Happy Birthday, Daddy!
November 17th, 2008 . by economistmom
It’s EconomistMom’s (my) dad’s birthday today. (I still call him “Daddy.”) He’s 76, and still working full-time as the Goodyear Professor of Chemistry at the University of Akron–and productively, too, as you’ll see from this link to his work. He’s fortunate to be in a profession he loves and has been able to keep working in for so long. I suppose it’s largely this personal experience watching my dad’s career that leads to my view that the current “normal” retirement age (of 65 for my dad’s cohort, and 67 for mine) doesn’t seem so appropriate these days–at least not for people like my dad. Personally, I’m looking forward to a long career as well as the best insurance I have for not living beyond my means. That’s why I take care of myself physically and stay engaged intellectually. It’s why as a nation, part of our strategy to start living within our means has to go beyond being fiscally prudent, but toward always expanding our means–i.e., sufficiently investing in our human capital.
Happy Birthday, Daddy!
Happy Birthday! Dad’s are special and great that he is still around to celebrate life, love, family and birthdays with.
(And thanks for this blog….I’ve enjoyed reading your postings and wish to encourage you to post more frequently.) Darryl
Thanks, “Daddy”, for giving us EconomistDaughter.
It’s wonderful, for your pop. I’m also doing something I can keep doing for years, and it contributes a great deal to feeling serene about the future. Let’s not forget hod-carriers and tile-setters and people who get diabetes - if we try to establish an expectation that everyone can work into their seventies there are going to be a lot of folks who have seen better days scrambling to get jobs handing out hot samples as Costco.