The price you pay

Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote - in 1834 – that almost every physical job has a tendency to cause some sort of injury in the practitioner, for example:

“Grinders of cutlery die of consumption; weavers are stunted in their growth; smiths become blear-eyed.”

Whatever job you have, there may be a price you pay for it. Here are two contemporary examples.

We all know of workaholics who sacrifice the benefits of private life in pursuit of wealth or fame; or sportspeople who develop physical injury that can last a lifetime.

What can be said about the price we may pay in retirement? It depends. For those who are happy in retirement, just as for those who are content at work, we can say that the price is negligible.

But what about those people who haven’t found their meaning or purpose in retirement: could they be an unhappy burden on themselves and those close to them?

Is that a price that, as a retired person, you would want to pay?

Retirement: You won’t know what it is like until you get there.