Early retirement or work till you die?

I am retired. I trade as much as I want to or don’t want with automated systems I wrote and I occasionally do some discretionary trading. What is nice is I can do what I want first such as golf, tennis, fishing and painting before I starting the job of trading (no way around it it’s work). Summers are much nicer too when you just walk away and play. This recharges my batteries to trade again in the winter.

Some of the assumptions people make about retirement are all wrong. None of you have a clue what you are going to be like on the day you retire. It has its own problems and is just a different part of life.

When you are younger it seems like the almost unlimited energy that you have just has to be there when you retire. But for many of us the energy is not there. It was left on the work table or computer screen. This plays a major role it what you can and can’t do.

Then as I have witnessed numerous times as my friends start to relax in retirement the illness that has been waiting in the wings pounces on them. Many retirees are then left with a body that is fighting illness and a very active brain.

Then there is the financial noose that hangs around your neck. Yes, you have worry about the 10% inflation just so you can continue to tread water.
:cool:
 
Quote from Optional:

I have an old friend, a mentor, who tells me that he has no intention of retiring ever. He will work until he drops dead. He feels that he needs to continue to contribute and generate wealth (he runs a small fund).

Personally - I want to stop WORKING as soon as possible. I've beern in the biz for 12 years or so and am about 5 years from early retirement in my early 40s.

Why do some people feel the need to 'never' retire. What drives people who are well-financially secure to keep working? Is working an addiction like alcohol or drugs? Do workaholics have poor family and social lives?
I know some peopke don't feel like their jobs are work but I can't understand how some people would never retire.

Btw, when I say retire, I mean leave a longtime business or venture to relax and of course at some point try something new, though not for financial necessity.
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If you love what you do, then it's not work.
 
It seems like a mental ailment to believe that if you retire, you die shortly thereafter. I mean, that's no worse than an alcoholics belief that he can't survive without the drink.
If you don't really love what you do, but spend all your time doing it, and make great money and have more than 8 figures socked away, I wonder why you would continue.
Personally, I don't know a job where you sit at a desk all day, clacking emails, is very rewarding to the point that you don't feel like it is work.
 
Quote from Optional:
----an old friend....
----he has no intention of retiring....
----Why do some people feel the need to 'never' retire.
----What drives people....
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1) Some people are concerned about outliving their money, regardless of how much they have.
2) Some men just merely want to get out of the house away from their wives.
3) Retirement can become boring within ~6 months if you tire of golf and traveling.
4) To continue to work is a way of staying "connected" to the business world.
5) Extroverted people can continue working in order to maintain contact with other people. Retirement can end relationships that have a lot of time "invested" in them.
6) Work/trading can be a form of entertainment not available anywhere else. :cool:
 
If you love what you do, then it's not work.
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What if you become incapacitated and can no longer work? What if in the future you stop loving what you do? It is one thing to continue to work because you enjoy it, but it's unsafe to count on needing to work until the day you die.
 
Quote from Optional:

I have an old friend, a mentor, who tells me that he has no intention of retiring ever. He will work until he drops dead. He feels that he needs to continue to contribute and generate wealth (he runs a small fund).

Personally - I want to stop WORKING as soon as possible. I've beern in the biz for 12 years or so and am about 5 years from early retirement in my early 40s.

Why do some people feel the need to 'never' retire. What drives people who are well-financially secure to keep working? Is working an addiction like alcohol or drugs? Do workaholics have poor family and social lives?
I know some peopke don't feel like their jobs are work but I can't understand how some people would never retire.

Btw, when I say retire, I mean leave a longtime business or venture to relax and of course at some point try something new, though not for financial necessity.
More...

the ideal retirement is doing work that you want to do when you want to do it and not that you have to do. studies have shown that people who stop working die earlier than those who keep busy.
i will never retire and sit idle. i would go stircrazy. i need and want to keep busy. i retired form "work" at age 45 but have still manage to keep busy every day.
 
Quote from Free Thinker:

the ideal retirement is doing work that you want to do when you want to do it and not that you have to do. studies have shown that people who stop working die earlier than those who keep busy.
i will never retire and sit idle. i would go stircrazy. i need and want to keep busy. i retired form "work" at age 45 but have still manage to keep busy every day.
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What does that mean, 'keep busy'. I assume you fill your day with activities that you enjoy, for the most part, but aren't related to the work grind pre-age 45.
 
I personally see working hard as a virtue. I'm not a religious man, but I do believe we have a moral obligation to achieve more, and to do our best to create value. I think little of those who's only goal in life is to play golf or lie by a pool.

Don't get me wrong: I believe in playing hard, too... I see it as: work hard, play hard. I see playing as a temporary escape from real life, as a way of re-energizing my batteries. I'm always ready to get back to doing what I do well by the end of every vacation.

I could've retired at 30, but I don't know if I'll ever "retire". My wife is made of the same mold... I think we encourage each her. She is currently finishing up her first year of residency as a physician, which means she works her ass off. And she's been asked many times by colleagues why she even bothers, since even after she starts her practice, she'll make about 1/10th what I make now.

But really, what else should life be about? Should she instead just be sitting at home watching Oprah, meeting friends for lunch, and browsing the malls? We both find that kind of life shallow and without meaning. We think her pursuit of career as an important value lesson for our young kids.
 
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