Morally obliged to volunteer if retired?

[notnownorma]

Just that, really. If one has no grandchildren to care for, is one morally obliged to give something back to the community if no longer working and in good health? If so, how much time is "enough"?

Inspired by a conversation I recently had with someone thinking of retiring soon.

I'm in my mid 50s, no kids, planning to retire soon.

WTF are you on about, I need to repay my debt to society? What f*cking debt to society? I've worked in nursing since 1986, no ''gap years'' no maternity leave, no being a SAHM, the longest periods of time I've not worked is 2 periods of 3 months sick leave, one for a hysterectomy, one for a fractured shoulder. Any retirement will be funded by myself and the NHS pension that isn't actually gold plated, I've been paying 100s into each month. In fact my recent ''pay rise and back pay'' got swallowed up by pension arrears and I was £50 worse. I won't be enjoying myself at your expense don't worry, I'll be enjoying myself at MY expense.

Debt my arse. You don't know what the hell you're talking about.

If you do, you probably do owe society something, so yes 20 or so hours volunteering would be a good way to pay back your debt

what the fuck is this nonsense?!

Xposted with @Georgeskitchen , we were saying exactly the same thing. Georgeskitchen is my evil twin.

'Volunteering' covers such a broad range of activities too. I have a friend who is a retired accountant and who audits the accounts of several very small charities (including the local community choir). They are providing their skill and expertise for free and the groups involved benefit from this, but it certainly doesn't take 20 hours a week, probably not even 20 hours a year!

I retired three years ago and am childless. I always said I would volunteer but have still not got around to it. After the best part of 40 years of full time working, the last few years of which I was also trying to care for an elderly parent with dementia prior to her going into a care home, I wanted some commitment free time to myself.

😂

Nobody is 'morally obliged' to volunteer for anything. Treating volunteering as an obligation is what leads the Tory party to think we can just plug the gaps in social care/education/the arts/childcare/mental support etc by just encouraging non-professional retired people to do stuff for free.

Volunteering is nice but it's not an obligation, moral or otherwise.

Fuck no. Presumably you've been a productive tax paying member of society for 40ish years at that point. You've done your time. I would feel zero such obligation.

I don't think there is any obligation but most people who don't are of a type I wouldn't want to spend much time with, and why wait for retirement?

If you do, you probably do owe society something, so yes 20 or so hours volunteering would be a good way to pay back your debt.

Retired people have not accrued any 'debt' by working for 45 years and paying a fuck-ton of tax. Quite the opposite.

🤣

This is amazing.

You have no such obligation.

How's the view from up there?

No, absolutely not.

I've had some sort of paid work since I was 13. Financially I've been a net contributor for 37 years, and I will have 41 years NI paid.

I also did 10 years volunteering for a S&R team, turning out in all weathers, (paying for my own kit & insurance) which I didn't mind at the time.

When I retire, hopefully next year, if I choose to volunteer, it will be my decision.

I think if you want to volunteer, great you should volunteer.

Should you feel morally obliged to do it? Hell no.

As for the person upthread who thinks others ought to be made to do unpaid work WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK are they thinking?

I think that poster was thinking of us doing community service for the crime of being in our 50’s.

I'm a public sector worker....NHS. As I've said, my pension is NOT gold plated. I pay for it. Several hundred pound a month, in fact. I've just received a pack pay which got swallowed up by my ''gold plated pension'' £1K I paid in pension contributions last month.

Gold plated my arse. I wish people would find out the facts before they write fiction.

I'm interested in this. What makes certain jobs and those that carry them out - more worthy or perhaps morally superior to those that don't?

What do you mean by volunteer though? My mum is in her 70s and doesn't formally volunteer anywhere.

However she has spent untold hours looking after various elderly relatives, visiting people in care homes and baking for children's community activities run by other family members. This despite having ongoing painful health conditions herself.

Should she formally volunteer somewhere?

Do jog on.

Many retirees still pay tax and have paid tax most of their adult lives.

If some choose to volunteer, that's great and I'm one of those.

But that's not because I have any debt to pay back plus I still work part-time. It's nobody else's business how I choose to spend my time.

Also, one you get a hell of a lot of CF behaviour going on if you volunteer, with organisations and recipients asking more and more of you.

Boundaries are vital.

No moral obligation. But what are your plans for your retirement? I think you need to think about what you would find fulfilling. If you plan to be like my FIL, for instance, and sit around drinking and watching telly all day, I'd suggest that there are much better ways to spend your time and volunteering is one good way to do it, because you can volunteer at something that interests you, you'll probably get out and see people, and you'll find it fulfilling. If, on the other hand, there are loads of things you've been dying to do all your life and that will use all your time in retirement, then go for it.

An uncle of mine started helping out at a local men's shed - menssheds.org.uk. He was a bit bored but didn't quite know what he wanted to do, then a friend told him about this. He absolutely loves it: he's always enjoyed DIY, so he gets to go out and use his skills somewhere where they have the right equipment, and he's helping other people by passing those skills on and helping some people with quite serious MH problems get support and find purpose in life.

No way, enjoy your retirement!

No..
Volunteering should just be that. Voluntary. It's not volunteering if it's an obligation

I retired at 58 and don't volunteer or do childcare for grandchildren.
I worked for a charity for 20 years so feel I've done my bit