5 ms·

>he suggested people should work to age 80, but work proportionally less in all the years up to there. At 70, your body is generally not able to do the same th

by dictum 13y ago

>he suggested people should work to age 80, but work proportionally less in all the years up to there. At 70, your body is generally not able to do the same things you were doing at 20/30, at least not with the same ease. A 75 year old man could work as hard as a 25 year old man, but the same amount of work will probably take a greater toll on his health. In a way, seems like his scheme is pretty much geared to make people dread reaching old age, and a reduction in pension payments would come from all the people committing suicide after facing the realization that as their bodies become more tired and less resilient, they will have to work harder.

mattm 13y ago
And why is the body not capable of doing the same things at 70? Is it because you overworked it earlier on?
- nsxwolf 13y ago
  No, because it's old.
- homosaur 13y ago
  Unless you're mining coal, no. It's normally because you ate shit and had a high stress life and pursued sedentary activities and/or alcohol to unwind. If you take care of your body, it rarely breaks down at age 70. Age 90, then I'll give you a pass on being old.
- LekkoscPiwa 13y ago
  Because you don't think as clearly anymore, you can't have as much fun anymore, your sense aren't as good anymore. Shit, you can't go to a club and flirt with 20-something hot chicks, ok? Weed and alcohol aren't much fun anymore. Your idea of fun is actually borin*g and you don't even know it because you have difficulty grasping half the stuff that's going around you. You are just old. In pain. Slow. Afraid. SUCKS!
_delirium 13y ago
Is it really more impractical for a 70-year-old to work 25 hours, than for a 60-year-old to work 40 hours? The latter is widely expected today, and we expect 60-year-olds to work as hard as 25-year-olds. Otherwise, we'll hire the 25-year-old over them. If that's a problem, we should change it across the board. Note that this proposal is also in the context of a system that provides full support for job retraining and unemployment pay in the gaps (and a good disability and mental-health system), so if you run into serious problems you have options.
- sliverstorm 13y ago
  I think the drop-off is more precipitous than you believe, at least for the jobs that require physical ability & mobility.
- dictum 13y ago
  Sorry, I misread your comment. I had understood it as "work more as you get closer to 80", and not the inverse, which is the premise of his suggestion. Maybe wanting to stop working at 65 and step into full retirement is particular to the American system. Most 70 year olds I know would like some kind of job/retirement hybrid: work 30 hours a week, have longer vacation times, more flexible hours, not losing the job when you have to take a leave for medical reasons, etc.
  - _delirium 13y ago
    Ah right, I see that reading now. I didn't mean that working hours is proportional to age; just that you work "proportionally less" pre-65 in the sense that you work more post-65 than the current norm of "none", and then reallocate those extra person-years of productivity to reduce the pre-65 work week.
Dewie 13y ago
> At 70, your body is generally not able to do the same things you were doing at 20/30, at least not with the same ease. My father is almost 70, and going on hikes with him leaves me pretty winded. Certainly no walk in the park. I'm just a little more than one third of his age. If he would do some strength training in addition to his jogs and hikes, I imagine he would be in great overall shape. I don't think that I'll necessarily be anywhere near his physical fitness when that time comes. But with retirement or a decreased workload, I intend to dedicate more time to keeping fit and treating my body as more of a temple. With societies obsession over youth these days, it's gonna be interesting to see how the youth of today hold up in forty to fifty years.
- nasmorn 13y ago
  My father in law is turning 78 and still does 200km bike rides that I cant keep up with. He trains very dedicated about 5 times a week for the last 15 years. Which was the mOst surprising part to me. I always thought no performabce could be gained that late in life much less so much.
  - mahyarm 13y ago
    Your father has a lot of time for recovery, making all the perfect food and exercising in the first place that lets him beat the average chair sitting office worker.

by dictum 13y ago

mattm 13y ago

And why is the body not capable of doing the same things at 70? Is it because you overworked it earlier on?

nsxwolf 13y ago
No, because it's old.
homosaur 13y ago
Unless you're mining coal, no. It's normally because you ate shit and had a high stress life and pursued sedentary activities and/or alcohol to unwind. If you take care of your body, it rarely breaks down at age 70. Age 90, then I'll give you a pass on being old.
LekkoscPiwa 13y ago
Because you don't think as clearly anymore, you can't have as much fun anymore, your sense aren't as good anymore. Shit, you can't go to a club and flirt with 20-something hot chicks, ok? Weed and alcohol aren't much fun anymore. Your idea of fun is actually borin*g and you don't even know it because you have difficulty grasping half the stuff that's going around you. You are just old. In pain. Slow. Afraid. SUCKS!

_delirium 13y ago

Is it really more impractical for a 70-year-old to work 25 hours, than for a 60-year-old to work 40 hours? The latter is widely expected today, and we expect 60-year-olds to work as hard as 25-year-olds. Otherwise, we'll hire the 25-year-old over them. If that's a problem, we should change it across the board. Note that this proposal is also in the context of a system that provides full support for job retraining and unemployment pay in the gaps (and a good disability and mental-health system), so if you run into serious problems you have options.

sliverstorm 13y ago
I think the drop-off is more precipitous than you believe, at least for the jobs that require physical ability & mobility.
dictum 13y ago
Sorry, I misread your comment. I had understood it as "work more as you get closer to 80", and not the inverse, which is the premise of his suggestion. Maybe wanting to stop working at 65 and step into full retirement is particular to the American system. Most 70 year olds I know would like some kind of job/retirement hybrid: work 30 hours a week, have longer vacation times, more flexible hours, not losing the job when you have to take a leave for medical reasons, etc.
- _delirium 13y ago
  Ah right, I see that reading now. I didn't mean that working hours is proportional to age; just that you work "proportionally less" pre-65 in the sense that you work more post-65 than the current norm of "none", and then reallocate those extra person-years of productivity to reduce the pre-65 work week.

Dewie 13y ago

> At 70, your body is generally not able to do the same things you were doing at 20/30, at least not with the same ease. My father is almost 70, and going on hikes with him leaves me pretty winded. Certainly no walk in the park. I'm just a little more than one third of his age. If he would do some strength training in addition to his jogs and hikes, I imagine he would be in great overall shape. I don't think that I'll necessarily be anywhere near his physical fitness when that time comes. But with retirement or a decreased workload, I intend to dedicate more time to keeping fit and treating my body as more of a temple. With societies obsession over youth these days, it's gonna be interesting to see how the youth of today hold up in forty to fifty years.

nasmorn 13y ago
My father in law is turning 78 and still does 200km bike rides that I cant keep up with. He trains very dedicated about 5 times a week for the last 15 years. Which was the mOst surprising part to me. I always thought no performabce could be gained that late in life much less so much.
- mahyarm 13y ago
  Your father has a lot of time for recovery, making all the perfect food and exercising in the first place that lets him beat the average chair sitting office worker.