Although, while learning things with a practical application (like, say, going to medical school because a loved one is ill) is a good thing, I also think that learning things just to learn is good, too. One of the things I loved best about getting my Liberal Arts BA was that, for four years, I got to dabble in all sorts of different subjects, and having the luxury of just doing nothing but expand the mind with no definitive goal was, well, a luxury.

At one time, retirement did mean you didn’t have to work anymore. Families were bigger and several generations often lived in one house, the same apartment building, or close by in the neighborhood so there was always a support system going on. People had pensions and social security. Not to say we don’t have social security here anymore, we do, but the future’s looking pretty bleak on that prospect for many of us in the States. With so many single parent households and the lack of job security, parents have a harder time putting away money for retirement, instead focusing on the more immediate needs of providing for their families. Even single guys like me have a hard time creating a nest egg for later on

On the other hand, I’ve had a glimpse of successful retirement, I see it all the time with my parents and their friends. Someone brought up in the comments that life expectancy is increasing, and many seniors are still in very good health. Many of them are now doing all the things they never had the chance to do in their youth. They travel extensively, they take up sports and hobbies they may not have had the opportunity (or the confidence) to do when they were younger, they start businesses (because like my mom, they can’t sit still), and start to enjoy life.

Anthony’s right, maybe by doing what we love we’re all retired already. I like that thought, kind of puts a new spin on working as a freelancer.

@ Anthony – Work with what you have – because it is what you have to work with.. Wise words, wise words.

To me, retirement means you don’t want to work anymore. But when your work is your play, what does that mean?

Work with what you’ve got – because it is what you have to work with..

Retirement? Touchy subject here.. I could retire now if I were willing to give up a lot.. but what’s the point in that? Then there’s the “problem” of coming from long lived stock. When you combine that with advances in medicine, I might need a lot more money than I would otherwise.. and then there’s inflation and..

After all that, I realize that I like what I do and I enjoy doing it, so why wouldn’t I just keep on trucking until the day comes where I don’t? If being “retired” means you do what you like every day, well heck, I’ve been retired for years..

And then again, if you enjoy what you are doing, why stop? So, our “job” really is to find our passions, and then set about doing them. That’s how I started to think a while back.

I stumbled across a book last year called ‘Avoid Retirement and Stay Alive’.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=134&objectid=10427824

I have not yet read it, only read a brief review, however, even the review made a lot of sense to me as I have seen some of what they talk about already. I’ve seen people at work talking about apartments that they will move into that also have on-site nursing staff, so that when they can no longer care for themselves, they won’t have to move. These are people in their mid-50′s talking, mind you.

They have given up, I think. Planning for death.

I prefer that line from The Shawshank Redemption, myself. “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” I have made my choice.

So, in a sense, I don’t think about what I’ll do when I retire – I know there’s no feasible way I can.

As far as dreams go, I left CEGEP (the Quebec equivalent of something like early university) when I was 18 or so. Couldn’t handle the big city after being raised a country boy. For the next fifteen years, when people asked me what I’d like to do most in life or what my dream was, the answer was automatic: “Finish my education.” (At 6′ 2″, I was too tall to be a jockey.)

About five years ago, I decided that it was time. If I didn’t do it, it wasn’t going to happen on its own.

Looking back at it, I know why he said it to me, perhaps he wished he could do it all over again. I think his words rang true with me and that is why I started down the path I’m on now. I am not old (only 38) and yet a lot of people my age are doing the “when I’m retired, I’m going to do ‘this’, and ‘this’ will be so much better than what I am doing now”.

I decided early last year that it made more sense to decide where I wanted to *really* be, geographically and otherwise, and work towards setting that up *now* – to getting there as soon as possible, rather than waiting – because, you never know, you might not make it to retirement!

And one other thing I read a few months back (wish I could find the reference), many people who become wildly successful in an independent sense don’t really get there until their early 40′s.

Perhaps youth is wasted on the young. Or perhaps, youth is given to us so that we can experiment, make mistakes, gain life experience and once we know what we truly want, we then have the tools we need to get there.

I do not regret the choices I have made up to this point in my life, but I know that if I do not pursue my dreams *now*, I may look back in 30 years and at that point wish that I had taken a chance, stepped off the “safe path”.

Thanks for the words,

Brett