Eoghan
Puritan Board Senior
My grandfather (mothers side) used fishing as an evangelistic tool in his retirement. He is an example to me still.
Retirement - a western invention but how do we use it?
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My grandfather (mothers side) used fishing as an evangelistic tool in his retirement. He is an example to me still.
Eoghan
Puritan Board Senior
As I understand it orthodos Jewish synagogues in London set aside funds, to set people up on business. The loan is then repaid. They also have burial societies which take care of funeral costs. It seems a more holistic approach, replacing many of the functions of government?
Mormon churches have a compulsory tithe but provide a form of social security in return. Of course should you want to leave the mormon church it would represent a great loss. If it becomes something that binds you to the mormon church it becomes an evil.
I anticipated this thread would develop along the lines of lists of activities we have not had the time or financial security to pursue. Many folks in work have the opportunity to "wind-down" approaching retirement, working three days a week where they have traditionally worked five (or more).
I had been thinking long and hard about a "bookshop". Given the rate of closure of bookshops and the shift in emphasis in libraries to internet cafes (UK only?) I had pondered the viability of a travelling bookshop. Yes you can generally get it cheaper online but you cannot browse online. So my solution was to use books out my library. I never underline, carefully avoid breaking the spine of paperbacks so they are "as new". That said they are not cheap, I had maybe 20 books for my stall but they were all priced at current market values. So they averaged £10 or more. Tracts were free though.
Financially it is not viable, more of a service really but if you are retired...
Mormon churches have a compulsory tithe but provide a form of social security in return. Of course should you want to leave the mormon church it would represent a great loss. If it becomes something that binds you to the mormon church it becomes an evil.
I anticipated this thread would develop along the lines of lists of activities we have not had the time or financial security to pursue. Many folks in work have the opportunity to "wind-down" approaching retirement, working three days a week where they have traditionally worked five (or more).
I had been thinking long and hard about a "bookshop". Given the rate of closure of bookshops and the shift in emphasis in libraries to internet cafes (UK only?) I had pondered the viability of a travelling bookshop. Yes you can generally get it cheaper online but you cannot browse online. So my solution was to use books out my library. I never underline, carefully avoid breaking the spine of paperbacks so they are "as new". That said they are not cheap, I had maybe 20 books for my stall but they were all priced at current market values. So they averaged £10 or more. Tracts were free though.
Financially it is not viable, more of a service really but if you are retired...
Eoghan
Puritan Board Senior
I would love to know how women cope when their husbands come home to stay. My wife has worked from home for the last fifteen years as a childminder and is "encouraging" my job search.
Is a husbands retirement something women look forward to or dread?
My wife working from home, her networking and greater social skills makes it easier I think for her to contemplate retirement.
I think a man's identity is more tied into their job/career. When introduced to another man they will frequently start talking about work. Women on the other hand will frequently start by who they know from that town or work in that field (relationships).
Of course these are generalisations, but...
Is a husbands retirement something women look forward to or dread?
My wife working from home, her networking and greater social skills makes it easier I think for her to contemplate retirement.
I think a man's identity is more tied into their job/career. When introduced to another man they will frequently start talking about work. Women on the other hand will frequently start by who they know from that town or work in that field (relationships).
Of course these are generalisations, but...
TheOldCourse
Puritan Board Sophomore
There is certainly our share of that as well though I think many still want to keep busy and find part time work at Walmart, thrift stores, etc. I find idleness far less prominent among retirees in the church, at least good confessional churches, but it is a significant temptation. It could also be said that this is, in part, a fault of the rest of us rather than the retirees. Do we allow our elderly men and women to be useful instead of expecting them to sit in a recliner in front of a television all day and not be a bother? Our society, at least over here, doesn't value the elderly much.
Reformed Covenanter
Cancelled Commissioner
That is an excellent point. My grandfather was forced to retire from his position as janitor of my first primary school (the summer before I started) but continued to work as his church caretaker, then, shortly afterwards, got a part-time job as the patrolman at the same school (while continuing to work at the church). He did that until he was 75 and was forced to retire again. I recall him saying after the second retirement that "when you're 75 you're just put on the scrap-heap." Nevertheless, he still worked as the church's janitor until a few months before he died 8 years later.
earl40
Puritan Board Professor
Just a side note. I have noticed how many think working for "the church" after retirement is more meritorious than working for our neighbor. I am not saying that working for the benefit for the church is not meritorious.
My dad was blessed to retire for about 15 years, and his witness as an ordinary retired man was as much a blessing to others as it was while he made money. He worked like a dog for 35 years raising 9 kids and providing for us, along with supporting the local economy while he spent his hard earned income he earned and saved for retirement.
My dad was blessed to retire for about 15 years, and his witness as an ordinary retired man was as much a blessing to others as it was while he made money. He worked like a dog for 35 years raising 9 kids and providing for us, along with supporting the local economy while he spent his hard earned income he earned and saved for retirement.
Eoghan
Puritan Board Senior
A tale of two grandfathers.
I had on grandfather who retired to his armchair and a little gardening. The other continued, painting in oil, salmon fishing and visiting his grandchildren. When we visited the latter we would be taken to the airport to plane watch, the beach for walks or the swimming pool. One had a zest for life, the other not so much. One was heard to say my kids know where to find me (armchair) the other almost remarried in his nineties!
I had on grandfather who retired to his armchair and a little gardening. The other continued, painting in oil, salmon fishing and visiting his grandchildren. When we visited the latter we would be taken to the airport to plane watch, the beach for walks or the swimming pool. One had a zest for life, the other not so much. One was heard to say my kids know where to find me (armchair) the other almost remarried in his nineties!
bookslover
Puritan Board Doctor
You spelled "interesting and engaging" wrong. It may be back-and-forth, but it's not unproductive. Heh.
JimmyH
Puritan Board Senior
Working at manual labor, in one form or another since I was 13 years old, with an 8th grade education, and a GED I passed to get into the union Ironworker's apprenticeship program, I worked until I was 65. I was a cracker jack Ironworker, skilled at all phases of the trade, an excellent pro carpet installer, and a journeyman street shop tattooer. That was my working life.
I'm 70 now and haven't hit a lick since the day I retired, and I'm not ashamed to say so. As an old ironworker friend used to say, "I worked hard all my life, even played hard as a kid." My childhood didn't lend itself to a stable environment and I left school and home at 15 to learn in the school of hard knocks.
Somewhat of an autodidact, I now spend time reading the Bible, theological works, and self studying κοινε Greek. I have been blessed with genetics that have allowed me to remain healthy enough in my senior years, so that at 70 I take no medications. Only a multi vitamin, and a D-3.
I do daily physical exercise to help alleviate the pain of osteoarthritis and to support one herniated, and two bulging lumbar spinal discs injured during my 20 years of working at structural steel erection. I try to briskly walk 5 miles a day, and do relatively light weight training and stretching exercises.
It is now just me and my cat Tangerine, so I have to take care of both of us, and keep the house half way decent. I'm a deacon in my OPC congregation, and this sometimes requires time spent in service. We've almost completed repairing the exterior of our church with concrete board over new plywood. All of this takes time, and I have full days.
I would say in addition, you have to be an old man to know and understand what it is like to live in a 70 year old body regardless of how good a shape it's in. Assumptions can be made by younger folks, but it is like seeing people swimming in the ocean, and thinking you know what that must be like, when you've never actually done it yourself. At least that has been my experience looking back at my assumptions through the years.
I'm 70 now and haven't hit a lick since the day I retired, and I'm not ashamed to say so. As an old ironworker friend used to say, "I worked hard all my life, even played hard as a kid." My childhood didn't lend itself to a stable environment and I left school and home at 15 to learn in the school of hard knocks.
Somewhat of an autodidact, I now spend time reading the Bible, theological works, and self studying κοινε Greek. I have been blessed with genetics that have allowed me to remain healthy enough in my senior years, so that at 70 I take no medications. Only a multi vitamin, and a D-3.
I do daily physical exercise to help alleviate the pain of osteoarthritis and to support one herniated, and two bulging lumbar spinal discs injured during my 20 years of working at structural steel erection. I try to briskly walk 5 miles a day, and do relatively light weight training and stretching exercises.
It is now just me and my cat Tangerine, so I have to take care of both of us, and keep the house half way decent. I'm a deacon in my OPC congregation, and this sometimes requires time spent in service. We've almost completed repairing the exterior of our church with concrete board over new plywood. All of this takes time, and I have full days.
I would say in addition, you have to be an old man to know and understand what it is like to live in a 70 year old body regardless of how good a shape it's in. Assumptions can be made by younger folks, but it is like seeing people swimming in the ocean, and thinking you know what that must be like, when you've never actually done it yourself. At least that has been my experience looking back at my assumptions through the years.
Reformed Covenanter
Cancelled Commissioner
Richard Baxter on the sins of the idle rich, which is tangentially relevant to this topic.
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