Today is the last official day of work for my father-in-law. On Monday he wont be going to work anymore and will begin to enjoy his retirement. It is a wonderful milestone to achieve. My mother-in-law is honoring him at our Synagogue this Saturday afternoon.
This got me thinking about my own career and where I will be when I get to retirement. It is very interesting that my father-in-law, and my father both have had basically only two jobs their entire professional life. My dad started at one accounting firm and then joined another a few years later. He became a junior partner at that firm, and years later bought out the other partners. He then later merged it into a large NYC firm and although he stepped down as a partner at 65, he still works there. My father-in-law was the same. He is an actuary and worked for one firm for a few years and then joined the office of the actuary for the city of New York, where is is retiring from now.
Wow! I have already had two CAREERS! Let alone two jobs.
What a different time we live in today. Things are so much more complicated and the cost of living so much greater. I wonder sometimes if I will ever be able to retire. My parents do a lot of travel and I would love to be able to do that someday, but I tend to doubt that my family will have that luxury.
It’s not that I don’t want to keep a job more than a few years, its just that in the US today everyone seems to be trying to find that next job thats going to pay just a bit more or have just a bit more benefits. I just finished a year at my current job. Who knows, perhaps I will be here for many years to come.
I only hope that some day I will be at a point in life like my father-in-law and be able to look back at a great career and enjoy the rest of my years in retirement.
Congratulations to Brian Kheel, my father-in-law, on his retirement!