Ask Lemmy

Don't think about it.

Don't follow someone else's path. I took a year off to travel in my 20s, a year off to sail in my 30s, and now that I'm 40 I'm planning another year long adventure in the next 5 years. I wasn't born into wealth, I spent less than I earned, invested the rest, and avoided debt. Don't get a big house in the suburbs with a mortgage, new lease car every 4 years, student loans, etc unless that's what your actually want. Set yourself up for success with smart money management so you can do what you want.

Don't wait until retirement. Balance your life now. It's going to be a long slog.

You don't need to find an amazing career that you’ll love doing until you die. People who get that are extremely lucky, and it's not the norm. You just need a job that will support you while still giving you time to do the things you enjoy.

Follow this: https://youtu.be/YHxwY3Fz2gU?feature=shared

Plan the things you want to do into your life. Drop the notion "when I retire I will..." If you can fit the stuff you want to do into your Annual Leave then that's a big win. If not then you'll need unpaid leave. One good time is between jobs.

Of course there are better systems, but the rich and powerful hold all the cards.

I dealt with it by choosing to not have kids years ago. I didn't ask to be born, and I refuse to force that on anyone else.

Once things become too difficult, I'm pulling my own plug.

You don't.

But changing it probably involves a lot of dropping heavy, sharpened pieces of metal on a certain class of people.

I can't imagine stopping to work. If I retire, I'll have no money. I cannot count on pension either.

But I have an IT job, it's just sitting in front of the computer all day; it's not like a physical job I wouldn't be able to do at old age.

Poorly.

Times are tough, but here's what's worked for me so far:

1. Spend less than you make
2. Keep a budget
3. Keep debts to a minimum
4. If you live with your parents, try to save as much as you can
5. Have an end goal

Depending on your circumstances, you might only have to work for 20 years, and if you do what you love, it won't feel like work.

A pivotal piece of advice once shifted my perspective on work. It was put simply: 'If the thought of retirement is your main motivation, you might be in the wrong job.' This implies that if you're constantly counting down the years to retirement, you're essentially wishing for time to fly by quicker. But those years are valuable, and letting them slip away in anticipation of something else isn't worth it. The key is to find a career that reduces your stress and enhances your life now, not just in the future. While financial security is undeniably important, it's also crucial to recognize when you have enough and to prioritize your well-being and happiness in the present.

The answer is: do a job you like and do the things you like. I’m due to retire in ten years and won’t be doing so. I won’t work as much but I will work

It’s easier in some countries than others. But the key is not wasting time on things that you feel pressured to do because of societal norms or because you’re too lazy to do anything different.

Yeah I’m doing whatever I want as long as there’s still some life left in this body. Opted for a career that gets me to live all over the world, decided very early on that I’ll never have kids, and live my life to the fullest.

Accidentally I’m also really good at what I do and got people pay me big time to live where I want to be. About to move to my 10th country on the third continent.

I've pretty consistently chosen less hours and better working conditions over pay since I started to have that choice. It's made it a lot more tolerable. I'm currently on a four day week, with a minimal commute, good perks and a relatively stress free job that I took a pay cut for. My retirement savings look pretty slim, but due to my health the chance of a long one isn't much higher anyway.

Not without it's issues. Pay is pretty significantly below the median. Fortunately I'm not interested in having kids and I'm content living cheaply, even if it sounds boring. But I'm in a weird dead zone for government support; for instance - if I earned more, there are programs for "middle income" housing and the like that I earn too little to qualify for. Low income housing programs are a joke - with wait times being as much as a decade -but even if it wasn't I'm not high priority anyway. Also no way on earth I'm ever getting a home loan, even though mortgage repayments would be less than rent and I could conceivably make the deposit.

I'm half done. I've kept up my health and I'm trying to improve it even more. When I hit 65 I won't be too old to do much.

But the real question should be what are you waiting until retirement to do and why not do it sooner?

Was just talking about how difficult work is going to make the next three days, so that I can't wait until they're over, but that's another week of my life where I'm wishing for days to pass so I can try to be happy again. Lame. Lame as fuck.

For me I decided young that I needed a career that would take me places so I could have life experiences and maybe get a few bucks.

I applied to everything everywhere while I was working and always thought "it may suck, but at least it will be different."

There are better systems, but IMO I was never able to find or capitalize on them so i needed to focus on what my current goals were keeping in the back of my mind that this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Be aware that your peers that do amazing work and get promotions, get that easy job or just get a lucky break only affect your life negatively if you let it.

Positive "coping mechanisms" help when dealing with stress (exercise routine, yoga, whateverworks for you), when negative coping mechanisms hurt.

I've been lucky enough to live and work in some amazing places, and 35 years later we have finally found a place we want to "settle".

Cry myself to sleep.

On top of being too old, I'll be too poor, so I'll probably just neck myself around ~70.