The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
I think there's a special magic in being able to choose what you do for work and how much you do of it. I'm one of those people that won't ever be able to do nothing. But the rat race is exhausting, with the 9 hour work days and traffic hour commutes, and time away from family, and boring useless meetings, and horrible nutrition because you have to work through lunch, etc. When you get home you're too burned out to enjoy what life you have left so you're just looking forward to the weekend. Always looking forward to the weekend. But then you have to cram all the relaxing you want to do in with all the chores and errands you also need to get done.

With retirement you can stay busy, but on your own terms. Take a job in your hobby part time. Volunteer at the food pantry. Write a book. Start dog walking for extra cash and exercise. Finally grow a garden that doesn't die. And take an hour for lunch that we can actually chew and taste and enjoy, lol.
In the investment banking industry there is no rest for the weary. It is a high stress , very well paid industry. A few rent in NYC very close their work, typical 9am-12am Mon-Fri then fly on Sat morning to see wife and kids , back on a flight to NYC Sun night in time for work Mon morning. Another challenging part is the all week meetings on West Coast , fly red eye to East Coast and take Uber upon landing to go to office that same morning. At times when dealing with big mergers and acquisitions Sat and Sun work in office is common. One perk is 3 very good hot meals daily are provided courtesy of the firm. Leaving the office during the day is lost productivity. One Google exec who works 80-90 hours a week is provided free food drink, gym on property , dentist , massage therapist coming to the office and google staff have laundry facilities to do laundry while they work.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
In the investment banking industry there is no rest for the weary. It is a high stress , very well paid industry. A few rent in NYC very close their work, typical 9am-12am Mon-Fri then fly on Sat morning to see wife and kids , back on a flight to NYC Sun night in time for work Mon morning. Another challenging part is the all week meetings on West Coast , fly red eye to East Coast and take Uber upon landing to go to office that same morning. At times when dealing with big mergers and acquisitions Sat and Sun work in office is common. One perk is 3 very good hot meals daily are provided courtesy of the firm. Leaving the office during the day is lost productivity. One Google exec who works 80-90 hours a week is provided free food drink, gym on property , dentist , massage therapist coming to the office and google staff have laundry facilities to do laundry while they work.
And then you die! All that money you earned will either go to family or to the state. To each his own I guess.
 

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
And then you die! All that money you earned will either go to family or to the state. To each his own I guess.
It’s crazy. Investment bankers , doctors , lawyers working more hours than the average worker , very well paid but not enough time to enjoy off time but the family is generally well provided for. I knew a girl whose father was the Secretary of Treasury under Jimmy Carter. She told me she hardly ever saw her father who she said worked 7 days a week for most of the year for many years pre, during and post DC job. She said she was mainly raised by her mother and nannies growing up.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
It’s crazy. Investment bankers , doctors , lawyers working more hours than the average worker , very well paid but not enough time to enjoy off time but the family is generally well provided for. I knew a girl whose father was the Secretary of Treasury under Jimmy Carter. She told me she hardly ever saw her father who she said worked 7 days a week for most of the year for many years pre, during and post DC job. She said she was mainly raised by her mother and nannies growing up.
I guess it works for those that feel you live more than once and you can bring it with you. There is an old adage that states that a persons last words have never been "I should have spent more time at the office".
 

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
I guess it works for those that feel you live more than once and you can bring it with you. There is an old adage that states that a persons last words have never been "I should have spent more time at the office".
It’s not for everyone. Execs like Iger and Chapek work because that’s what drives them. Execs with 8 figure net worth or even billionaire status and getting richer can’t spend all of their earnings and what drives execs is achieving power, maintaining it, and looking to get into new ventures.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
It’s not for everyone. Execs like Iger and Chapek work because that’s what drives them. Execs with 8 figure net worth or even billionaire status and getting richer can’t spend all of their earnings and what drives execs is achieving power, maintaining it, and looking to get into new ventures.
Even they, if true to themselves, will have moments of inward contemplation and regrets. I am not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination but, I had a relatively comfortable life mostly because of decisions I made later in life, to late in life by my viewpoint. I constantly feel that I failed as a husband, a father and a business person due to decisions I made when I was young that cost me dearly and also deciding not be born into a wealthy family. That last one is the easiest to deal with.

I didn't learn how to do any of those things until it was, in some cases, to late. I now can look back at those decisions I made with some degree of anger at myself for not having the self confidence to aim higher and also massive feelings of sadness that it is now to late. (and have to rely on winning the lottery to make things right) Considering after spending hundreds in recent years trying to hit the lottery, I have yet to even win $4 back and it doesn't look like I will ever make that headline. My more recent decisions about that is it is wiser to forfeit future winnings and just keep what I have because my rate of return just isn't cutting it. My recent health issues have added to that angst (thankfully nothing terminal yet) and have just pushed the pity party to the max. Even my inability to think that I can spare enough money to visit one of the places that was so important to me from my mid-thirty's and beyond has pretty much given me nothing to look forward to anymore.

As for, at least Iger, it was money, money and more money. I'd be happy to go to work everyday if I had a small army of Minions to do my bidding all the while making more money in 4 hours then they make in 5 years.

Sorry just venting.
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
I've basically been on that schedule for about 12 years now. It is expensive and boring and a feeling of uselessness. Be careful what you wish for!
My dad enjoys his retirement and he is able to get keep himself busy despite arthritis acting up at times.

Keep on working and work a lot of hours is not always good for health. I'm pointing at my dad's work. Dad knew people that worked a lot of overtime as a way to have money for retirement, but those people ended up dead less than a year they retired. Those people worked 70 to 90 hours a week due to all the overtime they work and they are paid by the hour.

I have an Aunt had a set salary, but she basically lived for job. Due to the nature of her work, she was working 7 days a week and worked more than the CEO did despite much lower pay. She ended up with a stroke and was forced to retire due to doctors concern of a lot of stress would bring another stroke. She enjoys her retirement.
 
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MinnieM123

Premium Member
In the investment banking industry there is no rest for the weary. It is a high stress , very well paid industry. A few rent in NYC very close their work, typical 9am-12am Mon-Fri then fly on Sat morning to see wife and kids , back on a flight to NYC Sun night in time for work Mon morning. Another challenging part is the all week meetings on West Coast , fly red eye to East Coast and take Uber upon landing to go to office that same morning. At times when dealing with big mergers and acquisitions Sat and Sun work in office is common. One perk is 3 very good hot meals daily are provided courtesy of the firm. Leaving the office during the day is lost productivity. One Google exec who works 80-90 hours a week is provided free food drink, gym on property , dentist , massage therapist coming to the office and google staff have laundry facilities to do laundry while they work.
Some people's work is what keeps them going, and they have no plans to retire. Others can't wait to retire. And some like to slow things down and relax in retirement -- while also keeping a part-time, side gig. To each his/her own. We're all different people with different needs.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
My dad enjoys his retirement and he is able to get keep himself busy despite arthritis acting up at times.

Keep on working and work a lot of hours is not always good for health. I'm pointing at my dad's work. Dad knew people that worked a lot of overtime as a way to have money for retirement, but those people ended up dead less than a year they retired. Those people worked 70 to 90 hours a week due to all the overtime they work and they are paid by the hour.

I have an Aunt had a set salary, but she basically lived for job. Due to the nature of her work, she was working 7 days a week and worked more than the CEO did despite much lower pay. She ended up with a stroke and was forced to retire due to doctors concern of a lot of stress would bring another stroke. She enjoys her retirement.
I'm not advocating that people work till they die. I'm saying that there are unforeseen things that enter into the picture. It isn't just a series of fun and games after you retire. I have made it 12 years past my retirement and until recently have been very active. Hopefully will be again after a series of spine surgeries. I have hope anyway, in the mean time I have way to much time on my hands and since the "rich folk" enjoy taking profits my worth has declined a lot in the last 6 months. I can't work, even part time, and my source of income has dried up, so the whole idea of a relaxed retirement is, at least, on hold. BTW, because the stock market is troublesome it isn't an indication of the general economy going bad, it is the wealthy playing games that are harming retirement accounts.
 

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
Good grief…
SYFY is showing 40th anniversary ET, The Breakfast Club is on AMC, The Big Sleep is on TCM, Star Wars: A New Hope is on TNT, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is on PAR, and Forrest Gump is on CMT…!!!!!!! :joyfull:🤣
 

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
I'm not advocating that people work till they die. I'm saying that there are unforeseen things that enter into the picture.
I understand that. My dad didn't have a choice and my dad does have a history of heart issues and blood pressure.

In terms of my dad though, you would pull the plug if you were in his shoes also in the later part of the 2010s. The fact is the company he worked for had record profits and record stock market prices at the time, but the company wanted to make more profit. How they did it is wanting to cutting employees pensions by $30,000 each. He had the choice of Losing $30,000 or more of retirement money, or not losing the money by retiring. My dad did have a 401k plan besides the pension plan, but that is not the point considering he was very close to the age he wanted to retire. He also didn't trust the company cutting even more money from that pension and they did cut even more from other employees after the original $30,000 cut.

The fact is my dad retired at the right time for 2 reasons starting with making the right choice with not losing money from pension and the 2nd being his job was very stressful since he was a foreman for a division of an electric company. Even before being a foreman, he worked with electricity and that meant any mistakes would cause you to lose your life.

What makes the foreman stressful is a combination of things including putting the workers he's responsible for in positions that they wouldn't die on the job. It sounded like the company made more positions stressful by not hiring more people and expected people to work a ton of overtime. Extra stress for someone with a history of heart issues is not a good idea such as my dad.

Some of the stuff my dad does for retirement is not what you call fun and games either. Dad had to do a temporary fix on a plumping pipe that broke off and will be doing a permanent fix later on. The pipe broke off due to the plumbing being 95 years old. He wants to do changes to the the bathroom without hiring people.
 

SteveBrickNJ

Well-Known Member
Some people's work is what keeps them going, and they have no plans to retire. Others can't wait to retire. And some like to slow things down and relax in retirement -- while also keeping a part-time, side gig. To each his/her own. We're all different people with different needs.
I turned 60 in March but I like being an Elementary Band Director. God has blessed me with good health so I have no certain date in mind for a future retirement.
 

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