Should retirement age in IT be 50?

Sitting in front of a PC all day long may be easy on the young bones, but what will happen once we turn 50 when our bones, nervers, brains and eyes may no longer put up with stress in IT. Besides, how much of a drive one would have when 60 to still learn new technologies?

Should retirement age for IT be 50?

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snadam

I figured I'd retire when I'm ready. I have held some sort of paying job since age 14 (so thats 11 years now). It's hard to see myself not working. How freaking boring would your day be? "How was your day today?" "well, I watched the price is right...again." I cant stand long vacations either :P (I know, im a company's' dream employee

)

undomiel

I get bored after two weeks. I see nothing wrong with working until you can't anymore. So I don't really forsee retirement happening to me. Perhaps just a change of venue.

JDMurray

RussS wrote:

The concept that the waning ability for an older person to learn or hold information is an invalid assumption. Like many preconcieved ideas it is based on outdated models and conceptual thinking.

Uh, in my case it's based on my personal experience. Once upon a time I had the entire Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual memorized. Now, 25 years later, I struggle to remember the difference between a Xorn and an Umber Hulk. So sad.

jbrown414

My boss is 64. We always tell him that after he retires from here, he should be greeter at Walmart.

Silentsoul

You gotta watch the old guys that have been in the game for a bit, sometimes there is that little trick that Google doesn't know about that those old guys can toss out there to let you know they still got it. that is true especially with proprietary Hard/Software. My boss man is old but he still has a few tricks up his sleeves.

RussS

Janmike - I hear ya dude. When I was a 17 years old professional racer I thought 21 was old

Then when I came back as a 36 yr old and whupped the 21 year olds I got a whole new appreciation for the knowledge of age.

JDMurray - Too many darken rooms my friend .... Vitamin D is your friend

JDMurray

RussS wrote:

JDMurray - Too many darken rooms my friend .... Vitamin D is your friend

I live in (very) sunny SoCal. I could easily get Vitamin D poisoning here just by walking across a big parking lot.

SWM

I'm going to be 90 configuring Exchange 2070.

Royal... Didn't you get the Microsoft memo ?? Thats Exchange beta1, the final version of Exchange 2070 is not due until last quarter 2071 !!

GT-Rob

^ haha no doubt. And it will probably get delayed until sometime 2073 :P

blargoe

I plan to shift to part-time contract/consulting when I get older (45-50), and basically pick the projects I want to work on, assuming nothing happens in my family where I'll have to live paycheck to paycheck.

dtlokee

With the way the stock market is going it sounds like we're all going to be working a few extra years.

royal

dtlokee wrote:

With the way the stock market is going it sounds like we're all going to be working a few extra years.

Ah come on, today's 504 point DOW drop wasn't too bad.

LarryDaMan

royal wrote:

dtlokee wrote:

With the way the stock market is going it sounds like we're all going to be working a few extra years.

Ah come on, today's 504 point DOW drop wasn't too bad.

Ugh. My 401k is getting thrashed, I was down 13% YTD BEFORE today. On his show today, Jim Kramer mentioned that NFL gambling might be safer than the stock market!

I'll take the Eagles (+6 1/2) tonight.

JDMurray

LarryDaMan wrote:

I'll take the Eagles (+6 1/2) tonight.

That line got thrashed more than your 401K has!!

royal

LarryDaMan wrote:

royal wrote:

dtlokee wrote:

With the way the stock market is going it sounds like we're all going to be working a few extra years.

Ah come on, today's 504 point DOW drop wasn't too bad.

Ugh. My 401k is getting thrashed, I was down 13% YTD BEFORE today. On his show today, Jim Kramer mentioned that NFL gambling might be safer than the stock market!

I'll take the Eagles (+6 1/2) tonight.

At least if you have mutual funds, it's diversified. And with stocks, you still own the same amount of stocks, it's just the value lowers. So when the market picks back up, you get your money back.

Slowhand

First off, I'm going to say this: I'll be working until my brain starts emitting the same smoke that most users' computers do when they call for help. When I'm too burnt out and crazy to do anything useful anymore. . . I'm going to teach.

JDMurray wrote:

hypnotoad wrote:

Mathematicians do their best work in their early-middle 20's and then fade quickly. I believe this has at least some truth in computer people.

I think this is due the waning ability of older people to hold large amounts of information in their brain and manipulate it quickly as they did when they were younger. There is also a certain amount (or type?) of creativity that is lost when the brain's ability to manipulate information slows down. (Apparently, caffeine is not the antidote. )

I have wondered when I will experience a burn-out in my ability to design and write code. Since my late 20's, I have favored specialty languages and design methodologies that emphasize producing working applications quickly over languages that are more generalized and (hence) more difficult to use. Now, twenty years later, I still love programming and logic, but I no longer wish it to be the focus of my daily thought processes.

Maybe my brain is getting a bit tired of coding and wants to do something else that challenges it in different ways. One day I'll have it over for dinner and ask.

And here I thought everyone knew that math is a game for the young.
too_old_for_this_****.png

janmike

dynamik asks

Are you in a management position or are you down in the trenches?

I am in the trenches. My official title is IT Support Services Technician. I am way out of the helpdesk geek position, but we are still expected to give the phone coordinators help if phone calls start backing up. Sometimes it's nice to have that break.

I work for a health care facility and we have a lot of tablets, laptops, and hand-held devices to maintain, beside around 3000 desktop computers to look after--maintenance and life-cycle duties.

We also have several out-lying buildings, up to 50 miles away that we service.

I never get bored, and yes, I do get tired. I cannot believe the difference that 5 or 6 years has made in my stamina level.

Have to add, my boss is a 40-year-old red-headed beauty, and we have one of the Indianapolis Colts cheerleaders working in one of our offices! Yea team!! (It's a dirty job tolerating them, but it has to be done. No! no! it is not necessary to thank me for my personal sacrifice--really:)

Pash

I am gonna retire when it's financially feasable. But I am 26, not even thinking of it currently!

My manager is only 33 but i give him **** every day, i call him oldie/dinosaur/grandpa at any given oppurtunity. Computers werent even invented in his day etc etc. No offence intended to the dinosaurs on these boards!

ScottyPLo

In the IT Field We can make early retirement work to our benefit first 25 years you climb through the ranks from lonely cable puller to full clown certified network admin and at the tender age of 50 you retire with 3/4 salary take that money then get back out on the market find a high paying job with your experience certs and I would imagine degree at that time and roll in the big bucks at your new job and the retirement pay from your first job

Retire again at the ripe old age of 75 and spend your last 20 years or so bringing in more from your twin retirements than most people do working full time

At least that’s my plan

LarryDaMan

JDMurray wrote:

LarryDaMan wrote:

I'll take the Eagles (+6 1/2) tonight.

That line got thrashed more than your 401K has!!

Dallas 41, Philly 37

Winner winner chicken dinner!

I told you Philly +6 1/2!

vsmith3rd

binarysoul wrote:

...once we turn 50 when our bones, nervers, brains and eyes may no longer put up with stress in IT.

nervers? Is that some new nerves/servers hybrid? You've already been in IT too long. Lol.