Retirement

Pretty weird concept, I think, coined by our parents' generation.  Back when there were pensions and, I don't know what.  This idea, that at age 65, you 'retired' and then you had plenty of money to live on.  Until recently, it was not clear to me, how this process actually worked.  Like, where did this money come from?  Did it just appear or what?  Our parents didn't seem to have much problem with it.

It occurred to me that maybe 'retiring' was the same as quitting your job.  I do have peers that have worked for public organizations and had pensions that were actually going to be there.  Seemed to me that savings from your paycheck really wouldn't amount to much.  My cousin said what ticked her off was that she didn't get to decide when to retire.  The company she worked for made that decision for her.  She came back from a vacation and found she had been laid off.  Like many women, she had no pension.  Looking around, I found a figure that only 40% of us get to retire when we wanted.  Even my father did not want to retire at 65 but, turned out he had no choice.

I lost my job six years ago; I had no pension.  Dennis has made a decision to retire in three months.  We will be able to do it but only because of inheritance money.  Many people who worked steadily for many years at real responsible jobs don't have anything at the end.  I think many people cannot afford to consider retirement.