I Am Just Sick of It
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (78761)
United States
April 11, 2021 3:19pm CST
Working, that is. Yep. Here it is another Sunday, thinking about having to go back to work on Monday. And I am just sick of it.
It's not that I particularly mind work. It's not that my job is particularly hard. The thing for me is one very simple thing.
It simply takes up far too much of my time, and life unfortunately revolves around it.
That being said, it is still a major consideration. To retire. There is the health insurance that one still needs, and then there are of course the funds. Most of which are probably there, and retirement is doable. But that health insurance would eat up the bulk majority of all of it.
I saw that Aldi was hiring and offering $14 an hour, and one thing I have considered more and more is semi-retirement. Not sure where I am at just yet. But I am getting closer and closer to wanting to just throw in the damn towel and say screw it.
I am just tired of living to work instead of the other way around.
13 people like this
11 responses
@LindaOHio (155957)
• United States
12 Apr 21
You're 47, right? That road to Medicare is awfully long. Can you even collect Social Security at your age? I don't remember. What does your wife think of all of this?
2 people like this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
12 Apr 21
Yup. 47. Can't get Medicare until age 65 and the earliest I can collect social security is 62. I'd have to finance the entire retirement for the next 15-18 years from savings and future returns from investments, and that gets tricky. I can go a very long time without a single paycheck, even when I consider the cost of private health insurance, but by the time I'd get to collect benefits...
Most of the nest egg would be gone. And I think living on social security alone would be a miserable existence.
2 people like this
@LindaOHio (155957)
• United States
12 Apr 21
@porwest So you're going to have to work for another 15 years. We've all been there. It seems like it's forever but it really comes on quickly. Maybe you'll win the lottery. We actually find that we rarely have to dig into our nest egg. The monthly Social Security stipend is enough to cover our expenses...We both had good paying jobs; and we don't spend money needlessly. I earn enough from surveys/panels, etc. to pay for our dinners out.
2 people like this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
12 Apr 21
@LindaOHio My plan is to still do it sooner if I can. I am still considering semi retirement at some point if I am okay with walking away from what I make now. I guess it is a "we'll cross that bridge when we get there" kind of thing.
Great that the stipend provides for your needs well enough and you can preserve the nest egg. That's ideal.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
11 Apr 21
I retired at 60 and yes the health insurance was a big deal but in my case for only a year and a half since I was on my husbands until he was forced to retire. It cost me $900 a month!!
2 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
11 Apr 21
@porwest for the last 4 months I opted for a high deductible and it was between $500 and $600 a month. I was afraid to take the chance of letting it lapse and having to pay the penalty for no insurance
2 people like this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
12 Apr 21
@BelleStarr Plus, having no insurance can be even more deadly to the finances if something major goes wrong. I'd rather pay the cost of the insurance than the cost of the bills without it.
1 person likes this
@pumpkinjam (8540)
• United Kingdom
12 Apr 21
I'm sure ,any people can relate. I like my job, although there are times it can be stressful or mentally draining. As grateful as I am to have it, I'll still be glad when I don't have to do it any more. A colleague has recently taken early retirement, which she'd been considering for a year or two. She was, of course, lucky to be able to afford that. Her main reasons were wanting to spend more time with family, and enjoy her grandchildren while she was still physically fit and able.
We're lucky here (in the UK) to have pensions as well as not having to consider health insurance, but, of course, there are still all the other costs that make it difficult to retire. If I could afford to do it, I'd reduce my hours so we could spend more time enjoying life. I've still got a good 20+ years before even considering retirement. My biggest concern is whether I'll be able to enjoy retirement with my husband as he has multiple illnesses that are currently stable but they're never going to get better.
2 people like this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
15 Jun 21
When it comes to retiring, I am not sure luck has a thing to do with it necessarily. It's all about planning and investing wisely. At least that's a big part of it for the most part. But yes, here the health insurance is probably the biggest hurdle. But that being said, I have no interest in any of the universal government sponsored healthcare systems out there. Part of the reason we have the great medical technology we do, even here in the U.S., is because it is a for-profit venture.
Without the profit we would not have the healthcare we have now.
@RasmaSandra (73368)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
12 Apr 21
Sounds like you need to take a deep breath and calm down, That job at Aldi doesn't sound bad I order online groceries from them and the shoppers always seem like they are happy even when delivering,
2 people like this
@popciclecold (35085)
• United States
11 Apr 21
Wow, can't believe this is you. As smart as you are, about money and investing, something a lot of people need, I'd write a book call money management and investing for dummies.You could be like Dave Ramsey. People pay for stuff like that.
1 person likes this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
12 Apr 21
@MALUSE I guess that just means we can multiply better. 
Besides, if I told you what I make per month you'd know what I make per year. Six figures is pretty broad. It could be anywhere from $100,000-$999,999. I don't want to tell anyone exactly what I make. That's a bit of a taboo anyway.
Besides, if I told you what I make per month you'd know what I make per year. Six figures is pretty broad. It could be anywhere from $100,000-$999,999. I don't want to tell anyone exactly what I make. That's a bit of a taboo anyway.1 person likes this
@kaylachan (57599)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
11 Apr 21
You sound like my husband. He's two years away from being able to consider even simi-retirement. Though at the same time, he hasn't reached that place and time in his life, where he's ready to be home 7 days a week.
2 people like this
@RebeccasFarm (86732)
• United States
12 Apr 21
I can relate to that..I always thought that too before I retired as such.
Work..I loved it, adored it in fact.
But it got in the way of having more fun. Always.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (86732)
• United States
13 Apr 21
@porwest Mine was not, but even so, never enough hours in the day to do other things.
1 person likes this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
14 Apr 21
@RebeccasFarm I probably work about 50 hours a week, which is not bad considering I have had jobs in the past where I worked 60-72 hours per week. But I still don't want to do the 50. lol. And when I travel on business, I get paid for about 50 hours but I am tied up for up to 96 hours.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
12 Apr 21
Some people cannot wait to retire but when they actually retire they wish they were still working. They just don’t know what to do with their free time. And because of that they can develop depression because they just sit there doing nothing or watching TV all day. I wonder what my father does the whole day. He hasn’t been working for many years and I think he may have some form of depression to some extent. At least based on what my mom tells me. If that’s the case it ain’t good.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43065)
• Staten Island, New York
15 Jun 21
@porwest That's good. Some people retire earlier than they should and then regret it.
1 person likes this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
16 Jun 21
@lovebuglena The only regret I might have are the financial implications. The loss of income and the added healthcare costs at present. Semi-retirement remains the better option for me.
@Deepizzaguy (94475)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
11 Apr 21
I understand where you are coming from.
2 people like this
