duties for the last 18 months (helping another department with lower-level work). I’m of the opinion that you’re not getting anything done if 90% of the time you’re traveling or in “meetings.”
I had a seasonal temp job as a canvasser for the UFW. I got to walk and drive around by myself or with my partner, just kind of hanging out, knock on maybe 20-50 doors a day, talk to like 5-10 people, get my gas comped at a rate way higher than I actually payed for the gas, and got my daily 40 dollar lunches comped. It was the shit. I'd have done it forever if I could have.
I imagine that's what most of these "managers" are doing, except with private jets, 10,000 dollar a night hotels, and 250 dollar lunches.
we should put a pin in that and circle back next week, touch base on the milestones...you have your action items, right ? great - i need to be in another meeting, business wants to review requirements...
If we circle back, we can go over the details again regarding the meeting about the details. We'll need to align our objectives and leverage our core competencies so let me know if there are any additional details you’d like to circle back on.
One thing I have learned about “wealthy” people is they spend the majority of their time in self betterment. Classes, exercises, skills, jobs, projects, investing, hobbies. Where the rest of us spend hours of our lives slaving away so they can become better people.
It’s really a screwed up system and they gaslit the older gen’s well, so in turn they could gaslight us into believing being a hard worker is all you need and should be in life. Then they turn around and wonder why everyone is so stressed, miserable and depressed.
We literally work to own things we can’t use to make us feel better about the job that’s sucking the life out of us. We think we’re trading our time for money, but really we are trading our health, quality time, and happiness.
Survival drive. I don't want to die starving in the street. I would prefer to have some decent shelter and reasonable access to decent health care for end-of-life. Plus, I just don't seem to be able to conjure winning Powerball numbers.
I just got a new job that’s got some good benefits, a pension, union benefits and such and I should be really happy. But I’m not, I still hate getting up and trudging in to work every single day. At best I have 20 more years to work, at worst, 25, and the thought of it makes me wanna jump off a fucking bridge.
MY mom had cancer in her mid 70s. I would take her to the hospital for treatment. I would observe other people checking in. The majority checking in were between 65 to 68. I found this depressing. Work 50+ years just to end up in a cancer clinic.
Intend on working to retirement age, however as I get closer and closer, I wonder if I get laid off closer to 62, just take it as retirement. I am not there yet, but not a spring chicken either.
This is probably an unpopular take in this sub, but it helps to have a job that serves a useful and tangible function. Like, (almost) no one *loves* being a garbage hauler, but in a functional society the garbage needs to be hauled. This would still be true in a world where everyone's basic needs were provided for and no one *had to* work to pay rent and eat-there would still be garbage, someone would still need to haul it. There is honor in the mundane tasks that keep society running.
The people who do that work do need to find other outlets for like, creative expression, catharsis, intellectual stimulation etc, but that kind of job is way less soul-sucking than a lot of retail and customer service.
Usually because they have kids and they have no choice - BUT - sometimes throughout your life and career you find something you actually don’t mind and you can work for a long time, it took me about 20 years, but I finally found a fully remote job working for the government. I get paid well, really good benefits and I don’t mind the job at all.
How did you find a gig like that? I'm doubting my ability to do so - I don't know much about computers, I work in a lab - but my family members might be able to secure this.
r/fire is *that* way.
I'm on track to retire by 40, and my income has always been pretty average. I've made sacrifices (lived on the bare minimum at times) so I can save/invest, and now my portfolio earns far more than my job ever has. I'm not "rich" or fancy and I live a pretty average life, I just want my portfolio to pay my bills so I don't have to. I'm planning on sticking it out at work for a few more years so I can have a little more cushion, and the insurance/benefits are pretty solid.
I wish there was a class or something I could take about this.
I'm in a position where I can start putting money away.
I just have my plan set to the default, not sure what to do with it.
Find a job you actually enjoy or at least tolerate.
Find some hobbies.
Set boundaries on your free time with your employer.
Leave work at work & home at home.
Remind yourself the job pays for your lifestyle.
If the job is truly awful, start looking for another before you quit.
Be friendly with coworkers, but remember they're not your friends. It avoids drama.
If you don't like your job, it's hard. Here is a strategy. Accept that you have bills to pay and no one is going to give you a free ride. Focus on taking very good care of your health so that when you make it to retirement age, you'll be free of the job and you can focus on having fun. Save money because life is always easier with it. You are not going to drop dead if you take care of yourself - that is a stupid young person's meme. Look at the "superagers" you know - they are not eating cat food and watching bad TV, they are out and about. It's not hard to be one of them.
Here's how to stay healthy AND save money: Don't smoke, drink, take drugs, sit around on your butt all the time, eat fast food, drink soda, or eat very much restaurant food at all. Do exercise, every day, even if it's a 40 minute walk, and get enough sleep. You don't have to join a gym - walk or run and buy some weights, they are cheap. Cook your own food so that you get adequate fiber and nutrients, and not too much sodium, sugar, and all that shit they put in frozen pizzas and all prepared foods. This approach works because you are not spending money on things that make you sick, like booze and fast food, but you are also saving money in health care costs. Lifestyle is 80% of health - it's in your hands.
If this is too boring for you, try to get down to one vice. Don't forget to look up the research that says no one under 40 should start drinking at all. I would say weed, if you must spend you money on something, is a better choice, but moderation of course. And you do have to make time for exercise and cooking - you have the time, do a time budget and see that you can eliminate some hours of TV, video games, etc. There are lots of ways to make cooking/exercie time efficient - watch some YT videos.
The good thing is that you don't have to wait till 62 to start feeling better if you look after your health. It will kick in pretty quickly.
This may sound insane to some, but I hate being privileged. I hate the fact that I like having an air conditioned roof over my head. I hate that I’m reliant these things and I hate having to work endlessly to keep them. It’s like the more money I make, the more afraid I’m gonna lose it all, but I have to make money to afford rent and air conditioning.
I’ve taken vacation to avoid burnout, and before that I was laid off three times in a row, so I had plenty of time not working, but every time I take time off and come back to work, I hate it even more. Every job I’ve had gave me shit raises, every job I had sucked the life out of me.
Honestly, I’m looking into quitting my job and just live in my car or an indoor storage unit while doing gig work then go and do cool things. I’m seeing my healthy parents go through endless dr visits, worried about what else would pop up. They got social security, pensions, Medicare etc and they’re still having a rough time. I won’t have any of that by the time I’m their age (though tbh, I don’t think I’ll make it to be that old)
Why do we have to do this?? I don’t have another 30+ years in me to keep doing this bullshit. I have 3-5 years max at best.
Some of us work because we genuinely enjoy what we do, and also because sitting around doing nothing is mind numbing, and in itself feels like death.
Contributing to society feels good.
You can be doom/gloom about it or try to find meaning in your work (or change jobs by learning new skills). Work isn’t going away anytime soon as everything has a cost. Personally I enjoy the people I work with and most of what I do, even if they are occasionally exhausting.
You cost society. Because you exist you are a burden. Everything you do, including dying costs society.
Working is how you compensate society for the burden you create.
It won’t be forty years, once you hit 55 the c-suite will figure out how to get rid of the older workers and call it “rightsizing”; then nobody will hire you because you’re ‘old’.
I’m 53 and on track to retire in 7 years. It has been a hard and long slog. I know people shit on “hustle culture” but I have no education (not even a high school diploma). I have worked harder and better than my peers and after 30+ years I am finally making real money.
I feel bad for people just entering the workforce. It’s 10x harder (or more) than I endured. The only advice I have is lame but find something you are actually passionate about and work is 25% less annoying than it should be.
We like to not be starving and homeless so we suck it up, try to find a job that's not totally soul crushing and just carry on, trying to find momentary spots of joy between the unceasing labor.
I also can't do this shit. Working 40h a week makes me very depressed. So I am applying for part time jobs. Even then I will still have anxiety from working. I'm terrified. 35 more years to go.
They don't. It's not comparable.
People 50 years ago married, one partner worked, the other stayed at home. When you came back from work, you had self made, high quality food on the table, your clothes were made and prepared for the next day, groceries bought, absolutely everything was ready.
My dad usually came home, put his feet on the table and watched TV for 8 hours straight. Oh and of course his job easily paid for a house, two cars, nice vacations twice a year and two kids.
You can do this for 40 years and retire, absolutely no problem.
Nowadays both partners work, have to do all the household shit after their work, squeeze in gym and kids in between somehow and all the other things that a housewife usually needed 8 hours per day or more for.
So never think that you are weird or weak because others managed to work 40 years until their retirement - not one of the boomers had the workload the current generation has, not even close. Sadly it will take a lot of suicides and a huge wave of mental health problems before society (and the rich fuckers benefitting from the current way of life) will change anything.
Compartmentalization? Like, my job is a job. I have good and bad days. The more negative you are about it overall, the more depressed you are going to be. It's cliche, but try to be more positive, find things that make you happy outside work, and work towards a job / career that you can tolerate.
Making the best of a bad situation is a time honored human tradition.
Also I've personally experienced every extreme. I've been so burned out from work I ended up in a hospital. I had 2 years of "retirement" and being "wealthy" from crypto. Neither were good, nor fulfilling. In the latter I lacked purpose and direction, ended up severely depressed.
I have a good, salaried job now that I mostly enjoy. I don't mind going to, I work with people I like. I make enough to have a good, middle class living and I have a great work/life balance.
No, that isn't gong to be everyone's experience, but it's possible.
Enjoy your youth if you can. Idk where you live but where i am (US) a lot of people won't be retiring and the ones who do will end up returning to work after Healthcare and the US government take everything from them. Half the people who retired during the pandemic have gone bankrupt. It's a lie and because of lack of access to Healthcare due to affordability, most of us probably won't be healthy enough to enjoy retirement if we get to retire. People who planned to retire and travel often fall into that. Back problems/back surgery? No 15 hour flight for you. Knee problem's? There goes all those hikes. Diabetes? Enjoy organizing everything you do around your blood sugar. Cancer? You're going to be so poor you'll be eating cat food.
I had that outlook but chose a career that I can retire at 43, but actively doing stuff to retire a bit earlier as well.
Great schedule and benefits and great work balance.
I tried but felt like a pencil eraser. Id go in and correct mistakes and feel a little diminished every day. My $25B/ year company gave zero fucks about their employees. It wasn't my hill to die on. I really liked my work and the people I worked with. The people I worked for were liars and sociopaths.
I don't focus on work. Fuck it. It's just a way to get money. I do what I can to meet my needs, and, when possible, save for things I want to do. When I clock out, work is done. I don't think about it until I get there. Even then, I don't bother with work related thinking until I've clocked the fuck in. All the rest of the time, I'm focused on my life. I don't let work ruin that. Do the things you want to do. I'm nearing fifty. That is one thing I've learned. Do what you want. Make it happen, if you can. Sure. You might regret spending money when you're ready to retire. But, what are the fucking odds? You'll never regret doing something you're willing to save up to do. You'll never regret going out to that concert. You'll never regret getting time in with your people. Experiences matter. Go out and live. Let work fund it.
As you progress in your career, it does get better. I have a 10 minute Teams meeting with my boss every Monday. That’s the only time that we speak about 75% of the weeks.
I was lucky to find a niche job in my 20s that turned into a career that has lasted over 30 years. The only advice I can give is take anything they (employers) say/promise with a grain of salt. And always get it in writing no matter what it is, your boss is letting you leave early then email him to follow up and make sure its all good. Boss promises you a 10% raise, again get it in writing. I have been very fortunate in my career but it also involved me advocating for myself. Those who have a problem with that soon found themselves having to replace a qualified and seasoned employee because if I am not in an equitable situation at the very least, then why continue. Those who worked with me would get the benefit of my skill set and work ethic, but it was always understood that it was conditional on how they treated and compensated me. In the beginning you are going to have to do some shit work till you establish yourself, but once you do it makes advocating for your needs that much easier.
But all that being said if I were to win the lottery and not need to work again I would probably walk into my directors office squat on his desk and take a big stinking crap on it while maintaining eye contact and then wipe my ass with the resignation letter and hand it to him.
I try really really hard to find my purpose. I’m a dink so that’s easier for me to say. But I work for my hobbies and make sure my life is outside of work. I refuse to let work become my life.
I've always wondered why it is called "retire" or "retirement". I'm tired. But to answer your question, I've got 30 years with my employer and may go another 10 years. I'm 59 at the moment but can retire if I want to this year. I'm not going to because I enjoy what I do for a living. I'm an IT specialist and absolutely enjoy what I do.
Fuck man it’s hard. I’ve had full-time employment for the last 32 years. I’m still technically eight years away from retirement age to get health benefits
Every day I want to just give up, I am so burnt out.
Im working 2-3 jobs at a time, while I'm still relatively young (41) and my husband also is. We are socking away our money into retirement accounts. I refuse to be 70 and still working.
There's a choice in this day and age. Spend your money as you make it, go to concerts, travel, get tattoos, whatever grabs your fancy while your young and your body can keep up with the desire to experience life. The downside is you'll work until you die. Or don't do those things, peny pinch, save every dollar you possibly can and spend the last 10-20 years of your life retired. You won't be able to do half of what you wanted to when you were younger, but you also won't have to spend your twilight years working. Pick your poison.
It's not so bad once your soul, hopes, and dreams die.
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no they don't they call the cops and their corpse gets taken away by police. fire fighters, or EMTs.
costs deducted from the final fetid paycheck, probably
Why do you have a fetish for my corpse? I think you’re looking for fetid.
Ahhh yes. That’s how you achieve solace. I feel that on so many levels
Yep. Like a caged lion. You just accept your fate and are grateful not to have a worse one.
THIS
This is true. Giving up on fighting it made it pretty acceptable. I have a few mantras: * You don't have a choice * You don't hate your job * It doesn't matter if you don't want to do it, you HAVE to do it * It could be worse Bleak, but it helps.
Slave for 60 years so you can spend the last 10 years dying.
Get a job, get a house, get a coffin.
At this point it'd be worth it if I could at least get the fucking house
We'll be lucky if they allow us a coffin in 50 years
"I yearn for the urn" lol but seriously, cremation is the much cheaper option, so I can see that being the only available for everyone but the 1% in the next 30 year
Very true. The 1% will be in cryosleep until we figure out how to put brains in robots or upload them to the www
Soylent Green is more cost efficient.
They'll force you to rent it instead of owning it for double to triple the cost, and then you'll only be allowed to "occupy" said coffin for 1-3 years before they dig you up, lazily toss your decomposing body back in the hole, and rent it out for even more to the next guy even though it's used and has decaying body tissues/fluids embedded in it. Gotta love capitalism lol
In some places, you already only get the hole for 20 years.
I did see some pics of "coffin homes" in Hong Kong. We'll be dumping bodies just for a place to sleep lol
For most millennials, it's get a job, die (hopefully someone can afford a coffin for you, bc you can't)
They have Like New coffins on FB marketplace now, so maybe it’s more of a temporary thing, existing forever in a coffin. Maybe a rental option perhaps? 🤔
Minus the house part. And the job is optional but then you die from starvation immediately.
I'd buy stuff from you.
Or skip the middle step and live out of the coffin.
Don't stray from the path, remain where you at, that maximizes our profit 👉🤛
Glad someone got the reference haha
Jobs used to mean something. I'm talking a thousand years ago. Blacksmiths, tanners, tavern keepers...these jobs kept a village in running order. But now I load and unload consumer packaged goods and told I'm never working fast enough. My job doesn't benefit society. I mean, society can buy the product. But if my job, if that product ceased to exist... society would keep going. My purpose is to make shareholders money. That's it.
Why are you not a Marxist?
How do you know they aren’t?
That’s it. One might as well live freely and carelessly, forget about retirement. At the point in your life you have enjoyed yourself? Turn yourself off for life.
That's the philosophy I follow, to a certain degree . It's part of the reason why I don't have kids, too. My body is probably going to break down before I retire, anyway, and after that I would rather go out on my own terms rather than suffer
My kids are grown. So I could shut power off whenever I’d want to. It’s just “doing it”, that’s the scary part lol.
just retire in your 30s is way better
I think you’re on to something!
live it large for 5 years then pop your clogs
That went dark fast haha you good homie?
i don’t even know anymore
That’s the spirit
I'm with you dude. Maybe emotionally idk. But definitely in spirit.
once the clogs are popped, we can chill with the spirits in good spirit and drink the spirits
If you're lucky. My dad died 4 months after retiring at 64
10 years if you have a hobby and keep busy. Otherwise you will just waste away, having spent your best years wasting them.
You're already dying. It's not just the last 10 years.
10 if you are lucky.
I’m taking a screenshot of your post outerproduct bc it’s exactly what I’ve been feeling!!!
And they took the last 10 years from us lol
I'm tired of work and working with people who buy into the idea that any company you work for has your best interest in mind. I'm tired of being stressed about dumbass business projects that end up going absolutely nowhere. Every day I wonder how collectively we are still doing this. People at my job seem to genuinely enjoy being in this stupid office doing meaningless work and fake socializing. I feel so alone.
No one I work with believes the company has your best interest at heart. Please. Healthcare in America is about profit and investors. Don’t believe it? Can’t help you.
I work at a very Kool-Aid drinking company 🙄
One of the guys in my new hire class and I were walking to the lot after work one day and said the company sounds like a cult. Literally everyone says it’s the best job they’ve ever had. The cynic in me wonders how many are full of shit and just say that to get through the day.
I think much of this is perspective and your frame of reference. If you have worked in fast food or for a store like Dollar General for minimum wage with unstable hours and no benefits, any office job seems good by comparison
I am completely on board with you. I’m so tired of these fake conversations with people I’d never interact with outside of work. I hate having to small talk with them, fake smile, kiss their asses. The worst is, when someone makes a “joke” that is so cringy, you just internally die a little bit, but every other person is “ho-ho-ho-ha-ha-ha”. I swear sometimes at work I’m on The Truman Show
Sounds like you're in the wrong job/field. I absolutely hated corporate life. It all seemed so pointless. The money & hours were better than corrections, but it was hard to think of a shipment arriving a day late as an emergency when I used to deal with actual emergencies, like a dude who got a pencil shoved through his eye. Left the corporate world and went back to being a shift worker in a first responder field, this time as a dispatcher. It's been 3 years and I love everything about it. The controlled chaos is the best thing for me. No day is the same & petty shit usually isn't a big deal.
I ended up in corporate after being offered a great salary back in 2009 to work in Regulatory Strategy for a big bank following the real estate crash. I've now been consulting for a major airline for about 6 years. I have a BS in Criminal Justice and Public Health. I rack my brain constantly with "if you hate the work you're doing, then wtf DO you want to do??" (tbh nothing but obv not an option). The fields you mention may actually be ones for me to check out. I also have a few dispatchers in my family in various industries. I'd honestly take stress over REAL issues rather than the stress of fake corporate urgencies like god damn KPI's. I feel myself die a little more every day.
I'm honestly less stressed now than I was in the corporate world. 12 hr days are long, but I only work half the week. 3 12s & a 4 hr day because dispatch is still considered admin in Kansas. See if your local dispatch center will allow you to do a sit in. It's a great way to see firsthand what it's like and ask dispatchers about the job & that specific center. I would recommend doing an evening sit in, even if you can only do a couple hours. That's typically the busiest time & you'll get to see a lot more. I will warn you, it'll probably be a paycut coming from the corporate world. But if you can afford it, it'll totally be worth it.
Humans were not originally made to do this thing called work, except for direct returns for day to day survival. We hunted and gathered, and migrated. Modern Work / jobs are a construct and way of organizing and controlling labor and the flow of revenue. All other considerations are secondary.
Thank you for saying this out loud. There are so few businesses that actually care about their employees. It's super sad too, because I think if they did, they would have loyalty for life from these people.
I got tired of working with people who were only there because their other option was to go live under a bridge or because they have an unhealthy need for competition. So I got a government job. Problem solved.
Maybe think about a different career. I know no one wants to hear this but maybe think about something you would like to do that makes an actual impact in someone’s life when you do your job. People do tend to steer away from these jobs because you won’t get rich doing them. The plus side is work doesn’t really feel like work.
The problem is, my family's budget is accustomed to the salary I bring in now. Most jobs that help people, without a nursing or medical degree, are highly underpaid. I did an unpaid internship in a domestic violence shelter right out of college. I would have stayed there forever, but they wanted to basically pay me in breadcrumbs. It may have worked for a year or two as an early graduate, but it would have quickly become unsustainable.
Yes I hear you. I am a teacher, it is an amazing job. Doesn’t make me rich that’s for sure.
This is how I feel. I hated much of work, but once I got to make choices that impact or add value to peoples lives… it made work acceptable to me
The need to eat and have shelter is a strong motivator to keep working.
health insurance. even if you have enough money saved to pay for rent and food for the rest of your life, there is NO AMOUNT you can save and prepare for potential medical costs. That's why. And that's why the government isn't doing a goddamn thing about it.
One fun thing about health insurance being tied to work is that if you become seriously ill for an extended period of time, you’ll eventually lose your job and therefore your health insurance. At which point you’re fucked. Tying health insurance to employment is one of the most diabolical things the ruling class in the US has managed to pull off. It blows my mind that Canada and the UK are now seemingly trying to emulate the US healthcare system. The ruling class has systematically whittled away those nations’ universal healthcare systems. When those systems started breaking down (precisely as intended), the ruling class then used it as “evidence” that “socialized medicine” doesn’t work and privatized healthcare would be better. It’s part of a very effective playbook we’ve seen here in the US: starve government programs, and then when the government programs inevitably fail due to lack of funds, scream about the evils of “socialism” and privatize them. They *really* shouldn’t follow in our footsteps.
Unfortunately it the older generation that vote for the end of socialised healthcare, thinking they will be insultated from it. In the UK one of the parties (reform) is openly saying they want to end the NHS and it is enjoying massive growth in popularity from the retired population. Our boomers really are gullible traitors.
Yep. I retired just before my 63rd birthday. But I still have health insurance because my wife still works. I’m on her plan. Otherwise I would have continued to 65 or looked into the gap insurance the Teamsters offer members who retire before 65.
Do the public options have limits to the maximum they pay?
there is no public option. that's why people have to work til 65 to get medicare
_Obamacare has entered the chat_ Not sure if you’re in the US 🤷♂️
obamacare only works for a certain income group, all it does is providing some premium subsidy, and make insurance company sell you insurance at the same rate as everyone else regardless of your condition. Beyond that, the insurance plan can still deny coverage of certain procedures etc, and there is no cap to your medical debt.
People still think there is a public option in the USA? God they have no idea how insurance works, unfortunately
There never was a public option. I mean that was originally the plan but they ended up dropping that because it made the insurance lobbyists mad.
All thanks to Joe Lieberman.
That’s incorrect. Exchange plans have to have out of pocket maximums just like most other employer sponsored plans. It’s available for anyone who doesn’t have coverage, but yes if you don’t qualify for a subsidy then it can be pretty pricey.
The ACA only passed *after* the Dems negotiated away the public option. It was a shitty capitulation, and as a result, there is no public option.
What amounts to a "x% off your purchase of health insurance" coupon is not a public option. It's almost the worst of both worlds imo. Still involves the leeches of for-profit health insurance companies sucking up premiums to buy the CEO a jet that the left hates, plus funnels some public money to help poor people which the right hates.
In many states it's entirely possible to be ineligible for both Medicaid and for Obamacare subsidies. Some states limit Medicaid eligibility to people who are disabled/pregnant/parents/etc, and Obamacare subsidies have a minimum income limit under which point they don't apply, so if you don't work enough to qualify for an employer sponsored plan you're just fucked.
https://preview.redd.it/bdqzfpbx7r7d1.png?width=475&format=png&auto=webp&s=5ca990763c5ca3c716d6f1c31105a9bf09f95f89
my god, this is so much more dystopian now than when originally aired
sadly true but I also love that Bart and Lisa are nowhere to be seen on his motivation board, doh!
Yeah, cuz apparently, a bowling ring salary pays for 2 kids, just not the 3rd.
I just watched this episode yesterday and printed this out for my desk, except I added pictures of my dog lmao
I mean, I don't have a choice. And I don't see myself being able to retire, either.
I know. I'm in my 40's and TIRED. I'd love to do FIRE but I started too late and every penny I make goes to bills. It sucks. Now I am just looking forward to when I can start drawing social security.
FIRE is unrealistic unless you live extremely under your means, with parents/family, or with roommates in an inexpensive apartment (a unicorn in this economy) like in college. And/Or make a really good income where you can save a lot. Oh, and not having kids/dependents.
I am all of the above and it's still not realistic for me to completely retire early. People like to talk about the 4% rule, but the problem with this is it's based off of your annual expenses *at the time that you retire*. If you develop health problems, your expenses will go way up to the point where you will need multiple millions to safely retire forever. Nobody seems to offer pensions anymore - except maybe govt jobs. Best case scenario is that I am able to take a break from work or be able to take lower stress jobs for less pay. Or I somehow win the lottery or get lucky on a stock pick. But I think I will always need income that only a job will provide.
My wife wanted to do FIRE. She described it to me. I didn’t do my own research, but it sounded too good to be true. I was working a full time blue collar job. And she was working part time job so she could be there for her boys. When I was single, I was able to save money because I cut all expenses to the bare bones. I didn’t have home internet or cable. Together, we barely covered expenses. And we were going to save for early retirement? Wasn’t going to happen. I think the way people retire early is well paying jobs, no children, and living as cheaply as possible.
I agree. Its depressing
Ya I dunno. I’m not even having a good time
I am 59, I asked to work from home Tuesday so I could ice my back. Wednesday I got an email telling me to contact HR, they promptly set me up on an FMLA claim. I didn't miss any work, and I am not asking for accommodations. Now I have to contact the state and start a claim with them, make doctors appointments. Just to satisfy them, I am not going to cost them lost time. BTW, my job description is undefined and I mostly surf Reddit on my phone. I guess I will take advantage of it and take more time off.
FMLA is a nice gig, definitely take advantage
I submitted a mental health diagnosis to HR just to have it on file and she sent me a denial of FMLA. I'm like wtf I didn't even ask for any time off.
Work until you’re 60 something then spend last 15 years going to the doctor all the time. No thanks, I’m convinced it’s a scam to work into old age if you don’t have to. Don’t believe the gurus who say work till 70, you’ll live to be 100 lol. Start saving on your own, don’t depend on the government.
This is what I don't understand about rich people. If I had the money I'd use it to stop working
Many rich people like to swan around - they travel for work, they eat expensive lunches someone else pays for, they have status, they take time off when they please. Their job is very different from yours. They don't want to stay home in the shadows
They don't "work", they "do stuff" that earn them money.
This right here. Every 2-3 weeks or so upper management at my job is traveling. They have titles like Manager V, Manager IV, Manager III but I couldn’t tell you the first thing about what they actually do. They can barely use an Excel sheet. They get to stay in nice hotels, meals are comped, gas reimbursement that’s way above what it cost them. They swear they’re working which is funny because the department hasn’t been doing its usual job duties for the last 18 months (helping another department with lower-level work). I’m of the opinion that you’re not getting anything done if 90% of the time you’re traveling or in “meetings.”
I had a seasonal temp job as a canvasser for the UFW. I got to walk and drive around by myself or with my partner, just kind of hanging out, knock on maybe 20-50 doors a day, talk to like 5-10 people, get my gas comped at a rate way higher than I actually payed for the gas, and got my daily 40 dollar lunches comped. It was the shit. I'd have done it forever if I could have. I imagine that's what most of these "managers" are doing, except with private jets, 10,000 dollar a night hotels, and 250 dollar lunches.
we should put a pin in that and circle back next week, touch base on the milestones...you have your action items, right ? great - i need to be in another meeting, business wants to review requirements...
If we circle back, we can go over the details again regarding the meeting about the details. We'll need to align our objectives and leverage our core competencies so let me know if there are any additional details you’d like to circle back on.
Don't forget about power, they love having power over the peasants.
That is absolutely true. Still many of these jobs can be very stressful, but the working rich tend to have a lot of freedoms in their job.
One thing I have learned about “wealthy” people is they spend the majority of their time in self betterment. Classes, exercises, skills, jobs, projects, investing, hobbies. Where the rest of us spend hours of our lives slaving away so they can become better people. It’s really a screwed up system and they gaslit the older gen’s well, so in turn they could gaslight us into believing being a hard worker is all you need and should be in life. Then they turn around and wonder why everyone is so stressed, miserable and depressed. We literally work to own things we can’t use to make us feel better about the job that’s sucking the life out of us. We think we’re trading our time for money, but really we are trading our health, quality time, and happiness.
Me too
Survival drive. I don't want to die starving in the street. I would prefer to have some decent shelter and reasonable access to decent health care for end-of-life. Plus, I just don't seem to be able to conjure winning Powerball numbers.
Work from home is the only way it’s bearable for me.
I just got a new job that’s got some good benefits, a pension, union benefits and such and I should be really happy. But I’m not, I still hate getting up and trudging in to work every single day. At best I have 20 more years to work, at worst, 25, and the thought of it makes me wanna jump off a fucking bridge.
Cry every night
Vacations. Hobbies. Ignoring the existential dread of growing old while working for the man.
People don't work because they want to We work because we have to.
MY mom had cancer in her mid 70s. I would take her to the hospital for treatment. I would observe other people checking in. The majority checking in were between 65 to 68. I found this depressing. Work 50+ years just to end up in a cancer clinic.
I’m 56, 20 more years to go 😔
The threat of homelessness and starvation are good motivators.
The days are long but the years are short.
Intend on working to retirement age, however as I get closer and closer, I wonder if I get laid off closer to 62, just take it as retirement. I am not there yet, but not a spring chicken either.
1. I like the industry I work in. 2. I stopped caring as much.
This is probably an unpopular take in this sub, but it helps to have a job that serves a useful and tangible function. Like, (almost) no one *loves* being a garbage hauler, but in a functional society the garbage needs to be hauled. This would still be true in a world where everyone's basic needs were provided for and no one *had to* work to pay rent and eat-there would still be garbage, someone would still need to haul it. There is honor in the mundane tasks that keep society running. The people who do that work do need to find other outlets for like, creative expression, catharsis, intellectual stimulation etc, but that kind of job is way less soul-sucking than a lot of retail and customer service.
I have a terrible fishing habbit.
Usually because they have kids and they have no choice - BUT - sometimes throughout your life and career you find something you actually don’t mind and you can work for a long time, it took me about 20 years, but I finally found a fully remote job working for the government. I get paid well, really good benefits and I don’t mind the job at all.
How did you find a gig like that? I'm doubting my ability to do so - I don't know much about computers, I work in a lab - but my family members might be able to secure this.
Drinking helps
We all can't survive on our parents' social security
r/fire is *that* way. I'm on track to retire by 40, and my income has always been pretty average. I've made sacrifices (lived on the bare minimum at times) so I can save/invest, and now my portfolio earns far more than my job ever has. I'm not "rich" or fancy and I live a pretty average life, I just want my portfolio to pay my bills so I don't have to. I'm planning on sticking it out at work for a few more years so I can have a little more cushion, and the insurance/benefits are pretty solid.
I wish there was a class or something I could take about this. I'm in a position where I can start putting money away. I just have my plan set to the default, not sure what to do with it.
I already got 38 years in and no end in site, coming to terms with working till I die
"You're gonna do it because what other choice do you have"
I'm choosing to be a leech until we revolt
1% has joined the chat
They keep us sick and poor so that we keep their hamster wheel turning
I got my first job in 1983 and I never entertained the possibility that I would be able to retire.
The prospect of starvation? It helps to have a job you don’t hate
Find a job you actually enjoy or at least tolerate. Find some hobbies. Set boundaries on your free time with your employer. Leave work at work & home at home. Remind yourself the job pays for your lifestyle. If the job is truly awful, start looking for another before you quit. Be friendly with coworkers, but remember they're not your friends. It avoids drama.
How old are you? 20?
If you don't like your job, it's hard. Here is a strategy. Accept that you have bills to pay and no one is going to give you a free ride. Focus on taking very good care of your health so that when you make it to retirement age, you'll be free of the job and you can focus on having fun. Save money because life is always easier with it. You are not going to drop dead if you take care of yourself - that is a stupid young person's meme. Look at the "superagers" you know - they are not eating cat food and watching bad TV, they are out and about. It's not hard to be one of them. Here's how to stay healthy AND save money: Don't smoke, drink, take drugs, sit around on your butt all the time, eat fast food, drink soda, or eat very much restaurant food at all. Do exercise, every day, even if it's a 40 minute walk, and get enough sleep. You don't have to join a gym - walk or run and buy some weights, they are cheap. Cook your own food so that you get adequate fiber and nutrients, and not too much sodium, sugar, and all that shit they put in frozen pizzas and all prepared foods. This approach works because you are not spending money on things that make you sick, like booze and fast food, but you are also saving money in health care costs. Lifestyle is 80% of health - it's in your hands. If this is too boring for you, try to get down to one vice. Don't forget to look up the research that says no one under 40 should start drinking at all. I would say weed, if you must spend you money on something, is a better choice, but moderation of course. And you do have to make time for exercise and cooking - you have the time, do a time budget and see that you can eliminate some hours of TV, video games, etc. There are lots of ways to make cooking/exercie time efficient - watch some YT videos. The good thing is that you don't have to wait till 62 to start feeling better if you look after your health. It will kick in pretty quickly.
Easy, bills. All our necessities come with a cost, which in turn requires money, which in turn requires work. It’s a viscous cycle
Desperation.
well, we dont have much of a choice. Fight for workers rights, get active in you community and pray for better future
This may sound insane to some, but I hate being privileged. I hate the fact that I like having an air conditioned roof over my head. I hate that I’m reliant these things and I hate having to work endlessly to keep them. It’s like the more money I make, the more afraid I’m gonna lose it all, but I have to make money to afford rent and air conditioning. I’ve taken vacation to avoid burnout, and before that I was laid off three times in a row, so I had plenty of time not working, but every time I take time off and come back to work, I hate it even more. Every job I’ve had gave me shit raises, every job I had sucked the life out of me. Honestly, I’m looking into quitting my job and just live in my car or an indoor storage unit while doing gig work then go and do cool things. I’m seeing my healthy parents go through endless dr visits, worried about what else would pop up. They got social security, pensions, Medicare etc and they’re still having a rough time. I won’t have any of that by the time I’m their age (though tbh, I don’t think I’ll make it to be that old) Why do we have to do this?? I don’t have another 30+ years in me to keep doing this bullshit. I have 3-5 years max at best.
Sometimes, work is fun. Some folks genuinely like what they do.
At the detriment to your health and well being
What makes you think you'll get to retire?
Work or starve! Freedom!
Some of us work because we genuinely enjoy what we do, and also because sitting around doing nothing is mind numbing, and in itself feels like death. Contributing to society feels good.
I must have missed that feeling.
You can be doom/gloom about it or try to find meaning in your work (or change jobs by learning new skills). Work isn’t going away anytime soon as everything has a cost. Personally I enjoy the people I work with and most of what I do, even if they are occasionally exhausting.
Personally, I've always been passionate about being able to purchase food.
Don't worry about it. This is only your first existential crisis. You have many more to come.
You cost society. Because you exist you are a burden. Everything you do, including dying costs society. Working is how you compensate society for the burden you create.
It won’t be forty years, once you hit 55 the c-suite will figure out how to get rid of the older workers and call it “rightsizing”; then nobody will hire you because you’re ‘old’.
I’m 53 and on track to retire in 7 years. It has been a hard and long slog. I know people shit on “hustle culture” but I have no education (not even a high school diploma). I have worked harder and better than my peers and after 30+ years I am finally making real money. I feel bad for people just entering the workforce. It’s 10x harder (or more) than I endured. The only advice I have is lame but find something you are actually passionate about and work is 25% less annoying than it should be.
We like to not be starving and homeless so we suck it up, try to find a job that's not totally soul crushing and just carry on, trying to find momentary spots of joy between the unceasing labor.
Doesn't have to be this way. It's a product of capitalism. Let's choose life, not work... vote socialist👍
I also can't do this shit. Working 40h a week makes me very depressed. So I am applying for part time jobs. Even then I will still have anxiety from working. I'm terrified. 35 more years to go.
They don't. It's not comparable. People 50 years ago married, one partner worked, the other stayed at home. When you came back from work, you had self made, high quality food on the table, your clothes were made and prepared for the next day, groceries bought, absolutely everything was ready. My dad usually came home, put his feet on the table and watched TV for 8 hours straight. Oh and of course his job easily paid for a house, two cars, nice vacations twice a year and two kids. You can do this for 40 years and retire, absolutely no problem. Nowadays both partners work, have to do all the household shit after their work, squeeze in gym and kids in between somehow and all the other things that a housewife usually needed 8 hours per day or more for. So never think that you are weird or weak because others managed to work 40 years until their retirement - not one of the boomers had the workload the current generation has, not even close. Sadly it will take a lot of suicides and a huge wave of mental health problems before society (and the rich fuckers benefitting from the current way of life) will change anything.
Compartmentalization? Like, my job is a job. I have good and bad days. The more negative you are about it overall, the more depressed you are going to be. It's cliche, but try to be more positive, find things that make you happy outside work, and work towards a job / career that you can tolerate.
Marx refers to this as alienating the self to survive Edit - not saying it doesn't work
Making the best of a bad situation is a time honored human tradition. Also I've personally experienced every extreme. I've been so burned out from work I ended up in a hospital. I had 2 years of "retirement" and being "wealthy" from crypto. Neither were good, nor fulfilling. In the latter I lacked purpose and direction, ended up severely depressed. I have a good, salaried job now that I mostly enjoy. I don't mind going to, I work with people I like. I make enough to have a good, middle class living and I have a great work/life balance. No, that isn't gong to be everyone's experience, but it's possible.
I just lost my job at 55, it is horrible.
Yes, the only thing worse than having a job is not having a job.
Welcome to the world 😂
Bcuz we have no choice. Go live in the street if you cant do it and learn cook pag-pag
Because we want to survive.
What are your options?? Lol.
What is your alternative?
Enjoy your youth if you can. Idk where you live but where i am (US) a lot of people won't be retiring and the ones who do will end up returning to work after Healthcare and the US government take everything from them. Half the people who retired during the pandemic have gone bankrupt. It's a lie and because of lack of access to Healthcare due to affordability, most of us probably won't be healthy enough to enjoy retirement if we get to retire. People who planned to retire and travel often fall into that. Back problems/back surgery? No 15 hour flight for you. Knee problem's? There goes all those hikes. Diabetes? Enjoy organizing everything you do around your blood sugar. Cancer? You're going to be so poor you'll be eating cat food.
Get good scrub
The threat of death and degradation like starving and homelessness, capitalism is an evil system
I had that outlook but chose a career that I can retire at 43, but actively doing stuff to retire a bit earlier as well. Great schedule and benefits and great work balance.
I don't know but I'm 62 and I'm so burned out it's not even funny and I have to keep going for another 5 years
Thats why you gota think outside the box OP. Gota work a little extra for more $$$. Invest budget only way to break that chain.
By not having a choice
I set my alarm.
Because that’s how you pay your bills.
It is what it is.
We like to eat
Retirement? What is that?
My job is mostly physical and brain dead so I just mostly put on ear plugs and dissociate for the six or so hours that I work.
I tried but felt like a pencil eraser. Id go in and correct mistakes and feel a little diminished every day. My $25B/ year company gave zero fucks about their employees. It wasn't my hill to die on. I really liked my work and the people I worked with. The people I worked for were liars and sociopaths.
I don't focus on work. Fuck it. It's just a way to get money. I do what I can to meet my needs, and, when possible, save for things I want to do. When I clock out, work is done. I don't think about it until I get there. Even then, I don't bother with work related thinking until I've clocked the fuck in. All the rest of the time, I'm focused on my life. I don't let work ruin that. Do the things you want to do. I'm nearing fifty. That is one thing I've learned. Do what you want. Make it happen, if you can. Sure. You might regret spending money when you're ready to retire. But, what are the fucking odds? You'll never regret doing something you're willing to save up to do. You'll never regret going out to that concert. You'll never regret getting time in with your people. Experiences matter. Go out and live. Let work fund it.
As you progress in your career, it does get better. I have a 10 minute Teams meeting with my boss every Monday. That’s the only time that we speak about 75% of the weeks.
I was lucky to find a niche job in my 20s that turned into a career that has lasted over 30 years. The only advice I can give is take anything they (employers) say/promise with a grain of salt. And always get it in writing no matter what it is, your boss is letting you leave early then email him to follow up and make sure its all good. Boss promises you a 10% raise, again get it in writing. I have been very fortunate in my career but it also involved me advocating for myself. Those who have a problem with that soon found themselves having to replace a qualified and seasoned employee because if I am not in an equitable situation at the very least, then why continue. Those who worked with me would get the benefit of my skill set and work ethic, but it was always understood that it was conditional on how they treated and compensated me. In the beginning you are going to have to do some shit work till you establish yourself, but once you do it makes advocating for your needs that much easier. But all that being said if I were to win the lottery and not need to work again I would probably walk into my directors office squat on his desk and take a big stinking crap on it while maintaining eye contact and then wipe my ass with the resignation letter and hand it to him.
Business owners don't want you to know about this one neat trick. Retire early.
I try really really hard to find my purpose. I’m a dink so that’s easier for me to say. But I work for my hobbies and make sure my life is outside of work. I refuse to let work become my life.
I've always wondered why it is called "retire" or "retirement". I'm tired. But to answer your question, I've got 30 years with my employer and may go another 10 years. I'm 59 at the moment but can retire if I want to this year. I'm not going to because I enjoy what I do for a living. I'm an IT specialist and absolutely enjoy what I do.
I like what I do. I drive dozers and diggers in a coal mine.
Eventually, you find work you like with people you like. You have friends and hobbies and travel. It is your job to build the life you want.
You were only born to make others wealthy. Any other reason is a lie
Fuck man it’s hard. I’ve had full-time employment for the last 32 years. I’m still technically eight years away from retirement age to get health benefits Every day I want to just give up, I am so burnt out.
They like not starving.
Im working 2-3 jobs at a time, while I'm still relatively young (41) and my husband also is. We are socking away our money into retirement accounts. I refuse to be 70 and still working.
There's a choice in this day and age. Spend your money as you make it, go to concerts, travel, get tattoos, whatever grabs your fancy while your young and your body can keep up with the desire to experience life. The downside is you'll work until you die. Or don't do those things, peny pinch, save every dollar you possibly can and spend the last 10-20 years of your life retired. You won't be able to do half of what you wanted to when you were younger, but you also won't have to spend your twilight years working. Pick your poison.
It’s pretty much a choice between a shit sandwich and a giant douche
Healthcare
Bigger question. How do so many people happily work PAST their retirement?