Don't retire, it gets worse.
Oh man, don't be telling me that. I come from a long line of folks for whom retirement was something only the "country club" set did. My father "retired" at 74 when he figured he could no longer do the heavy lifting required for repairing John Deere rice combines and farm tractors. His decision was driven by physical limitations and not economic leverage on old age. I remember listening to his comments on the labor issues in the auto industry back in the 70s. He wasn't anti union, he wasn't union at all because those types of organizations played so little in the average work life of northern Californians - as they do even today. But often he did say he wished he had made as much money and benefits as the auto workers did - even before they went on strike for more! I got lucky and eventually found work with a state agency that provides some for retirement and I'm beginning to carve notches in the wall. And when I do retire, I will be the first in my family to have actually had the opportunity to do so. I sure wish I could tell my dad about it but he only lived a decade after deciding to call it quits on his work life. So I am looking forward to retirement, god willing I keep my health and mental faculties in tack - the latter of which I will admit that some have argued to varying degrees of success I never really had. But that's another story for another day.
