Yeah, that’s not the social circles I run in…
I remember back when we were all single in medical school. One of us got set up on a blind date with a guy who was in finance. But instead of saying it normally (FYE-nance) he pronounced it like fih-NANCE. We all just died with laughter when she told us, and almost 30 years later “finance” is still an inside joke with us.
I think this might be common among people who had a very stressful yet intellectually stimulating workplace experience. I know quite a few such folks who burned out, retired, and then discovered that they are missing the challenges of those jobs. These consultants actually do some consulting but mostly for “fun,” not for money. Also know a few patent lawyers who went back to work as “of counsel.” It is not that they lack hobbies that would keep them busy…
Was this a native English speaker?
To understand just how strange English can be to non-native speakers, consider that people commonly have significantly different pronunciations for “finance” vs “financial”.
Totally! White guy born and raised in the US.
That’s a perfectly normal pronunciation! Y’all need to hang out with more southerners 
Oh this is great! I will have to show this to the gang. They will die.
Early retirement does not fit well in this society.
Early retirement is not his problem. Early onset rigor mortis is.
Agree! I’m a mostly retired SAHM - I mean my kid is almost 18 and doesn’t require much stay at home momming anymore. I hiked 4 miles this morning, made a from scratch quiche lorraine for lunch (currently in the oven), I’m meeting a friend for coffee this afternoon and then my husband and I are going to trivia night at the local pub tonight.
You can live a rewarding life without working but this guy is the equivalent of housewives who used to lay on the couch and watch 8 hours of soap operas.
I think you get a few weeks of drooling on the couch, after that you need to do something. It doesn’t have to be work, just something.
Boy did this thread/topic get taken off the rails.
Back to the topic at hand, I volunteer at a community based organization that sends low income kids to college. They find schools willing to work with them, and then they make presentations to students within the schools.
The organization reports that they are having a very difficult time getting males to sign up for it. About 75% of all students that sign up are females. The young males cannot be convinced of the benefit.
That’s sad. It really is. But the young males are making a choice.
For much of history, women did not have the options men did. They were prevented from getting educations, playing sports, pursuing professions, etc. (yes, I understand a handful of women did, but not generally). But now that more options are open to women, many men seem to be “opting out”. I don’t get it.
I don’t get it either. It’s the same with dating–all these young men who are now single and lonely. The hypothesis of Scott Galloway (link above) was that it was largely due to women insisting upon “dating up” salary wise, and thus women having more career success in recent years has led to them rejecting more and more men. And I just don’t buy it. That was the point of my (admittedly off-topic) comments above. Looking at my own social circle has led me to believe that women are fine “dating down” (his terminology, not mine) as long as the guy isn’t like the guy above who is always stoned and playing video games. I don’t think we should place blame of women having standards that are “too high.”
These are 14 or 15 year old boys (students enter the program in 10th grade), so it’s not like they have the wisdom to make an informed decision. Many also lack a father figure in their lives to guide them.
That’s not how I read what he said.
The women are “dating up” in age because men their age are “behind” them, professionally and personally (education, home ownership, etc). I don’t think that he means that they are “dating up” for status. But, again, I listen to a lot of his stuff so I might have more context having heard his spiel multiple times.
I was responding to the part in the interview where he says this:
“We have to have an honest conversation around mating. Socioeconomically, men mate horizontally and down, and women mate horizontally and up. Three-quarters of women say economic viability is key to a mate, while only a quarter of men — now I think it’s a third — say it’s key to a mate.”
He seems to be saying that the reason so many men are single is that women are rejecting men if they don’t make more money than them (or at least equal money.) In my experience this isn’t true. Yes, women want economic “viability”, in other words we don’t want a guy who doesn’t have a history of keeping a steady job. It’s not that we are gold diggers, it’s that guys like this are very risky as husbands and dads. But a young woman without much of an employment history? I have seen a number of them succeed as mothers and homemakers (as well as in future careers.) So when a man chooses to pair up with a woman who is maybe still being partially supported by her parents, it’s not such a risky bet.
I don’t think it’s a money issue. It’s about maturity.
When I married back in the dark ages I earned much more than H and it didn’t matter to each of us. By the time H retired decades later his salary had increased. Several of the men I dated likely also made less than me. That wasn’t a factor for me.
I don’t think salary was a factor for S nor DIL, as long as no debt and self-supporting.
“Demand for apprenticeships is outpacing their availability.”
My ophthamologist married a nurse. They are young and pretty happy. I’m sure she earns a lot more than him but he likely has shorter hours and can leave work at work.
This is a depressing story about (some) men and women in their 30s (gift link):
Many 30-somethings today are in a better financial position than their parents were at this age. So why are they having such a hard time growing up?
This in particular sounds like a train wreck:
“She was close to moving out in 2020, but the pandemic’s surging home prices derailed plans to buy a starter house with her then-fiancé. (He moved into her childhood bedroom with her before they broke up this past summer.) Since losing her full-time job at a startup in 2021 she’s been working part-time and has felt stuck, unsure of what she wants to do next.“