The historian in me wants to, no needs to know where all this retirement stuff comes from. I feel more grounded in the history of something. If it changes or has changed, I’m the person in the back of the room asking “Why?” And, because I think of retirement as more ‘new’, than around for a while. I think that I am, me personally, on my third career. The first two were pretty successful. A MBA from Pepperdine University in 1975 and twenty-five + years in HR doing everything from hiring to training executives to negotiating with unions. Then, years getting the girls through their education, possibly being a bit over-protective, yes, MM, I do admit to that. I admit too, that this is a good time for Tom to retire. After years of being a parent, I’m ready to let the girls be the parent. And no. I don’t mean of us. I mean of your own short people.
But, I’m a looker before I leaper. The fact that I have not been hanging out on that corporate world doesn’t mean that I have not been gainfully active. I read. I keep up. And I write. Besides, this will be very cool cocktail party conversation, heehhe, being the smartest a– in the room.
From Monday we know that the Germans, specifically Otto Von Bismark, came up with the idea of stopping work at age 65 and getting paid to stop. At that point in time, because they didn’t think the ‘masses’ would live very long, the government paid. Well, come to think of it, in Germany, the government still pays. Maybe the Socialist won after all!