Retirement thoughts Past Present Future

[MossRoad]

Are you sure he's hungry? Have you ever offered him an apple to see how grateful he looks?

Sometimes they get awful pissy if someone offers them anything but cash.

He's hungry. His waist is about as big around as my ankle. In the mornings he's either in his pajamas or bathrobe. Afternoons he's in clothing. And no, we don't offer anything to panhandlers. It's a good way to get into an altercation. We give directly to charitable orgs in our area. They know how to get the most out of the donation and make sure it buys assistance and not drugs or alcohol.

 

[MossRoad]

Our Biology kid studied abroad in Costa Rican rain forest as an elective over a summer. They started at the top of a mountain and progressed their way down to the ocean, cataloging any critters they came across. Spent nights in camps. When they'd come to a town, they'd enjoy the locals culture.

 

[m7040]

Our kid graduated from Elon in political science then two years to get masters degree from George Mason while working full time for a major law firm. Then she worked in conflict areas of the world for the military as a contractor. Now she is heading up programs for Ukraine working for the State Department. And she is our adopted Black girl growing up with parents that are emigrants from Denmark. She never took any fluff classes or BS as you call it

 

[MossRoad]

Our youngest spent a week at George Mason for a conference on the environment between sophomore and junior years in high school. Wife and I toured state parks in Maryland for the week.

 

[JasperFrank]

Hay Dude - "Trust me, todays college kids are under full scale brainwashing, with the exception of engineering, physics, chem, etc."

Respectfully, I will say that you have this entirely wrong. Today, it is the students that set the politically correct agendas, not the profs.

I think at the end of the eighties there was a shift, and I am so glad I got my BS before this happened, in that you had to earn a degree to the standards of a University or College.
That was the mind set. The University/College set the bar of what proficiency meant and Profs were protected and backed-up by the Admins.

It is very different now. Students and the paying parents, control the standards. And they control the standards to the point that Universities and Colleges have lost the ability to set any sort of Standard of Proficiency. And Profs are not backed-up by Admins. They are not so subtly told to lower their standards and pass a student, cause there is serious money involved.

We routinely invite students over for evening meals and conversation. And the one thing I've noticed is a complete lack of critical thinking, or any ability to factually or logically defend a position they may have. I don't press it. Yet, I do find it odd, how dumbed down the conversations are, and we have to play the game.

 

[milkman636]

I hate you.

I despised my job. From the minute I showed up at work to the minute I left work, I hated every minute of it.

I didn't hate it at first, it took some time. Some time to figure out that I'd been lied to and that I was supposed to suck on it if I didn't like it and continue to believe the lie.

By that time, I had enough of my life invested in it that to walk away would have wasted years of my life.

The money was good, benefits were good so I stayed because I have a lovely wife that deserves the best I can give her. Had I been care-free, I would have left that craphole and forgotten it.

Trust me when I say, there are far more people in that situation than you can imagine. For you to have actually enjoyed your job is a blessing few people get to have.

BTW, i don't like sitting at home at all. Hate that almost as much as I hated my old job. It's why I'm here. I bought an old Hobby Farm in Michigan that I head to in the Summer. Summers in Florida are for the young.

I can totally relate. My job sucks, but it keeps my family well insured, pays enough to keep me out of debt, and gets me home at a decent time every day to be involved with my children. So I go to work every day with many people I don’t like, for a boss that I don’t like, and grind it out. I occasionally get offered alternatives that pay better, but there always seems to be some trade off in one of the other areas that are important to me. My job is just a practical means to an end. Over the last few years I’ve been branching out into investing and I have also acquired a vacant piece of real estate in good area that I was planning to develop a duplex on for rental income. The virus junk kinda slowed that plan though. But, my goal is still for retirement at 62 with my retirement savings, some active investing, and possibly up to three rentals in close proximity to each other to putz with. I’ll go sooner if I can it looks like I can afford it. I’d even quit tomorrow if I could. There’s no special glory in trading your time for money. It’s just what I have to do to get what my family needs.

 

[drssg]

I was in college in the 80s, and I recall when this cartoon came out. College was not so much about learning and more about just getting through the class to get the grade. Then get a degree so I could get a job.

As it turned out, most of what I needed to know for my job was learned on the job. The degree was more of a checkbox requirement to get into the door.

 

[drssg]

He's hungry. His waist is about as big around as my ankle. In the mornings he's either in his pajamas or bathrobe. Afternoons he's in clothing. And no, we don't offer anything to panhandlers. It's a good way to get into an altercation. We give directly to charitable orgs in our area. They know how to get the most out of the donation and make sure it buys assistance and not drugs or alcohol.

I'll note that just because he was skinny, that doesn't necessarily mean he was begging for food money. Drug addicts are often underweight.

 

[Jstpssng]

I was in college in the 80s, and I recall when this cartoon came out. College was not so much about learning and more about just getting through the class to get the grade. Then get a degree so I could get a job.

As it turned out, most of what I needed to know for my job was learned on the job. The degree was more of a checkbox requirement to get into the door.

I was in college in the 80s, and I recall when this cartoon came out. College was not so much about learning and more about just getting through the class to get the grade. Then get a degree so I could get a job.

As it turned out, most of what I needed to know for my job was learned on the job. The degree was more of a checkbox requirement to get into the door.

View attachment 740825

Somewhere around that time period I read about a college kid who sat in lecture taking notes all period. At the end of the class the instructor said "Tear up everything you wrote today. It was all lies, I wanted to see if anyone was listening."

 

[Gale Hawkins]

https://www.investopedia.com/boomers-thoughts-about-money-5224471

I expect Boomer financial experience and understanding varies greatly. Buy some land and stay on the edge of bankruptcy for 40 years worked for many of my father's generation. My father finished the 5th grade during the Great Depression.