As an international student coming from overseas, I find it weird that some 50+ and even 60+ years old Aussies are still working. As a student I am fine doing odd jobs, but what about them? Why are they still working instead of resting or enjoying their retirement?
Why Are Some VERY OLD Aussies Still Working? What about Retirement?
soul on 14/03/2015 - 23:33
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What this guy said.
Even a general rough post would be a cool read.
Wel I've explained in the past and it's exactly what I did. And yes it is pretty much automated. Probably do have just check in once in a while to see if its going smoothly and perhaps answer some questions when someone's tries to contact me. But yes it's automated, making it automated is the hard part where there are many ways to achieve it. It's all about the execution (ie: doing it and making it work). It did took me a year or so to learn programming in many languages, and finding perfect suppliers that are always consistent.
And hell yeah I love to brag. When someone talks about how proud they are at their job I will always go pfft.. I probably made money than you just by sleeping.
@spn: Can you PM me with some resources you used to get it up and running? I've been trying to do something very similar for the last 3 months but I'm not making much progress.
Excluding Indonesia, retirement age, even in Asia, is around 60+. Indonesia it's 58, so 50+ is just not old to be working in the modern world. Note that women in many countries have a lower retirement age, for whatever sexist reasons the paternal governments concocted.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement_age
Anyone enjoying retirement is doing so at your taxpayer expense.
People should work if they don't have money saved to support themselves.
Personally, I would keep working until they kicked me out haha lol… but I am still young and only 26 for now so that means it is probably a different story lol… years and years for me to keep going on until I am even considered ready for getting possibly kicked out via retirement age.
If you love your job, that's awesome and keep at it until you can't do it anymore. What I'm about to say next is just my own opinions and I'm not crapping on anyone else who wants to keep working for a very long time.
I like my job and I love the people that I work with but I wouldn't do the 9-5 thing if I had enough money that I didn't have to do it. (Except maybe if it's running my own business and I find it personally rewarding.) I have a lot of hobbies/interests to keep me going until I drop dead and possibly even after that if I'm able to upload my consciousness into a machine. There's a world of stuff to do out there and sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day wouldn't be anywhere near the top of my list. Assuming I've properly set myself up for retirement, I may still try to earn money even after I've retired but ideally it'll be while doing something that I enjoy doing.
I guess the tl;dr of this is do what you like to do, whether it's a job or something else.
Perhaps because we can't afford to retire early? Not eligible for the age pension until 65. Possibly 70.
What I hear is that Australian jobs are pretty relaxing for the level of compensation. That is why many decide to continue working?
I guess you haven't heard how hard electronics engineers work and how little they get paid for doing a job that most people couldn't fathom.
You can die a noob or live long enough to become a pensioner
or William Shatner, because he's 83 and still rocking
A lot of people in Australia have lived with the assumption that one will always be able to retire at 65 and always qualify for a government pension, free healthcare, free housing, et cetera. But the current Liberal government has made people insecure. People are coming to understand that there is no obligation/compulsion for the government to pay them a cent when they get older. And as long as the majority of Australians imagine themselves to be middle class, the government can keep on beating up on the poor & Lower class.
If the government wants to balance the budget, they should scrap handouts to rich baby boomers, like superannuation deductions which cost $43 billion (the age pension is $45 billion per year in comparison). And -ive gearing has to go as well. Work for the dole is costly since the parasitic organizations running these programs are paid $10,000 per person per year. Get rid of that too. No need to punish poor people further. $15,000 per year might sound like a lot, but welfare doesn't go very far in usurious Australia. People on pensions certainly don't drive SUVs, don't buy coffee 3 times a day, and certainly don't eat caviar. They struggle to get by, so give them a break politicians.
No guess as to who you vote for.
Thanks for the great simple insight into how to fix Australia in 5 minutes. Problem is that you make a lot of assumptions based on rhetoric.
e.g. How does keeping people on the dole help someone for the rest of their life? Yes it costs money to run these programs, but your are investing in their future by helping them get a job. So penny pinching on helping them doesnt say much. Unless of course you need them as voting fodder. Are things a little quiet in Christines office?
And yes there are rorts in the system. Sure look at ones existing for many years as well. Taxation. Dole, Pink Batts, Coal mining leases, Expense accounts, Medicare, transport fares, Childcare allowances, Austudy, Foreign Aid, etc etc. These are not all just current government programs.
Baby boomers on Superannuation. Well Superannuation reduces need for Pensions. Pensions are also tapered depending on the super/pension people get, so someone could still drive an SUV etc while on a pension.
The real problem is that its NOT black and white. Its many shades of grey.
Just like the simple Poor, Middle and Upper Class definitions. Someone living in Hobart on a pension vs someone in Sydney on a pension. One can survive better than the other.
Leftist Rhetoric is just as bad as Facist Dogma. Each just tries to push the originally Religous based argument, that its either, Evil or Good.
Its easy to create a new habit but hard to change a habit.
People don't like changing, they get used to what they have been doing so it feels strange to them to stop doing it.
Its a strange idea that your job becomes your hobby over time.I know of a few people who changed to work part time even though they have plenty to get them by until they are dead.
At the rate I'm going though, I'm planning to retire by 50.
It's the way of 'The Wheel' my friend. People only feel comfortable leaving the wheel when they have enough, and yet how can you really work out what is enough. Are you living another 10 years, 20 years or 30 years after retirement. If you want out at 50 you'd need some regular passive income, but most struggle to pay off a house before 60, so they just wait for their super to be released.
My dad is 87. He cannot NOT work. What else is there to do?
He probably has a wealth of knowledge, may he could write a book, kindle is crazy big in the USA. My Dad is a little younger but he buys things knowing that they are worth a lot more, and finds a buyer willing to pay a higher price. Maybe give us a little more information about your Dad and we could be more useful.
In the last few weeks I had an 83 year old finally retire after a doctor said that he could not satisfactory perform his work duties due to ongoing medical issues. We keep encouraging him to think what he should do when he retires while he was working in the last year at work. He has a number of medical issues in the last year and wanted him to think what he wanted to do outside of work. We made a lot of suggestions to him, but his mind was really set that retirement was never going to happen for him. He did not want to stop working and if he physically could, he still would be. He was a wealth of knowledge and did not know what to do outside of work. We couldn't force him to retire. But knowing how he was medically we had to talk about what he would do when he had his medical issues if he could not cope with the workload and had to make a decision about work. He did not have to work, financially he was more than ok.
People really should think about this because sometimes life forces you to make a decision and if you are not prepared for it then depression can kick in.
Warren Buffett mentality?
(Warren Buffett is 84, billionaire and Chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway).
I guess being useful to others and making a difference is more important for some (myself included) than enjoying their retirement.
Boredom. My old man is retired and although he find much to do he also admits he'd like some part-time/casual work because there are only so many things you can do before boredom sets in.
Some cultures and countries could use more people working instead of adopting a lazy lifestyle and dodging taxes which put their economy in the toilet & made them an international laughing stock because they have to beg on their neighbours doorsteps for handouts.
The government will soon have us working until 85, unfortunately even currently, 70% of people over 50 can't get a job because Australian employers discriminate against age.
In the team I manage, the average age is 54 - 8 staff all up.
most likely because they need the money. and with the government constantly pushing for higher and higher retirement ages, they'll have to keep working.
besides i wouldn't consider someone in their 50's "old" — they're better described as experienced. even my mechanic at 62 years old is still wrenching on cars full time, along with his similarly aged friend.
You notice the common story with all these old guys working until they drop dead is they're engineers.
They don't do it because they need the money, and they don't do it because the job's cushy and easy, they do it because the job's always interesting. Honestly I hope I'm the same when I'm their age.People who want to retire early and live off the pension do because their job sucks (even if they get paid a lot).
I can't wait to retire, and I'm actively trying to retire early and strive for financial independence. Working is so onerous to me that there is literally so much other stuff I'd rather be doing. I have taken 3 months off work and as time nears to having to go back I'm becoming more and more miserable. In that time I've been training my dogs to scent track (earth dogging), focussed way more on programming, focussed on my music, travelled around interstate a few times with the lady, been able to work on my project car. Been able to attend seminars and learn about other shit like arduino IDEs and raspberry Pi's. Even skating at a park is better than the corporate crap.
If anyone tells me that I should get a career revolving around my interests, well I have, and the career thing kills it for me. I went from the IT industry to the law industry and I guess I'm not 'professionally geared'. I'd rather restore my valiant and turbo a sleeper corolla, or maybe paint a horrible picture.
Sounds like your work isn't meeting many of your needs. Have you considered a change?
Not necessarily a massive change.
Same role, different industry?
Or a new role in the same industry?
I have gone from being a back-end developer to a lawyer so it's a stark contrast of industries. I have two degrees. I had the same problem with uni. My subjects ranged from 3 unit mathematics and making logic gate simulations in logisim to jurisprudence and 3 units of property law. I found doing the work was a chore and I would find myself ruminating over if I'd ever find that wonder I did as kid such as when I wrote a screensaver in BASIC when I was in year 5, 20 years ago or the Mark Oliphant Science Award I won after my science teacher encouraged me to enter in year 10. Unfortunately, I was disillusioned when I saw the grants the school got from my prize which I doubt was utilised whilst they give me a crappy certificate (Marxist theory haha)and something to 'put on my resume'. Even the career advisers at uni struggled to help because they couldn't pigeon-hole me. I got paid to do students' financial calculus assignments who were in commerce degrees (another differing industry). I guess the stuff I learnt from doing that (stochastic oscillations for example) was pretty handy for me in running my own portfolio. I did automotive TAFE work whilst I was at uni just so I could learn how to fix my car without getting ripped off and that was probably the best teaching environment I have ever encountered.
You might say that doing others' assignments compromises the 'moral turpitude' I'm meant to have as a lawyer, but that industry has the most filthiest and toxic workplaces I have ever encountered, and I can't help but see the gross lack of ethics that pervade all levels of the industry - University was the same - I got tired of them harping on about career expos and networking and all the awkward people. I never went, and never had a problem getting a job.
I'm turning 30 soon. I'm going to assume that you're a older than me (going by your username, born in 67?) so if you have any wisdom that only age can bring that you can share with me and bring me some sort of solace I'm very receptive to it (I'm not being sarcastic if you get that impression). To me a career is just a means to pay for someone's over-indulgent life or the manifestation of someone's meaning of life or something someone derives enjoyment from. Maybe I didn't grow up out of the teenager angst that loves fight club, whom constantly introspects his own life using different philosophical interpretations. Hearing your perspective would be refreshing to me because I know not everyone is the same.
I am quite minimalist and I have no desire for expensive things I find no utility in. I also don't buy into the fact that kids are 'so expensive'. I could easily start negative gearing like a retard, buy a very expensive car or a wanky watch or fill my house with useless crap or buy my nephews and future kids an excessive amount of toys. Trust me, I have even lived on both ends of the spectrum and have met many different people. Many years back I was in remand and had to face a magistrate, and took it upon myself to negotiate with the DPP to keep it out of the District Court. I was 19. The magistrate said to me 'giving a person of your calibre a criminal conviction would be a massive detriment to society' I taught myself how to undertake discovery, do my own submission with cogent legal arguments etc. He was the reason years later I was able to be admitted to the bar and the impetus to get my degrees. I have done independent legal work for free because I can; mainly because I think the system is a mess. I've volunteered at remand teaching workshops to the youth in there. I have done the live overseas thing for a few years (hell I even spent a year learning salsa ffs), I speak two languages as well as English. Yet my perception of the world has changed little.
My father is probably the only person that has a job he loves. He is a master mariner and has captained many vessels that I have got to go on at a young age from cargo ships to cruise ships. He gets paid A LOT that I can't fathom why he has done it for so long…but it makes me understand that he actually enjoys his job and it is possible. The only thing I have in common with him is that he is not greedy. He doesn't care that buying investment properties would actually make tax sense for him, he just doesn't need the money, and is fine with it 'going to tax'. He also has two more degrees he did whilst he is off just to keep his mind active.
Yes it's a massive reply. I guess I'm trying to thoroughly expound on the notion on why work doesn't meet my needs and probably never will. I am also battling with myself whether I should even click post comment, because I don't want it to read as me being sanctimonious…ahh screw it may as well
Smiles. Yes, that certainly is a massive reply. And no, it didn't read as either sanctimonious or sarcastic.
Sounds to me that you have tried many roles, in several industries, but keep running into the same frustrations.
Have you considered that to enjoy your work, sometimes you need to make an effort to select an industry, role, team and manager who are all compatible with your values?
Even two people with exactly the same skills and who enjoy the same kinds of tasks may have different values which then direct how and where they should work.
You're right the people make the place and managerial style is paramount. I have friends that would come home crying hating their job in litigation and had a massive turnaround when they got a more comfortable in-house role without a demanding/borderline abusive boss dictating unachievable targets.
In fact, I'm currently organizing a chat with a maritime lawyer through my father to maybe proceed in that practice area. All hope isn't lost yet haha.
Not just style. Values as well. You could have a very friendly and supportive boss who is dishonest with customers, or a very well managed company that harvests pandas.
Our cost of living is so high some people are forced to keep working. I think if most people can afford to do it they would retire at any age!
My dad is 70+ and a part-managing director / part-owner of a mid-sized food manufacturer. To quote him for the reason he's still working: "whenever I'm not there they make silly decisions". Also I'm guessing he would get too bored without work.
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I've seen quite a number of your posts alluding to how you make a living. Would it be in some online automated stuff? Could we talk over PM? I'm really interested to learn more.