ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
I see you are in Worthing
Damn
was going to ask it you need an It Tech
very experienced - even can talk to teacher in their own language - and can cycle to work
but probably not from here
Oh well
Retirement, would you if you could?
- Thread starter Slick
- Start date
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Damn
was going to ask it you need an It Tech
very experienced - even can talk to teacher in their own language - and can cycle to work
but probably not from here
Oh well
RichardB
Slightly retro
- Location
- West Wales
I wasn't referring to myself there, but making a general comment. An awful lot of people get problems when they retire because they thought of themselves as 'a fireman' or 'a teacher' or 'a nurse', and when you take that away you need a strong sense of self-esteem and purpose not to start feeling useless - the world carrying on while you rot in a corner, kind of thing. Some can do it, and I think I am one of them, but our society puts so much value on what we do rather than who we are that I am not surprised that some people struggle with retirement.
The guy I was referring to in my earlier post - I was a teacher in my first teaching post, and he was a senior teacher. He taught a full timetable (Maths, I think) but also ran the School Fund, looked after the school's minibus and 53-seater coach, and did a lot with sports teams. He was in the school evenings and weekends a lot of the time, helping out, organising, assisting. He was known as a safe pair of hands, ultra-reliable and hardworking and the kind of loyal employee that any organisation would be glad to have. He retired amid a great fanfare and then a year later the news went round - "Eric is dead". It shocked me (at the age of about 23) that someone so full of life and work could deteriorate so quickly. But that was the point - retirement had taken away 95% of what made Eric, Eric.
If anyone is like this, they should think long and hard about how they are going to value their own worth when their job/career is over. My point is that it isn't just a matter of finding ways to fill the time, as many people suppose.
Jefferson Meriwether
Veteran
- Location
- Worthing
One of the guys at work is a workaholic with no interests/hobbies outside of work that any of us are aware of; I reckon he's one of those people that'll potentially struggle with retirement.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
When I was at school as a kid there were a lot of older teacher who had been there for many many years
When we were in the uppers years (say 15-18 years old) we started to notice that a certain type of teacher would retire - then within a year or 2 it would be announced that he had died
It was probably a bit mean - but we were teenage boys so.... - but when a teacher retired we discussed how long he would last - we were normally right
Some had outside interests and talked about them to pupils - those ones retired and we never heard any announcements - they had apparently just adjusted and carried on
some years after I left the school my Dad joined a local Rotary Club and it happened that a couple of my old teachers were also members. Both of them where the sort of teacher that we would have expected to be fine - and they were
2 things made a difference
a) both of them had other interests - one had been involved in the Scouts for many years and got involved at higher levels
b) both of them were the sort of teacher that could talk to the kids - not just tell kids what to do - that was always a good sign
After some time I actually mentioned out morbid discussions to them - turned out the teachers had the same discussions - and were probably even more accurate!!!
When we were in the uppers years (say 15-18 years old) we started to notice that a certain type of teacher would retire - then within a year or 2 it would be announced that he had died
It was probably a bit mean - but we were teenage boys so.... - but when a teacher retired we discussed how long he would last - we were normally right
Some had outside interests and talked about them to pupils - those ones retired and we never heard any announcements - they had apparently just adjusted and carried on
some years after I left the school my Dad joined a local Rotary Club and it happened that a couple of my old teachers were also members. Both of them where the sort of teacher that we would have expected to be fine - and they were
2 things made a difference
a) both of them had other interests - one had been involved in the Scouts for many years and got involved at higher levels
b) both of them were the sort of teacher that could talk to the kids - not just tell kids what to do - that was always a good sign
After some time I actually mentioned out morbid discussions to them - turned out the teachers had the same discussions - and were probably even more accurate!!!
Jefferson Meriwether
Veteran
- Location
- Worthing
*Slightly off topic* Where I work there's just been a change of headmaster/mistress, the outgoing couple retired at the end of the last academic year. The old head master's a raging alcoholic & some of us kitchen staff did morbidly wonder how long he'll last in retirement. I reckoned he'll either clap out really quickly or keep going on to an exceedingly ripe old age.
cougie uk
Guru
Some people live to work and others work to live.
Why spend your time working for someone if you don't enjoy it ?
I've been in early retirement for 6 months and I'm loving it. Cycling was great in the summer and now life is a lot of dog walking in the country.
If you want to - go for it. Just make your plans and check you can afford it.
Why spend your time working for someone if you don't enjoy it ?
I've been in early retirement for 6 months and I'm loving it. Cycling was great in the summer and now life is a lot of dog walking in the country.
If you want to - go for it. Just make your plans and check you can afford it.
Lee_M
Guru
I was about to say the same thing.
I was good at my job (35 years in IT, ending up at Director level) but I hated it. Not the IT that was fine, but the politics, the fighting to be allowed to do the right things, working with people who thought they knew better, but more often than not didn't or were just looking after their own little fiefdoms.
My last 4 years were at interim senior management/director level and one day I just thought "why am I putting myself through this", and gave them my notice.
Not regretted it once - I definitely worked to live
cougie uk
Guru
Good plan. I know at my place for some people work was everything. When they were made redundant - they were lost and kept coming in...
Thank god for cycling and other interests ! You only get one life.
🤷♂️ I just can't fathom that!
Tail End Charlie
Well, write it down boy ......
- Location
- In green and pleasant hills.
I hear people about to retire say they're going to travel, visit friends, family etc. I say to them you need to know what you'll do on a wet Tuesday in November. You need interests/ activities.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Charlie is wise. I struggled to adjust to early retirement, and pschologically itmstill doesn't sit comfortably with me. If try and combat that by keeping busy. Even inconsequential stuff like housework, decorating, walking the dog are all much better than endless boredom.
Rusty Nails
We remember
- Location
- Living in the slow lane
I worked for large organisations for 30 years and had exactly the same issues. Loved the work, hated the office politics and power games, the higher up the slippery pole I reached.
I then went down the self-employed consultant route. I also enjoyed most of that work, working in around 100 organisations, and in virtually all of them I saw the same office politics. The good thing was I could write my reports, give the managers feedback then walk away. Sometimes they liked it, sometimes they didn't, a couple of them even offered me a job, but I enjoyed picking up the cheques and walking away.
I remember in one company the MD had a terrible style of blaming people who came to him with bad news, with the result that many swept things under the carpet. I told him that and the first thing he said to me was "who told you that?". I was told that I didn't know what I was talking about, and wasn't asked back.
Retirement is a doddle compared to all that.
vickster
Legendary Member
Lie on a beach in Asia...
Rusty Nails
We remember
- Location
- Living in the slow lane
Lie on a beach in Asia...
Sadly not everyone has a good enough pension to do that. Benidorm will be the best many can afford.
Tbh that would be my idea of hell. I don't think I've lain on a beach or sunbathed for 40 years.
When I retired, my colleagues asked me what I would do.
The general concensus was that you have to find something to occupy yourself.
My simple answer was "Time isn't wasted if you enjoy doing nothing".
On a side note, all these folk who retire and say "I'm so busy now, I don't know how I found the time to go to work" are either lying or being deliberately obtuse.
The general concensus was that you have to find something to occupy yourself.
My simple answer was "Time isn't wasted if you enjoy doing nothing".
On a side note, all these folk who retire and say "I'm so busy now, I don't know how I found the time to go to work" are either lying or being deliberately obtuse.
