Is Retirement All It Is Cracked Up To Be

@mugteck
All of this is possible even if you do work. You just need to design your life around a business of some kind that rewards you with great work/life balance.

unfortunately older generations arent fully aware of these possibilities that are provided thanks to the birth of new business ideas that can be built and run online from the comfort of being in front of a laptop in your favorite boxers on the couch.

- @kristopherryanwatson

BUT undependimg of technology work take some time   

For once I "have to" agree with Lotus Eater!!! 

Typical CherryAnn to think that much at the negative parts.

Yes, body isnt as when young, BUT there are so much POSITIVE ADDED when reaching retirement age (as "westerner")

not needing to bother/worry about earning money anymore

IF stressed before, then can skip that too

and get a lot of TIME, which can be used for fun/interesting things, which it wasnt enough time for before retirement.

(E g my father after retirement organiced and played league boccia, exersised working dogs, competed in regional quiz competitions - not the ones walking in park    -  and started playing in as music band together with some retired profesionals (my father had only been semiprofesional as young.)

- @coach53

For once I "have to" agree with Lotus Eater!!! 

Typical CherryAnn to think that much at the negative parts.

Yes, body isnt as when young, BUT there are so much POSITIVE ADDED when reaching retirement age (as "westerner")

not needing to bother/worry about earning money anymore

IF stressed before, then can skip that too

and get a lot of TIME, which can be used for fun/interesting things, which it wasnt enough time for before retirement.

(E g my father after retirement organiced and played league boccia, exersised working dogs, competed in regional quiz competitions - not the ones walking in park    -  and started playing in as music band together with some retired profesionals (my father had only been semiprofesional as young.)

- @coach53

It is called being realistic Coach. You, I and everybody out there were dressed, bathed and had our backsides wiped for us when we were young and incapable of doing these things. If we live too long, the same will happen again and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

But since you mentioned something about looking at the negatives and not the positives, I guess I won't be the one worrying about carrying toilet roll or wet wipes any more and by the time anybody gets to that age, who will care if they crap themselves.

- @Cherryann01

and booring, which you accused ME to be!!!

E g my mother is close to 90yo still living at home managing herself totaly (except relatives assist with shoping since covid started.) She even assist OTHERS, e g taking care of a dog when neighbour work and she shoveled snow not only for herself but also for some neighbours instead of waiting for anyway paid janitor to come and do it

And her father became 95,  needed to be in a caretaker home the last years just because it became to dangerous with fire hazard when he got bad SHORT memory e g fprgeting things when cooking himself. But he did all other than cooking and cleaning himself still. until last WEEK, then he became in bed after others had screwed up made him get bone break. On top of that, then in bed they started feeding him - and choked him to death by feeding to fast!  Btw he WORKED until he was 92, when he got FIRED    because he had forgot to forward some lorry load orders. .

I believe I am older than you, but you are much older in mind    )    E g I am starting new businesses. Partly for the fun of assisting poor tribe people, partly to do something negative thinkers find impossible..   

What was your last crap writing? 

For once I "have to" agree with Lotus Eater!!! 

Typical CherryAnn to think that much at the negative parts.

Yes, body isnt as when young, BUT there are so much POSITIVE ADDED when reaching retirement age (as "westerner")

not needing to bother/worry about earning money anymore

IF stressed before, then can skip that too

and get a lot of TIME, which can be used for fun/interesting things, which it wasnt enough time for before retirement.

(E g my father after retirement organiced and played league boccia, exersised working dogs, competed in regional quiz competitions - not the ones walking in park    -  and started playing in as music band together with some retired profesionals (my father had only been semiprofesional as young.)

- @coach53

It is called being realistic Coach. You, I and everybody out there were dressed, bathed and had our backsides wiped for us when we were young and incapable of doing these things. If we live too long, the same will happen again and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

But since you mentioned something about looking at the negatives and not the positives, I guess I won't be the one worrying about carrying toilet roll or wet wipes any more and by the time anybody gets to that age, who will care if they crap themselves.

- @Cherryann01

No its called being

extreem negative

and booring, which you accused ME to be!!!

I am not even negative as you WITH my serious injury...

What you talk about DONT start when retirement start, normaly its MUCH later - if ever...

E g my mother is close to 90yo still living at home managing herself totaly (except relatives assist with shoping since covid started.) She even assist OTHERS, e g taking care of a dog when neighbour work and she shoveled snow not only for herself but also for some neighbours instead of waiting for anyway paid janitor to come and do it

And her father became 95,  needed to be in a caretaker home the last years just because it became to dangerous with fire hazard when he got bad SHORT memory e g fprgeting things when cooking himself. But he did all other than cooking and cleaning himself still. until last WEEK, then he became in bed after others had screwed up made him get bone break. On top of that, then in bed they started feeding him - and choked him to death by feeding to fast!  Btw he WORKED until he was 92, when he got FIRED    because he had forgot to forward some lorry load orders. .

Much is about HOW to THINK, they stayed young in MIND by not even thinking they being old...

I believe I am older than you, but you are much older in mind    )    E g I am starting new businesses. Partly for the fun of assisting poor tribe people, partly to do something negative thinkers find impossible..   

@pnwcyclist I am glad you have found the right balance and are enjoying life. I was merely pointing out that the older we get, the more we ache, the more chance there is of a serious health problem and therefore the need for meds. You are completely right about us all having to look after ourselves, try stay in shape but sometime, if we live long enough, we will need help to complete basic tasks like eating and dressing.

I like the plan that gsturdee mentioned where the guy planned to return to New Zealand in 10 to 15 years when he can no longer afford his healthcare.

- @Cherryann01

No its called being

extreem negative

and booring, which you accused ME to be!!!

I am not even negative as you WITH my serious injury...

What you talk about DONT start when retirement start, normaly its MUCH later - if ever...

E g my mother is close to 90yo still living at home managing herself totaly (except relatives assist with shoping since covid started.) She even assist OTHERS, e g taking care of a dog when neighbour work and she shoveled snow not only for herself but also for some neighbours instead of waiting for anyway paid janitor to come and do it

And her father became 95,  needed to be in a caretaker home the last years just because it became to dangerous with fire hazard when he got bad SHORT memory e g fprgeting things when cooking himself. But he did all other than cooking and cleaning himself still. until last WEEK, then he became in bed after others had screwed up made him get bone break. On top of that, then in bed they started feeding him - and choked him to death by feeding to fast!  Btw he WORKED until he was 92, when he got FIRED    because he had forgot to forward some lorry load orders. .

Much is about HOW to THINK, they stayed young in MIND by not even thinking they being old...

I believe I am older than you, but you are much older in mind    )    E g I am starting new businesses. Partly for the fun of assisting poor tribe people, partly to do something negative thinkers find impossible..   

Yeh I think you are older than me but the simple fact is it will come to you like to us all. Even if your fit and able until in your 90's you know what is coming. Live too long, maybe till 110 but you will not be wiping your own arse at that age, will you?

Nobody can turn back time and all I have said in my post is I admire the younger members for living their dream early and time stands still for no man.

Anyway you don't have to worry do you because you will never make it abroad with your serious sports injury so you can get your backside wiped in Sweden when the time comes.

And if you think I am negative just for mentioning these points, then what about people who take out life insurance policies, they do it because they know death awaits us all. Why bother with travel insurance too.

- @Cherryann01

And it wouldnt suprise me if my mother "die with bots on" by she climb on ladder and such risks,

The ONLY I worry about is never get to Phils, ending up in a SWEDISH nursing home...     Clinical, not good for mind.  Much better in an Asian country where they have much better attitude towards old...

If I hadnt got the sports injury, I wouldnt have worried about that neither   

then I would have expected becoming as mother and grandfather being in good shape at high age. (Most at father's side became close to 90 too - btw NOT needing assistance with wiping of ars   

Before the injury I were in extreem good shape. I STARTED playing tennis, table tennis and basketball at club level when I were close to 40yo, were occupied with other sports earlier.  Had better stamina than he who finnished second in region champions for 20year olds.  Once I played tennis against around 20year olds in almost 10 hours REPLACING the young guys when they got tired      Total 4 different.  If it woudnt have become dark, I could have continued some more, although LEGS started to get tired, but NOT my stamina.

Cherryann01 said. . . . @coach53 Ask yourself one question Coach. You said in a previous post that you and a nurse both knew what your sports injury was and the specialists or doctors did not or at least they did not know how to fix it.

**************************************************************

Coach never said what sport injured him, may I suggest to keep in shape he should try out Cornhole.

CherryAnn001 . . . . Just some thoughts of mine on retirement or the thought of retirement, in the Philippines or any other country including your home country.Is it really all it is cracked up to be. We work most of our adult lives, busting are arses to make enough money to support ourselves and our families, maybe end up divorced and loosing a good proportion of our hard earned cash in the divorce settlement, do not have that much time for fun and leisure activities and then you reach retirement age.

All of a sudden you have more time, lots more time to enjoy life but lets be honest, your not in your 30's or 40's anymore so if you are lucky all you have is a few minor aches and pains when you wake up in the morning. Your slower, have less stamina and it takes you longer to recover from any physical activity and at our age that includes just putting your trousers on. Or maybe you have asthma, high blood pressure or high cholesterol and a few prescribed meds a day. Even worse you may have had heart conditions, strokes or other major health issues.

So now we have all the time in the world to enjoy ourselves and take part in our favourite leisure activities but can we? We hurt our back when swinging a golf club or tennis racket, we are out of breath quicker and at our age, we cannot be too far from a toilet because we go more. If we want to go abroad on holiday, with all our ailments, the travel insurance costs about half the cost of the holiday, If we want do do any adventure activities, the insurance premium goes up especially for pensioners and let us be honest, having a shower at the age of 80 can be classed as an extreme sport for us. We need to pay for extra baggage just to accommodate the weight of our pills. inhalers and other prescribed medication and we eventually need help just to walk up the steps onto the plane and if our memory has gone, we cannot even remember what our suitcase looks like on the baggage carousel.

If we retire abroad we need to spend shed loads of cash on our prescribed medication, when it is free on the NHS in England. Our medication is harder to find especially in countries like the Philippines, we need to stand in line after line to process documentation while our bladders are saying I need the toilet and like we know from another topic on here, if we need a No2, better bring wipes or toilet paper. The food is not what we are used to so again back to carrying wet wipes or toilet paper, we need to pay ridiculous amounts of money for western comforts, including food and we may have to rely on a medical facility that is not up to western standards.

I guess what I am really trying to say here is that I admire the younger folks on this forum who have or will take the decision to move to the Philippines while they are still fit and healthy. These are the folks who can truly enjoy themselves and are fit enough to do so.

The end result though is just about the same, a cremation or hole in the ground looks much the same in any country and it will come to us all one day.

@coach53 Ask yourself one question Coach. You said in a previous post that you and a nurse both knew what your sports injury was and the specialists or doctors did not or at least they did not know how to fix it. I bet you they know and I bet the reason your not getting your operation is because they think your bones/body will not heal properly if they operate. Ask yourself that?

- @Cherryann01

Of course I have. Dont you know by now I check everything?!!! 

Btw I forgot to mension earlier a general practising doctor said correct  too direct after I gpt the injury, but NONE "specialist" have never said correct still!!!

But the "specialists" have said a lot of stupid things  as e g "Can it be pain there? "     Of course it can, "everyone" know that except the HEAD doctor for the "specialist" clinic!!!   

I agree with Cherryann01 post, especially if you are retiring someplace other than your home country and especially in a third country like the Philippines.

The real negativity are the folks pointing a finger at his post.

There are a few good men here,

That Can't Handle The Truth,

Even if you live to 95.

- @Enzyte Bob

Not suprising you agree with him, he has agree with your BS posts... 

Its still extreem negative by CherryAnn undepending of you agree with him

*I dont know exact how few days, but it was SHORT between he was in good shape except his short memory,  others messed up so he got broken bone and I got the news of that and when they had choked him to death.  Sure much less than two weeks because I visited him every time I could coordinate with business travels, which were rather often by I scheduled them myself     and that was two weeks before he died and then he walked around in his normal good shape.

So hospitals have killed both my grandfathers by imcompetense, so perhaps I better NOT get surgery

I consider retirement as a time to live instead of waiting to die. I'm a throw caution to the wind sort of guy I suppose.

- @Moon Dog

I consider retirement as a time to live instead of waiting to die. I'm a throw caution to the wind sort of guy I suppose. I'm 70 years old and in process of adopting a 1-year old. My blood pressure is normal, I don't take any medication. My mom was 101 when she died and still lived by herself, only sick the last 2 weeks of her life. That's how I want to live and die. I'm living in a province that doesn't have a hospital that I know of and I'm not interested in the proximity of the nearest medical center. That sort of thing never entered the equation when I was planning to retire in the Philippines. My current lifestyle keeps me busy most of the day and that's the way I like it.

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" Satchel Paige

- @Moon Dog

Exactly.  Thinking like that keep you young 

He were older than them himself  but not in his mind...

Btw for you still before retire age, so you can need methods giving you more time  - and for us retired too who WANT more time than we have anyway 

Beside stop smoking - and none or small alcohol intake. Actualy a HALF glass RED wine per day seem to have good effects   (although at least some of the positive effects can be goten by e g apple juice too 

They are between 1.50 to 2.10 hours for different people. Can be found out by note which time get sleepy. Perhaps some have noticed you can be sleepy but then become less sleepy and then become sleepy again around 2 hours later?  Thats the sleep cycles showing themselves     Its around 20 minutes per sleep cycle made to fall asleep.

AND there is a "body clock" (= ther body can KNOW when its time to wake up) which can be exersised to wake you up. Then it dont become that tireding effect from an alarm clock waking you up from the deepest sleep.  (If someone need an alarm clock to not get stressed by not being sure to wake up in time, just put it at 10 minutes later than you tell your body to wake you up   

Summary:  Living remote so nothing woke me up - except sometimes by gees when they passed in spring and autumn     -    I went to sleep 5 am and woke up by myself not needing any more sleep 9 am. rarely 11 am.   

Of course having babies/toddlers complicate things 

but there are A LOT of time to gain in a lifetime by this, to get more time to do fun/interesting things   

coach53 said about his father . . . . .he was in good shape except his short memory, 

*********************************************************************

You must have inherited a short memory from him, you are repeating yourself several times on this thread.

- @Enzyte Bob

You have even shorter short memory by I suppouse you did read it just before you wrote that 

(My father had excellent memory until he died 84yo. He ended up top 3 in regional quiz contests several years in line (which had qualification rounds first every year and he reached final every year until the last, when he knew the answers but wasnt fast enough anymore    for the seconds available.)

But I AGREE I have some problem to remember WHO and WHERE I told things by I communicate with so many.  And extra hard when its during my sleep hours      I am often  awake when it suit my business partner and answer here sometimes in between when I wait for his answers.

Whats your excuse for your many BS posts? 

Well we hope you choose the Pacific Ocean there-abouts to hang Cherryann

And, thank you again for this popular and good expat.com Phils topic thread.

Now if you do join expat.com Portugal, to remember us by, please accept the:

E L E G A L      "Expat League of Extraordinary Gentlemen And Ladies"

                                          "Philippines Merit Lapel Badge"

Cheers, Cherryann

- @PalawOne

E L E G A L      "Expat League of Extraordinary Gentlemen And Ladies .. Philippines Merit Lapel Badge"

Ha ha, Thank you very much. I will accept and wear it with pride but I am not leaving the site just yet.

- @Cherryann01

All good to hear Cherryann

Btw for you still before retire age, so you can need methods giving you more time  - and for us retired too who WANT more time than we have anyway 

Beside stop smoking - and none or small alcohol intake. Actualy a HALF glass RED wine per day seem to have good effects   (although at least some of the positive effects can be goten by e g apple juice too 

The NEED of SLEEP can be reduced much.  Some say they sleep less anyway, BUT they are some tired after their normal sleep so they become some less effective.

Here are how the sleep need can be reduced FAST in a normal not retired life too:

1. Back when I were employee before I started own business, I worked normal office hours. Olympic games were coming and much would be at Swedish night time. Luckily I saw an article saying vegetarians need less sleep by the body get less tired by geting less work to clean out not wanted parts of food - and drink intakes.  Depending of what eating before, but if normal "western" eating before then its common the sleep need get reduced 2 hours per night by becoming vegetarian.

So I tested and it functioned.  I slept between TV showed live  = 11pm to 1 am and 5 to 7 am.  Got A BIT tired but managed the very speedy office work.   So I continued after Olympic Games too.

2. Mental training.  E g same basic RELAX part of mental training as elite sportsmen use, but e g the meditation part of yoga functions too. 

Even normal people, NOT counting themselves as streesed, tence the body some unnecesary anyway. For such can the sleep need be reduced even (1) 2 hours, of course more at much stressed people.

3. Follow your SLEEP CYCLES.

They are between 1.50 to 2.10 hours for different people. Can be found out by note which time get sleepy. Perhaps some have noticed you can be sleepy but then become less sleepy and then become sleepy again around 2 hours later?  Thats the sleep cycles showing themselves     Its around 20 minutes per sleep cycle made to fall asleep.

The period soon before each sleep cycle ENDs the sleep is as deepest so its BAD to be waken up during that by an alarn clock. Actualy get LESS tired if be woken up during the 20 minutes "transfer" period in the beginning of each sleep cycle if sleep almost 2 hours LESS than if be woken up during the deepest sleep.

Some can be adjusted anyway by change a bit when to put on the alarm clock and nowadays many employers allow flex hours.

AND there is a "body clock" (= ther body can KNOW when its time to wake up) which can be exersised to wake you up. Then it dont become that tireding effect from an alarm clock waking you up from the deepest sleep.  (If someone need an alarm clock to not get stressed by not being sure to wake up in time, just put it at 10 minutes later than you tell your body to wake you up   

Summary:  Living remote so nothing woke me up - except sometimes by gees when they passed in spring and autumn     -    I went to sleep 5 am and woke up by myself not needing any more sleep 9 am. rarely 11 am.   

(I am "night person".  For others there are other ideal sleeping hours.)

Of course having babies/toddlers complicate things 

but there are A LOT of time to gain in a lifetime by this, to get more time to do fun/interesting things   

- @coach53

but there are A LOT of time to gain in a lifetime by this, to get more time to do fun/interesting things   

- @coach53

Coach was woken up from his sleep cycle while in a remote place by the by gees, no doubt singing “Staying Alive”.

- @Cherryann01

Do you claim that being anything else than ignorant? 

Btw - The post I wrote is a summary of a book I got approved by an AMERICAN-Spanish publisher company many years ago,  which I suppouse is a sign of my English isnt as bad  - when I bother when it is important - as some ignoranrts claim repeetingly.  I suppouse they claim such BS by they dont understand whats important AND haventmanaged to correct me even a single time about Phils inspite of they claim I am wrong often!!!