Retirement

Many of us have heard about that person who wins the lottery jackpot and says “I’m going to continue working.” It is unfortunate that most people work for a paycheck but I guess there are also people who work because they love what they do.

I could make more money by going back to work but I am enjoying retirement too much; as someone else said “freedom is addictive.” And my retirement income is much less than if I were working in my field full-time but I feel it is necessary for me to learn how to live with less.

In my opinion there is a trade-off regardless what we do; married people willingly make sacrifices for each other, people with kids willingly make sacrifices for their kids, single people sacrifice the constant companionship of a significant other, and it is the same with whether we choose to work or retire. The thing is when people willingly make sacrifices they often don’t consider it to be a sacrifice.

Peace and Good Journey to All,

Larry

Last week I heard on the news that in Spain if a person gets sick on their vacation their employer will not count those sick days as vacation days and that employee will be given new vacation days. It is interesting how employers in different nations handle paid vacation days.

According to CNNMoney.com the U.S. lags behind other countries when it comes to paid vacation days and sick days, and many developed countries mandate that employees take a vacation yearly. Among developed nations only the Canadians and Chinese work more days than the U.S. The Japanese may work longer hours but they get more vacation time than the U.S. and most developed nations also have longer lunch breaks than we do. There is a belief that our work habits are due to the “Puritan work ethic” or Protestant work ethic attributed to Max Weber. Basically it says that hard work is and honor to God which would lead to a prosperous reward.

I remember a divorced woman I used to date who lived on a dairy farm in northeastern Colorado; she got up before the sun everyday to milk cows, bail hay, etc., and then woke her kids and prepared breakfast for them before sending them off to school, and then she would drive more than 60-miles to go to work as a secretary at the clinic where I worked in Sterling, Colorado. She believed that “idle hands are the devils workshop” and felt guilty when she was not doing anything. A lot of Americans just don’t take any vacation time and they won’t retire because they feel needed or relevant working a job on a daily basis.