Tired of the rat race....

[Youare]

I always wondered if you quit the "rat race" are you still a rat?

Randy

 

[r0GuE]

I read everybodys posts. I agree with most of it, and disagree with a bit of it. I'd tell you why, but I gotta fly.

Gotta go to work! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Mark_in_NH]

This is called Life !!!
Life is Not Burger King and you Can't have it your way !!!!!!!!!
Unless you are independantly wealthy and can live a life of leasure, doing what ever please you then you will just have to stick it out with the rest of us poor working shmucks !!

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I like what I do. I have more fun than most folks even think about.. I know. They tell me so. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

In my youth I loved the rat race. I think it was the competition.

I haven't made the wisest decisions as far as wealth goes. But then wealth has never meant much to me. Things don't mean much to me.

Don't get me wrong. I like nice things. But I don't seem to ever feel like I have the title, that they're mine. For me it's more like I've got the use for something.

Maybe explaining how I feel about things I've made will help. When I'm done with a project I'll stand there and be just as blown away as the next guy. But for me it's like someone else did it. I was just along for the ride.

It drives my wife crazy that I'll let complete strangers almost borrow expensive equipment or give my competitors my trade secrets. I don't see ideas as proprietary I guess. And tools, like ideas, are to be shared.

The downside of this attitude is there are disappointments, in people, in ideas. The upside is more friends than one can appreciate in a lifetime, peer respect, and the freedom to think without boundries.

I don't know if any of this makes sense. I just know that for my friends and family I wish them the kind of happiness in a relationship that I have with my wife above all else. Next to that I would like them to know the pleasure of working from a creative perspective.

There are a lot of things I would like to do but can't because, because this and because that. But all in all I like my life, I'm having fun, I'm loved, and I've learned to appreciate me even though I'm far from perfect. I guess that was the hardest thing to do.

It would be nice to come into wealth and not have to worry about payment. To just be able to make things, one right after another, each one new, no two alike, maybe not even related. But then again, what makes each project so special is the challenge. Not just the challenge of making it, but making it under the circumstances at hand.

So for me it's the whole package I guess. Darn. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[higgy]

wroughtn_harv,

Well said. I like projects as well. I am lucky as I love my job, it always has new twists. On my free time I grow grass hay, build the things that I need, and build houses with my dad am mom. At 45 I am lucky that both folks are still going strong, and I am as proud of them as a they are of me.

My life is rich with family and friend, not too much money, but I would like to try that as well, for maybe the rest of my life. But as most of people in the world wealth is not in money but where you find it. One of the things that keeps me going is I just love life.

I have worked hard and I owe nothing. Obtain as you can afford and the rat race is not as bad, still a pain but not as bad.

Each project brings new life to me, I see the projet as competition, can I do this and can I do this well.

Its all fun, don't let the media and the sellers dictate what the goal is, and don't buy into the hype, that will get you mostly out of the rat race.

Well that we intersting, I did not mean to go there but my fingers thought this is what I needed to say.

Dane

 

[kensfarm]

One of the best sayings I've heard came from the movie "Jerry McGuire".. Jerry's mentor.. Tricky Dick.. his anwer for to being successful was this..

"To be truthful.. I've failed in life as much as I've succeeded.. but I love my wife.. and I love my life.. and I wish you the very best success"

 

[r0GuE]

Life is a gift folks.

Work is a responsibility of life (to you, your family that you support, your coworkers that you assist in their endeavors and the customers, (internal and external) that you are there for in the first place). Work provides the wealth that makes this country chug. It's not ALL flash, this wealth stuff. It is a good thing. It gives us the best hospitals, universities and roads and on and on. These things serve us, and if they weren't here, things would be much harder.

I suggest that the rat race is what we make of it. It is for the most part a system in the machine that is our society. To jump to the fringe in an attempt at a utopia is a choice I suppose, but it is one made at the expense of others, as you will surely still enjoy the benefits that a great society like ours affords (not the least of which is the security that our national defense system provides).

If you find yourself in what I termed the fringe, because you've found something you love and are good at, so be it,.. (I certainly didn’t phrase the last paragraph to accuse anyone of anything) but to seek that place as a refuge from lifelong productivity (not just for yourselves but for others) is selfish.

That said, I wish I’d win that darn power ball!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif If I do though, I’ve got some wonderfully productive plans!

 

[rozett]

Back in 2000, I was getting tired of the rat race... the 10-11 hour days, the 20 hour airplane rides, etc. We bought our Maine property as part of our 'plan' to retire after the girls graduated from college. Like others, one day my job was gone. And like others, much of our 'paper' assets evaporated in the market.

So, what I've done is traded one rat race for another. Now we're trying to farm christmas trees, blueberries, and raspberries. A lot of work to get done and trying to do it with a minimum of paid help. Actually have 200 berry plants and 1k trees to get planted in the next week or so. But it is great being outside, no airports, no bosses (other than the wife /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) and lots of seat time.

I always had a joke with the girls, that we would put them through college, so that in later years, they could support us in a manner in which we should become accustomed. Maybe now it's time. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[OkeeDon]

<font color="blue"> I always had a joke with the girls, that we would put them through college, so that in later years, they could support us in a manner in which we should become accustomed. Maybe now it's time. </font>

Earlier this evening, Betsy and I were discussing our health insurance. We've been self-employed for years, so have had individual coverage. About two years ago, our former carrier, Nationwide, stopped writing health insurance in Florida, so we switched to Mutual of Omaha. Now, they've given us notice they will be withdrawing from the Florida market on October 15. That's just 5 months short of Betsy getting Medicare, and 9 months short for me (she robbed the cradle /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif). They sent us a list of companies who are guaranteed to accept us. We've been checking, and our current premium of $1101 per month (with a $5K deductible) would go to $2,300 per month ($1K deductible).

So, I said, "Maybe we should go naked (without insurance) for 9 months. After all, we have never made a claim on any of our previous policies. All we have to do is continue to not get sick." Betsy said, "But, what if one of us does get cancer or something?" I said, "Heck, we'll just lose everything we have, and then the kids will have to take care of us."

I don't think she appreciated the humor in my statement...

 

[rozett]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( So, I said, "Maybe we should go naked (without insurance) for 9 months. )</font>

whew.... I'm glad you qualified that... the thought of... well, nevermind /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Don, you hit the nail on the head. The biggest problem for all of us trying to get out of the rat race is health insurance. Pam is using almost half of her salary to pay for ours. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif And I don't see the problem getting fixed any time soon. The Dem's insist that it be run by the government and the Repub's insist that it not. And both are too stuck on idealogy to see any of us out here suffering. (Not intended to start a political debate) We just couldn't go without insurance.

 

[r0GuE]

"But, what if one of us does get cancer or something?"

You probably wouldn't know it untill 9 months was up anyways. Get good checkup first and pray alot. I would try to make it the 9 months. Good luck!

 

[EastTexFrank]

OkeeDon,

Unfortunately you hit on the one kicker in the whole "drop out of the ratrace" plan ... the cost of private health insurance.

When we retired both my wife and I qualified for the company's Retiree Medical Plan. We were extremely fortunate in that regard. I don't know what we would have done otherwise.

That's a pretty tough decision you two have to make. I wish you well and more importantly ... continued GOOD HEALTH.

 

[OkeeDon]

All I can say is that universal health insurance, in the form of Medicare for senior citizens, will eventually be my salvation from a different kind of rat race -- the rat race of private insurance companies, who change the rules in midstream, who come into and then leave our state, who have a mish-mash of differing rules and qualifications, who cherry-pick by excluding some people and raise the rates for others for the thinnest of excuses, and who have caused me more anguish that any other single industry.

It seems kind of a shame to waste universal health insurance only for the one class of citizens who will use it the most and cost the highest amount in the relatively short number of years (compared to the general population) they have left, and let the private companies profit enormously on the younger and generally more healthy individuals.

There are certain things that are just more logical to cover with a Federal system. This is not political, because various of these laws have been passed or supported by both parties. Cases in point:

* The feds pay 90% of highway improvement costs, so everyone, regardless of where they live, has decent roads to travel. It probably started with "Pinchot roads"; read more about Governor Pinchot, here.
* The feds supplement rural electrical cooperatives so everyone, regardless of their local economy, can have equal access to electrical power.
* The feds are currently collecting a surtax on everyone's communications bills to begin to fund universal Internet coverage for everyone, especially those in rural areas who would not be served by private companies.
* The US Postal Service has universal mail delivery to everyone, everywhere, for the same price, because private companies would either refuse to serve, or drastically increase the costs for, delivery to rural areas.
* Our national defense is a universal federal policy, covering all citizens, equally.

It seems logical to me that universal health care is more important to the well-being of American citizens than roads, electric power, internet access and the postal service combined, and at least as important to all citizens as national defense, perhaps even more important, since our daily lives are more directly influenced by it than by the occasional attack on our liberty. (And, I understand that it is our successful national defense that renders those attacks "occasional"; my point is that poor health care could be as occasional under a universal plan.)

Now, I'm a centrist who occasionally wanders into the conservative arena, but probably spends a little more time on the progressive side of the fence. However, I didn't get there by accident -- I tend to spend more time thinking about what is good for every citizen of the U.S. rather than just what is good just for me or people like me. But, this issue does not have to be political. The economics of adding younger, healthier people to our existing pool of senior medical health care should be a slam dunk for the most fiscally conservative leader. The problem is that most of those leaders receive humongous support from the private insurance companies.

 

[reb]

I left the rat race about three years ago and find that approximately 40% of my annual expenditures go for health insurance premiums, and my wife and I do not have any serious health problems. I look at the Canadian and British health care systems and fear that socialized medicine here would result in poorer quality of care than we now have available. What we need is something to reduce the cost of medical care.

 

[tracdoc]

IMHO, the thought and the carry-through of leaving the “rat race” in the good ol’ U.S. of A. comes as an enlightenment to only a small fraction of us. I never really thought much about our work ethic here until I was living in Europe. There, a colleague observed that we (Americans) “live to work, and they (Europeans) “work to live.” Simple, yet profound as I gave it more thought. In Europe, family is still #1. Work never takes the top priority, regardless of the career pathway. Butcher, bakers, candlestick makers, mechanics, dentists, lawyers all follow the basic principle that it is family that matters most. This means things like going home for lunch during the work week. How many of us do this? Very few, if any of the folks I know! It’s work, work, work, and lunch on the run. From my observations over the course of more than a year in Europe, their work product did not suffer a bit, and they got just as much, if not more accomplished. I took to heart the “work to live” philosophy, and it has helped me achieve a much better balance between work and family life. The pendulum had to swing way over to the family side for me, and I now appreciate better why I work, and life in general. No, I have not become a philosopher, but “work to live” approach has been good for me.

BTW, many of you probably know that Canada and the UK aren’t the only places with national healthcare. Both Italy and France (maybe other EU countries, as well) have it, and it appears to work quite well. I don’t want to get on the soapbox on this issue, but a good national healthcare system would go a long way to facilitating a more worry-free retirement when the time comes. The key is to have it run in a transparent, not-for-profit manner (truly NFP, not the bogus NFP which pervades the healthcare industry currently). One approach would be to structure national healthcare as a cooperative. Everyone opting in has a responsibility to do something for the co-op, just as in any other co-op. The responsibility factor would go a long way to self-police and prevent abuses, and thereby keep costs down. Quality of care would also be high and even-handed, since each of us would have a stake it the success o failure of the co-op. If one looks at the history of co-ops of all types in the U.S., the failure rate is exceedingly low as compared with corporations and other business models. Just some thoughts…

 

[r0GuE]

It should be noted that Canadians cross the border regularly to escape the nightmare that is their sociallized healthcare system. Thanks, but no thanks.

If only there were a way to get good healthcare without putting government in charge of it... Hmmm... Oh yeah! I guess I'll just keep working. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

No such thing as a free ride, someone somewhere is gonna foot the bill. Government waste would surely add enough inefficiency to overcome any benifits it might have.

 

[OkeeDon]

I guess I don't know what socialized medical care is. Is Medicare socialized medical care? If so, it seems to work pretty well. I don't know anyone who wants to opt out of it, and it's part of the same medical care system that Canadians and others admire.

On the other hand, private insurance has brought us, among other things, HMO's. How many horror stories have you heard about them?

 

[nobull1]

Well our "Canadian health care " has it's share of problems.Going to the emergency can mean 10-12 hours and still maybe not see a doctor.A hernia could be a wait of 3 months than 6 weeks recovery so if you work you better have good disabiity insurance.Where I am self employed if I needed a hernia operation I would drive to the US pay the money and come back the same day.I could not afford to wait and not get paid for months.Heart attacks hope you get lucky and they do a bypass right away or you could wait for many months and die waiting.<This is one of the ways to save money.Universal health care sounds like a good idea but as was said before once the goverment and "unions" get involved the costs go crazy.The problem that I see is they are so stuck on public health care that they do not want to have anybody pay even if you want to.If you would let some private Healthcare in a lot of the people with money would go there keep the money in Canada and free up some beds in the public system.The problem is some people think that regardles of your income you should have to get the same service as the people who pay nothing.Not trying to say anything other than just because it is public does not mean it is the answer.A lot of seniors are not real happy in Canada with the quality of the public system and the long waits.Also we have a shortage of family doctors due to the low wages in Canada,they all head south /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.If you don't have a family doctor you have very little chance of getting one in our area,there just isn't any, which means go to emergency when you have a problem.

 

[r0GuE]

Okeedon, I'm pretty sure there is nothing in the political spectrum that we will ever agree on, but I rest my case on nobull1s comments. I really feel bad for those trapped in that system. As I have heard before they have even made it against the law to pay to get prompt service. They all must recieve equally bad service (but hey, its free, so they can all get out of the rat race anytime they want).

As for medicare, I assure you there are thousands of people who have earned the means and have chosen to use those means to obtain a higher standard of healthcare than medicare provides. Most don't however, because it isn't too bad (translation - horrifically expensive program used to bribe seniors to vote for xyz candidate). If anyone ever trys to tweek or tune a"program" to make it less wastefull, more modern, they are shown as evil mongers trying to kill off the old.

What we really need is socialized tractors. I'd like to stop working at 45, but if I do, I'll never get my L series I've always dreamed of. If the government bought L series tractors, surely they could negotiate a good deal and therefore bring L series tractors to the masses at a good cost.

1 Protect the borders
2. Print money
3. gaurantee free interstate commerce

That's it. Thats what the founding fathers had in mind. They did not have in mind to take by force federal income tax and redistribute it to those who would like to get out of the rat race. This sounds more arguemenative than I'd like it to. But this is the point I would like to make.

I guess everything can turn in to politics eventually.. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[EastTexFrank]

I agree that something needs to be done about the cost of our present health care system and the insurance companies that "run" it but please keep the government out of it as far as a nation health system is concerned.

I have a great deal of experience with the British National Health System and some with the Canadian and European. They work well for coughs, sneezes and colds but for anything more complicated than that, they all fail miseably. They all fail for the same reason ... they are all grossly underfunded by the governments. I could go into some of the underlying reasons but let's just say that conceptually it is a wonderful idea, everyone receiving good, low cost health care but unfortunately it just doesn't work that way.

I don't know what the answer is but there has to be one. It'll take someone a lot smarter than me to come up with it. All I know is that it has to be morally wrong for someone to work hard all their lives in order to provide their families with a reasonable level of comfort and standard of living only to see it all disappear due to some unforseen illness. It's also morally wrong for a person to pay into a system all their lives and be refused timely care and treatment because the system is overloaded, understaffed and underfinaced. So, what is the answer????

Back to tractoring.