Things are starting to look up with work. Last week and this week I am up to four days. With a little extra effort I might be able to get back to a full week.
People have suggested I retire. Fortunately, those people have not been my bosses! I might have to retire whether I wanted to or not if that were the case. We are talking well-meaning people who see retirement as my best option. But is it?
Truth be known I could make more collecting my disability pension and applying for social security. Financially I would probably be better off.
But finances are only one piece of the puzzle.
[Note to our friends around the world-our options for retirement are quite different & difficult for us to understand let alone explain it to others! When you read the words ‘disability’, ‘pension’, ‘retirement’ and ‘social security’, they are related to a time when one stops working and receives an income from somewhere. Got it?) If you’d like to tell us about the retirement system in your country, please leave a comment.]
Distress tolerance, one of the DBT modules, suggests that when you are in a quandary you should look at pros and cons of your options. What are the pros and cons of my working?
Cons would be I am pulling in mini-money as compared to what I was pulling in and as compared to what I could make retired. I have to spend time going to work when I maybe should be vacationing and seeing things before I am unable to see them. I am running people around hauling my sorry self to work. Those would all go in the con column.
Pros would be things like I promised BVS and a lot of people I was committed to working. They have invested time and money and effort in ME and I owe them an honest effort.
Number 2: I have yet to tap into my financial reserve. We can live conservatively and still build credit towards a better pension and a better financial nest egg. This is particularly since I buy our health insurance through a group plan at work. [Here’s another topic where our countries different greatly.]
And no, I am not putting off living to guarantee a better financial future in my old age. Did you look at the crazy photo gallery Lin posted? I have lived well.
Number 3: I am needed. Now maybe they are blowing smoke up my skirt and maybe I have delusions of grandeur, but I think there is a place for me in the work force. I have some skills and I am capable of contributing.
Number 4: I like my job. I really do!
Number 5: Leaving my job would limit my social interactions and I am a social animal. Not seeing people everyday would be deadly.
Number 6: What would I do with myself all day? Write posts about watching the grass grow? You know, that green stuff I cannot see so well.
So, doing a basic pros and cons list sort of confirmed what I have been thinking all along. Keep working. Wait it out. Reassess and do another pros and cons list down the road.
Pros and cons list are a nice way to examine all of the factors. They allow you to make more logical decisions and avoid distress.