Another colleague dies soon after retirement
I just heard the news that one of my favorite colleagues died last night, just two years after retirement. I don't have details yet--but I think it was cancer. She couldn't wait to travel all over after retirement. I'm so sad she never go to fulfill those dreams.
This is the third person from work in about 5 years who died soon after retirement.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | October 27, 2024 2:09 AM
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That’s a lot of death, OP. I hope you’re okay.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | October 21, 2024 4:35 PM
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I'm sorry for the loss of your former co-worker, OP. I hope it's not a true cancer cluster.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | October 21, 2024 4:56 PM
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I'm sorry for your lose, OP.
People have to make time for what they want to do while they are young. You don't want to be one of those 60 or 70 year olds stumbling across the Acropolis, or, worse, never getting there because they're dead.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | October 21, 2024 5:03 PM
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So, this means that all I have to do is retire?
by Anonymous | reply 4 | October 21, 2024 5:09 PM
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I also retired two years ago, then about six months ago, I got a prostate cancer diagnosis. I had prostatectomy surgery a few months ago, and I'm praying I'll remain cancer free.
But I'm also going to start traveling more and enjoying my life, because who knows how long I'll be around? It was a big wakeup call.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | October 21, 2024 5:29 PM
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don't drink the water at work OP.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | October 21, 2024 5:44 PM
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I know a couple who retired to Palm Springs - late 50's and really looking forward to their lives after being in tech world for so long. One of them got pancreatic cancer - dead 3 months later.
Do it NOW. Traveling when you're older is more difficult. I've been doing bucket-list trips every other year for awhile now. Yeah, it's a little pricey - but I did it.
I have never (well, almost never) regretted traveling - despite the monetary setback at the time.
And even some trips that had a lot of frustrations (rain, travel delays, bad sleep, etc) - you do NOT remember that. You remember the best parts of the trip.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | October 21, 2024 5:50 PM
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Meh. For every sad sack story like this there are a plenty of stories of along golden retirements. I just joined my aunt and uncle who are in their 80s on a tour of the Alps. They been traveling for 25 years and they were yachting into their 70s, too. They are in fine form.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | October 21, 2024 5:53 PM
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OP Call Jessica Fletcher. I suspect foul play!
by Anonymous | reply 9 | October 21, 2024 6:04 PM
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OP is writing from HR to perpetuate the myth that working until you fucking drop dead is the only thing that keep you alive (unless of course your salary and benefits become a drag and which case HR fires your old ass.)
Those people who say that 'Oh, I wouldn't know what to do with all that the free time!' The ones who worry how the TPS reports will ever get done without them...they probably deserve to die.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | October 21, 2024 6:10 PM
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[quote] And even some trips that had a lot of frustrations (rain, travel delays, bad sleep, etc) - you do NOT remember that. You remember the best parts of the trip.
Speak for yourself.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | October 21, 2024 6:13 PM
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It's crazy that the GOP wants to extend retirement age to get Social Security and Medicare from 65 to 70. The average mortality for American men is 74. The GOP only wants you to get benefits for 4 years and then die.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | October 21, 2024 8:12 PM
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When I worked for a big company back in my 20s, there was a sales manager who’d been there 30 years.
They laid him off. As he was exiting the building, he went into cardiac arrest and collapsed to the sidewalk. Dead.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | October 21, 2024 8:55 PM
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Get away from me you jinx!
by Anonymous | reply 14 | October 21, 2024 9:15 PM
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Way too many people give work their all, delay healthcare, do everything for everyone else, and then don't get to enjoy their retirement.
I'm not saying anyone should be a selfish boor, but if you don't have work/life balance, no employer will willingly present it to you.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | October 21, 2024 9:17 PM
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Willingly present hole to you?
by Anonymous | reply 16 | October 21, 2024 9:19 PM
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Sorry for your lost OP. Have you called Erin Brokavich?
by Anonymous | reply 17 | October 21, 2024 9:25 PM
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R12, full retirement for people born from 1960 and later is currently 67 and has been for quite awhile. People still can start collecting at 62, but the monthly amount is substantially reduced. The Republican proposal is to raise the full benefits age to 69. The argument is that changes need to be made to keep SS fiscally solvent, who knows.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 18 | October 21, 2024 11:03 PM
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I had a teacher from high school die about 3 months after retirement. He was a bit of a dud as a teacher and didn’t get much respect, but he was an okay guy. He got hit by a car while riding his bike and apparently died instantly. Or quickly. He should have enjoyed his retirement not having to teach a bunch of shitty students on a daily basis, and here the universe had other plans.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | October 21, 2024 11:10 PM
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I am 18 months into retirement ( am 64) , yikes! There is not a day that goes by that I don’t that God I retired when I did. Holy shit, I have heard of this phenomena of folks dying right after retirement, makes me sad. Hope i’m not next. i have too much going on right now and not ready to hang it up
by Anonymous | reply 20 | October 21, 2024 11:26 PM
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All of the people I know who completely retired at 65 lived for 15 or 20 years, none of them did anything special. I might work part-time after turning 67 in three years, it's very possible with my profession. The mistake people make is saying they'll do something when they retire. Do it now, even if in a minimal form. I'm very glad I made international travel a priority all my life. I'll spend my golden years exploring the US.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | October 21, 2024 11:42 PM
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I am about to turn 64 an didn't plan on retiring for several years. I was having so much fun at work and loved my job. But lately it has become nightmarish with restructuring, new idiot leadership, etc. I don't know what to do. I want to stay until max benefits, etc but not sure I can take it. My net worth is 2.7 million but I know I'll die if I stop working.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | October 22, 2024 1:25 AM
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A co-worker retired at 55, looking forward to a long retirement. And why not, her mother was then in her late 80s & her father was in his early 90s. She loved The Amazing Race & talked about applying with a friend to be a contestant. But within three weeks of retirement this lifelong non-smoker was diagnosed with lung cancer. She was dead not even twelve months into her retirement.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | October 22, 2024 1:34 AM
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The theme of this thread:
They retired, then they died.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | October 22, 2024 1:45 AM
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[quote]The mistake people make is saying they'll do something when they retire. Do it now, even if in a minimal form. I'm very glad I made international travel a priority all my life.
That was definitely my approach. My studies and later my work were in a profession that would never be especially lucrative and further I passed up opportunity for freedom to travel for many years. I might have been more ambitious, not have retired early,and have put more aside for a more comfortable future, but I did okay and I bargained for loads of leave time along the way so that my travels wouldn't all be delayed until retired and old.
Everyone makes his own decision and some people have much less choice in the matter than I did, but I'm glad to have to spent months travelling each year for many years before retiring a few years earlier than might have been ideal. It's been a happy result or me, and to my mind better than had I been super cautious and nose to the grindstone for all those years and more -- and with no certainty of having the time or good health to enjoy my retirement. But of course chance has its hand in these things.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | October 22, 2024 1:51 AM
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[quote] The argument is that changes need to be made to keep SS fiscally solvent, who knows.
The way to keep SS fiscally solvent is to increase the income amount that gets taxed. Currently, SS taxes are only up to 170k income. Salaries higher than that are not taxed. If we raise it to $250k, it would keep SS solvent for another 50 years. The GOP is always against anything that may affect the taxes of the rich
by Anonymous | reply 28 | October 22, 2024 11:04 AM
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We know you have $4M in investment accounts and 3 houses paid off in full with no car payments and no credit card debt, but you really should consider delaying retirement until you are at least 70.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | October 22, 2024 11:09 AM
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I have lived my working years in complete terror of not having enough money during retirement. I figure I'd retire around 65 but then do some consulting work until 70; Of course, I may drop dead with all the money I saved in the bank still there.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | October 22, 2024 2:36 PM
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About a year ago, my closest from work died at age 69 after being retired for only two years. She worked so hard for so long and barely got to enjoy life after the grind of work.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | October 22, 2024 2:41 PM
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You're supposed to aim for a life of balance. That means doing work that you like and that fulfills you along with the income that sustains you. When you have that, then you make sure you spend the decades of your working life doing things that fulfill you when you are NOT working, too. Saying all that, it's not easy to achieve.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | October 22, 2024 3:57 PM
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A colleague was going to retire at the end of the year (at age 63). She figured to get a full physical while she is still working and has excellent insurance. Turns out, she has breast cancer. Retirement is postponed and surgery is this week. Life can really suck.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | October 26, 2024 1:54 AM
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Thank you, R32, for that public service announcement.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | October 26, 2024 2:05 AM
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A Statistician friend says the studies that try to pinpoint what makes people live the longest found two odd things:
1) Those who eat breakfast each morning tend to live the longest.
2) Those who retire from work late in life tend to live the longest. That is, no matter when people retire, there’s a high rate of death soon after.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | October 26, 2024 2:18 AM
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Yikes. I retired young & I fast until dinner.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | October 26, 2024 2:29 AM
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R39, can I have your stuff?
by Anonymous | reply 40 | October 26, 2024 2:47 AM
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Isn't working late in life really just a sign of good physical and mental health? Wouldn't they live longer anyway? It is amazing how many people fall to pieces in their late 50s / early 60s and are unable to work.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | October 27, 2024 1:25 AM
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You have to plan and adjust for retirement. Active people who need excitement and need an external locus of approval need to decompress. I have a little more money than I need. All my bills are paid and I have zero debt. I go to bed knowing that if I wake up in the morning, I have reached my daily goal. My blood pressure has dropped. Doing nothing is glorious. I am like a lily of the field envied by Solomon.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | October 27, 2024 1:32 AM
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I retired as a teacher and have many friends who retired. Everyone is doing fine and I don’t know one single person who died after retiring. Teaching is brutal work and it’s a relief to stop. If people need structure they can volunteer or work part time. Don’t be afraid to retire unless you truly enjoy your job.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | October 27, 2024 1:51 AM
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[quote] Those who retire from work late in life tend to live the longest. That is, no matter when people retire, there’s a high rate of death soon after.
Maybe there's a correlation, but that's not the same as cause and effect.
IMO, a lot of working people just don't take good care of themselves. They work and work and work, don't use their leave time, don't go to regular doctors' appointments. Load up on caffeine, don't get enough sleep, eat at their desks, drink to excess at night.
I've done all of those things (survive on caffeine, alcohol, get not enough sleep).
I'd like to retire at 62, but I don't think I can afford it.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | October 27, 2024 2:03 AM
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I should have mentioned teachers are one of the few groups left that get decent pensions. They don’t really have to worry about outliving their money. Probably another reason why they don’t die immediately after retiring.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | October 27, 2024 2:09 AM
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