Lesson: Embracing Retirement
They tell us that because people are living longer, healthier lives, we should be working longer. We are told that remaining in the workforce will help us to have a sense of purpose (ikigai?) and feel that we can still contribute to society in a meaningful way. I say nuts to that. Once we reach our 60s, we should be able to choose what we want to do. Perhaps it may be time for a career change. Maybe people will prefer to take it easy and donate their time, experience and knowledge to society in a different way other than gainful employment. Why should we work longer? Isn’t life supposed to get better? Haven’t we worked long enough? Don’t we deserve to be stress-free and get out of the rat race? Anyway, check out the articles and think about early retirement if you feel it has its benefits. Try not to concentrate on the financial aspects but give equal weight to all the non-monetary benefits and drawbacks of early retirement.
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Example Article
Each conversation topic is based on a theme. In order to help students acquire a basic understanding of that topic, four media articles are provided for them to read. I will never test you on the articles, but I strongly suggest you book lessons far enough in advance to give yourself enough time to properly prepare. The better prepared you are, the more benefit you will receive from our conversations.
Below is an example article for this conversation topic.