On retirement, the life worth living and the life worth leaving

I saw a social media post about a man so old he’s bent double but still doing motorcycle food delivery. Most comments on the post were positive and laudatory, seeing this as evidence that, in spite of advanced age, some people still want to be useful and be seen as “normal”.

Yeah, as normal as old people in developed countries working as cashiers at convenience stores or cleaning tables at fast-food joints.

I don’t buy that. If somebody of that age and physical condition is still running around delivering food, they aren’t doing it for fun or for the flex.

I’m a retiree. I’m not rich but I think I have “enough”, whatever enough is. It could turn out I don’t actually have enough and will end my days burdening others or, just as bad in my view, that I have more than enough — which means I’ve wasted too much of my life acquiring wealth and not actually living it.

May I be spared these two calamities. I’m more inclined to believe that not having enough is the real reason the old bent-double man still runs around doing food deliveries. He’s not doing it for the fresh air or to meet new people.

And may you be spared that fate, too. Life gets tougher every day and not a single day passes that I don’t think about my good fortune of having retired and being able to approach 70 in relatively good physical and economic health. I also can’t help but think of those worse off than me every single day.

In the old days people didn’t really retire. They just stopped working when their body couldn’t handle it any more or when their grown-up children started taking care of them. Those who had actual pensions, mostly retired government employees, were the extra lucky ones.

I chose to retire in my early 60s with a year of my employment contract still to run. Things were changing at my employer’s – the usual corporate transformation stuff – and it was best I left and let the new bosses choose my replacement themselves.

In effect I had a year-long pre-retirement leave: I have nothing to complain about and plenty to be grateful for. But some of my corporate peers chose to continue working, and I doubt it’s because they need the money. I surmise they need the job as a validation of some sorts – that ‘Hey, I’m still needed and relevant and important’!

I don’t miss the good old corporate warrior days. What I do miss is the interaction with people at work, which I replace by making new friends while still keeping the old ones. Many still remember me and I never say no to a chance for a free meal and listen to them whinge about their bosses!

Through my career, I never took myself seriously. I earned enough to live a comfortable life and feed and clothe and educate my kids. My four decades of being a pen-pusher also gave me “enough” for my retirement, which I think is what running the rat race should be about.

Malaysia is still a country of young people but as lifespans increase there are an increasing number of people like me, comfortably retired and with years still ahead of us. But there are also many others like that old man who, allegedly, still does motorcycle delivery in spite of his advanced age and medical condition.

Having “enough” helps you be independent. There is life outside of work and that spared me the pain of leaving my title, office, and other perks behind. After all I wasn’t teaching the young or curing the sick or growing food or keeping society safe through unglamorous jobs as firemen or rubbish collectors. What I did for a living wasn’t really fundamental to the survival of our species.

Many middle-aged people, especially government servants, pray for an optional early retirement that can’t come early enough. They’re probably stuck in a toxic work environment just to put food on the table and perhaps squirrel away some money for retirement. That’s not living – that’s just surviving.

That we’re a country of many young people still toiling away to create wealth for themselves, and hence for the country, is a blessing. Their labour ensures that our pension funds and investments and social safety nets such as public healthcare will still last at least for a few more decades.

However, the younger generation are not guaranteed a safety net and soft landing when they retire. We post-WW2 “Baby Boomers” are the wealthiest generation ever, but we may need that wealth to take care of ourselves and not burden our own children, whose own wealth and filial piety may not be enough to care for us.

Our generation’s wealth also unfortunately comes from destructive greed. We live a better life than our parents but the price of our good life comes from ruining the climate and depleting and defiling the earth’s resources and creating economic and social disparities. Such is the world we’re handing to our kids.

Apart from relationships and independence, health matters more as we age. We once traded our time and even health to make money. Now, we’re trying to trade money for time and health. But time and health are elusive and without some humility in our life perspectives, they still can’t guarantee a peaceful autumn of our life.

Ironically a solution for a happier final chapter perhaps lies in giving back to others. When I recall the old Japanese rescue workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster as well as the elderly British protesters against the Gaza genocide who volunteered to be arrested in the UK, I choke up.

These brave old people purposely chose harm and danger for themselves to protect those younger than themselves. They had a good innings in the game of life, and are now willing to sacrifice to help the younger ones play their own innings. It’s the ultimate measure of having lived a good life that you’re prepared to lose it to protect others.

I’m extremely lucky I never had to make such a decision, or even have to be on a motorcycle to deliver food. I’d like to think I’d have discharged myself honourably if tested. But I’m in no hurry to put myself to these tests!

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.

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