Why Retirement Is A Bad Idea!
People often work hard all their lives and feel that they will enjoy life when they finally retire at 60 or more.
There are three basic problems with that goal
- How do you know you are going to even be around that long? Life is unpredictable and is there really a guarantee that one will always live long enough to enjoy the fruits?
- How do you know whether your health at that age will permit you to properly enjoy the fruits of your hard work? Chances are, with the current declining health of people in general, people are going to be spending more time dealing with medical bills than actually enjoying retirement
- People who are used to working 12-15 hours a day all their life and then retire often report feeling a sudden emptiness in their life and a lack of purpose. While they may feel relieved in the initial few days or weeks to no longer have to work, soon not having to do anything begins to feel gloomy and depressing. Often, many of their cognitive and physical functions decline faster because they are no longer being used like they were used to. Many also feel like they are becoming a burden on their other family members.
My suggestion is, if at all avoidable, don’t work with one final retirement as the goal. Work all your life as long as you possibly can but take mini retirements on a regular basis. The human body is made to work and rest, work again and rest again. It’s not made to work for 40 years non stop and then rest for 20 ears.
If you take out a week or two weeks every year for a mini retirement, you give your body and mind a chance to refresh. You give yourself a chance to do all the things you wanted NOW while you still have the energy and health instead of waiting for decades to enjoy it.
It gives you a breather and allows you to relax from time to time so that you can get back to work with complete focus instead of constantly feeling burnt out. At the same time, because it is a mini retirement and not a permanent one, your physical and mention functions will remain fresh and sharp and it will not lead to depression or boredom as is common with a permanent retirement. By the way, avoid getting a permanent retirement unless you absolutely have to. Even if you are forced to retire, keep yourself involved in something related to your work in some capacity. Working with a mission gives people a sense of purpose and when that is taken away permanently it isn’t long before degeneration on all level sets in.
In the end, I want to conclude by saying that people often glorify delayed gratification. While delayed gratification can be a virtue sometimes, we often forget that the most precious asset we have is not money but time. The time that goes by today can never ever return. Much of your life will be directed towards achievement as you are an achiever, just remember even an achievement filled life is quite wasted if you can’t spare time to enjoy it and spend time with loved ones while you still can.
