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Whee, things have sure changed!


Shellbelle28
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I read the sub-forum title 55+ Cruising and it really struck me! The world (or the US anyway) seems a different place from when 55 was the designation for being a "senior citizen." 

I'm 57, I have at least 10 years of work life to go before I'm able to consider retirement, I'm as healthy and physically able as I was at 40, and as far as I know, my mind is still all there :classic_blink:. The only thing that's different outside of the gray hair and stiff knees is that I've got more money to enjoy things like cruising. 

My mental definition of "senior" has shifted to my parents who are in their 80's and are just now beginning to experience financial, physical and health issues that limit their activities. My mother skied all winter until she was 77! 

 

 

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You're very lucky to have good health. The term senior has indeed changed over the years. At 62 I know what you mean about the stiffness and pains of age, I have arthritis in many places from high school sports and sometimes find it hard to get going.

Put me on a cruise ship and it all seems to get better.

I guess it's true, you're as old as you feel. Keep on cruising and enjoy.

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5 hours ago, Cruising Golfer said:

You're very lucky to have good health. The term senior has indeed changed over the years. At 62 I know what you mean about the stiffness and pains of age, I have arthritis in many places from high school sports and sometimes find it hard to get going.

Put me on a cruise ship and it all seems to get better.

I guess it's true, you're as old as you feel. Keep on cruising and enjoy.

Golfer:

You sound like my DH. Football starting in midget league through college, and a career as a carpenter means he's a guy who DOES need the earlier retirement age. He can't work a full day without coming home in misery. I don't want him to work himself to the point he can't enjoy the "golden years." So he decided to do the early retirement. Now he needs to figure out how to enjoy it (outside of cruising). 

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12 hours ago, Cruising Golfer said:

Luckily I can still work, but I am not on my feet all day.

I have come to enjoy cooking and working in the yard.

My DW loves the fact that I cook all our meals, she's a TA and works late.

Cruising is our way to decompress.

My DH does most of the cooking too! It's very nice to come home to dinner being ready! 

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I agree....I watch the re-runs of "Golden Girls"....on the show, they are younger than I am now, but they "seem" older, nevertheless...I don't consider people "seniors" until around 75 or older...and that will depend on how they act!  I know some folks in their early 50's who act like they're 90!  And I know folks in their 80's who act like they're in their 50's!

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3 hours ago, cb at sea said:

I agree....I watch the re-runs of "Golden Girls"....on the show, they are younger than I am now, but they "seem" older, nevertheless...I don't consider people "seniors" until around 75 or older...and that will depend on how they act!  I know some folks in their early 50's who act like they're 90!  And I know folks in their 80's who act like they're in their 50's!

 

Funny how the "old" gauge moves with our own ages, huh?

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2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Based on what we see on many of our cruises this topic should be changed to 65+ :).  And on some cruises a 65 year old would still be among the children :).

 

Hank

 

I've never been on a cruise where a 65 year old would be the young demographic! We've only been on NCL 7-day cruises, there have always been a lot of younger people. 

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3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Based on what we see on many of our cruises this topic should be changed to 65+ :).  And on some cruises a 65 year old would still be among the children :).

 

Hank

With 1 exception, that is our experience.

 

One of our trans-Canals we were the youngest between Ft Lauderdale & L/A, but the 2-days up to Vancouver the majority of pax changed and we became almost the oldest. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I follow this forum for my mother who turned 70 this year, as she's not so savvy at forums. She has mobility issues and what not, but wouldn't consider herself 'old'!.

 

Where as I am 33, and with my health feel 'old' nearly every day!

 

I think old is a relative term tbh. I like mature better. :)

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  • 5 weeks later...

When my Dad was 88 years old he began to experience some difficulty walking, as his hip was wearing out.  Doctors thought that he couldn't survive surgery so he had to live with it.

 

I took him a cane and suggested that he use it.  He told me that the cane was for old people.  In talking with him I determined that he thought old was 100.

 

He died at 91 and never did use the cane.

 

I guess your age is simply a factor of what you believe.

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My dad is almost 90, lives in his own condo, still works fulltime (from home) and still drives!  He took care of mom at home until she passed away a few years ago.  He walks on his own (a little slower now) and cooks and cleans.  He wants to work and luckily he has a desk job.  But he couldn't understand why I'm retiring next month (at 65.5), but I tried to explain to him that as a staff nurse at a hospital for nearly 30 years doing 12-hr shifts on my feet all day (walking 3-5 mi. each day), my body is wearing out and my arthritis is hurting more.  I will still teach nursing part time and spend alot of time with my children, grandchildren and hobbies....and, of course, traveling. 

 

Different occupations can often determine when someone retires....demanding physical jobs are difficult to continue into the late 60's and beyond.  I will miss my nursing career (Labor & Delivery and Mother/Infant), as well as my coworkers, but I want to enjoy retirement with a healthy body.

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On 10/23/2018 at 12:35 PM, Shellbelle28 said:

 

I've never been on a cruise where a 65 year old would be the young demographic! We've only been on NCL 7-day cruises, there have always been a lot of younger people. 

I have.

 

33 night circumnavigation of Australia, average age was announced as 78, Mrs Gut and I were, at the time 57 and 55, constantly called “kids”.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Go-Bucks!... my wife was (is, still keeps her license) a nurse for many years (floor nurse for many of them) until her job 'retired' her. She's many times reiterated what you said. One of the hardest jobs there is particularly as the patient load went up with the patients now needing much more attention (the 'easy' ones are now all out-patient). We try to travel as much as she can and definitely enjoy it. Frankly, if I'd really known the toll the job would take on her she'd have retired way earlier. So bless you and enjoy your retirement.

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On 12/6/2018 at 12:37 AM, Go-Bucks! said:

My dad is almost 90, lives in his own condo, still works fulltime (from home) and still drives!  He took care of mom at home until she passed away a few years ago.  He walks on his own (a little slower now) and cooks and cleans.  He wants to work and luckily he has a desk job.  But he couldn't understand why I'm retiring next month (at 65.5), but I tried to explain to him that as a staff nurse at a hospital for nearly 30 years doing 12-hr shifts on my feet all day (walking 3-5 mi. each day), my body is wearing out and my arthritis is hurting more.  I will still teach nursing part time and spend alot of time with my children, grandchildren and hobbies....and, of course, traveling. 

 

Different occupations can often determine when someone retires....demanding physical jobs are difficult to continue into the late 60's and beyond.  I will miss my nursing career (Labor & Delivery and Mother/Infant), as well as my coworkers, but I want to enjoy retirement with a healthy body.

You are very right regarding your last sentence. I will turn 62 next month, and this coming spring will mark my 41 years of working as an R.N. After 2 years of working med/surg the next 20 years of work was pretty much all ER nursing. I knew at that point no way could I do another 20 in the ER, and fortunately for me I managed to get a job working for the Federal Government at a VA hospital based primary care clinic as a case manager. My position is a desk job, 98% phone work, and 2% face to face patient contact doing mostly chronic disease management and occasional non urgent triage. I have worked in this position for going on 19 years, and it is truly a blessing for me personally and professionally. Not only am I so honored to be able to provide care to our most deserving Veterans, having to work no weekends, no holiday, no shift rotation, and from day 1 of this job getting 5 weeks of annual paid vacation this has allowed me the paid time off to do quite a bit of traveling.

 

So, I am planning on working another give or take 4.5 years to build up my FERS pension and TSP/401K, and my current job will allow me to do that. My husband is already retired being 5 years older than I which I have no angst over,  because he now does pretty much all the cooking and cleaning which we used to share when he was working which took up a chunk of both our free time. I look at it this way, if our health should decline or worse before or shortly after I retire we have no regrets and consider ourselves very blessed with me now a 15 year cancer survivor ( 🙂 ) every day of my life following my cancer bump in the road is a gift even if work is a part of it.

 

BTW, our 14th cruise is at the end of this month which is a 10 day southern Caribbean on the Crown Princess and we are as excited for this cruise as we were for our first!!!

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10 hours ago, EasyGoingGuy said:

Go-Bucks!... my wife was (is, still keeps her license) a nurse for many years (floor nurse for many of them) until her job 'retired' her. She's many times reiterated what you said. One of the hardest jobs there is particularly as the patient load went up with the patients now needing much more attention (the 'easy' ones are now all out-patient). We try to travel as much as she can and definitely enjoy it. Frankly, if I'd really known the toll the job would take on her she'd have retired way earlier. So bless you and enjoy your retirement.

 

You are quite right! Enjoy your travels.

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2 hours ago, Nightengale31 said:

So, I am planning on working another give or take 4.5 years to build up my FERS pension and TSP/401K, and my current job will allow me to do that. 

 

I worked for 6 years as a maternity case manager (working from home) and it was much easier physically than the hospital. I wish you the best as you finish out your career. 

 

I had my last work day on January 2...my coworkers gave me a surprise party...so nice. It felt strange to walk out of the building for the last time, but I'm already enjoying more free time.  😍

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18 hours ago, EasyGoingGuy said:

Go-Bucks!... my wife was (is, still keeps her license) a nurse for many years (floor nurse for many of them) until her job 'retired' her. She's many times reiterated what you said. One of the hardest jobs there is particularly as the patient load went up with the patients now needing much more attention (the 'easy' ones are now all out-patient). We try to travel as much as she can and definitely enjoy it. Frankly, if I'd really known the toll the job would take on her she'd have retired way earlier. So bless you and enjoy your retirement.

Same with my DW, after over 40 years of nursing, with her last 20 yrs as ER/Trauma RN, she was forced into retirement at 59. Fortunately, we have excellent pensions.

 

Best decision we ever made was taking early retirement.

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2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Same with my DW, after over 40 years of nursing, with her last 20 yrs as ER/Trauma RN, she was forced into retirement at 59. Fortunately, we have excellent pensions.

 

Best decision we ever made was taking early retirement.

 

Wish I had a pension.  I have to pay my bills from my savings for 6 months before applying for Social Security next July. But I'll be on the cruise during that time so won't be spending money on food or gasoline. 

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On 12/5/2018 at 9:37 PM, Go-Bucks! said:

My dad is almost 90, lives in his own condo, still works fulltime (from home) and still drives!  He took care of mom at home until she passed away a few years ago.  He walks on his own (a little slower now) and cooks and cleans.  He wants to work and luckily he has a desk job.  But he couldn't understand why I'm retiring next month (at 65.5), but I tried to explain to him that as a staff nurse at a hospital for nearly 30 years doing 12-hr shifts on my feet all day (walking 3-5 mi. each day), my body is wearing out and my arthritis is hurting more.  I will still teach nursing part time and spend alot of time with my children, grandchildren and hobbies....and, of course, traveling. 

 

Different occupations can often determine when someone retires....demanding physical jobs are difficult to continue into the late 60's and beyond.  I will miss my nursing career (Labor & Delivery and Mother/Infant), as well as my coworkers, but I want to enjoy retirement with a healthy body.

 

My DH is a carpenter. He simply cannot work as he could even 5 years ago. One fused wrist and the other nearly as bad makes using tools and lifting materials and cabinets hard while he's doing it, and he suffers for days after if he works more than half a day. He took SS as soon as he was eligible, but the money isn't anything like what his working income could be. He feels guilty for cutting back and pushes himself too hard. 

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