well... it's not Europe-wide. Our retirement age is 70 for men, 65 for women, I think. Or 65/60. Definitelly not 60. Greeks also retire sooner, just a few other countries too. Germans work from the grave!

As much as some people seem to dread it,... eventually, with increasing automation in factories, more plug-in modular repairs and disposable items that are cheaper to replace than repair, and big agro farming,... the need for workforce will have to decrease... other than bullsh!t paper pushing, and bureaucratic runarounds...
life is getting easier....
Tough noogies...  ...

This is why we all have too much cr@p,... The only way to keep everyone slaving away to the grave is increased consumerism...
So, keep working away, so you can keep buying the massive amounts of cr@p you don't need, so you can keep the wheels turning...
Otherwise, you'll have to define yourself by something more than what you do, and actually pay attention to life and other people, instead of stuff...

Okay,.. got my helmet on,.. ready to be beat up...
Lemme' have it......

What a shame Jerry ,you cant think of something better to than work.
How about fishing,golf, Now here is a novel idea motorcycling,tour different country's, there are a multitude of things to do. My then wife and I rented a car in Paris ,we headed south without a map,we had more fun than a barrel of monky's.
Jerry you have very little imagenation. Fly a single engine plane around world,with your wife.Cross the Atlantic on the QE11,talk about luxury, take some dancing lessons(secretly) and amaze you wife while on the QE11,you think your wife is loving now, you aint seen nothin yet.
Take note from a man who has been married 6 times to 5 different women, not one of them remarried, Hey you had the best whats the point of looking  

Mick -

We just see the world thru different glasses, my Friend.  Nothing wrong with that, either

I hate ships - was one one once, and never again.
I've flown an airplane everywhere I want to go, and a couple of places I didn't want to go.

See, the difference is, I get my kicks, and a real rush, out of business.  Right now, at age 63.5, we're doing the initial research and other due diligence on a new business, the idea for which has been rolling around in my head for several years.  The challenge of this is far more interesting to me than ballroom dancing could ever be.

And for Serowbot -

You are right, menial tasks will always be with us.  I remember a speech that Gen. Colin Powell gave to a high school class in one of the impoverished areas of New York City.  Of course, the kids were mainly blacks and Hispanics.  He told of a time when he was in high school and he got a job as a floor sweeper in a clothing manufacturing shop in New York.  He vowed to himself to be the best floor sweeper that the company had ever had; and after a few weeks on the job, that's just what the owner of the shop told him he was - the best.

It's just that attitude and ethic that took him to the top of the military and political world.  Obama may be the first black president, but I firmly believe that Powell could have been had he chosen to run after he got out of the Army.  No matter what one's work is, every person should be proud of what he does, and strive to be the best at it that he can be.  That's true satisfaction to me.

Central Banking schemes always create inflation & currency devaluation. People have to Make More $$$ in order to get by. The more services that are provided, the higher the taxes. As the currency devalues, taxes have to rise. Eventualy, economies succumb. Have a look at Greece. People are only talking about how the people are REacting. Im not hearing much about what policies got them in the shape they are in.

Yup, this french strike is nuts, whole country is paralized, shady motives behind it all.

---

Yes, germans work from the grave... by choice!

To understand the german labor mentality you must first realize that its like comparing apples and sauerkraut, its just a different planet over here.

Long story short germans have embedded in their dna a little word called "muss" (must/duty) which basically makes the individual police themselves in all aspects of life.

Its simple lifelong brainwashing and programming that makes them wilingly accept the notion that the goal of their existence is to serve the fatherland with labour, taxes and specific behavioral code and expectations... otherwise you are an "Aso" (asocial parasite) and looked socialy down upon.

But in general, are germans happy?!
No.
Quite the opposite actually; even though they are better off than most of the world, germans, simply put, are complex, torn, productive beings that fill their lives with trivial junk, activities and traditions to face away from the fact that the system never gave them a chance to be,  but then again, none of this matter because everything is fine because it must.

O.K my turn. I am retired and have been for 4 years now I'm 59 years old. I've heard this argument and think it's more a matter of envy then wanting to be a more productive citizen. I don't receive any Social Security and won't in the future. I worked for a municipal water department and we have our own private retirement plan that we contributed to and the investors of our plan invested in solid company's. My social security contributions started when I was 15 years old and continued until the age of 24 when I went to the water dept. I can't draw on that because I make too much from retirement plus I'm short about 6 months of credits. With the water dept. I worked 31 years and bought back 3 years of time I was in the Army so I ended with 34 years credit in the retirement plan. When I retired I got 79% of my base pay plus because the plan has been so successful I've gotten a 3% raise each year now. Even in these messed up times. It's a successful plan because it's completely privately run. Social Security is a failure because it's run by the government. Now, do I feel guilty? Hell no, I worked hard for 40 years! Do as the politicians say and work your fingers to the bone but as the song goes. What do you get? Boney fingers! Private retirement plans are better because your money is only used as retirement investment rather then bridges to nowhere.