Do we really have to keep working our whole lives?

Retirement at 60, or extending employment to 65, and now it's becoming 70?? In the past, there was a retirement age of 55, and in fact, Self-Defense Force personnel still have a retirement age of 55.
This is something determined by an external factor called a company, not by oneself.

That's why there are so many articles saying, 'Start a business, or become self-employed or a freelancer so you can work for life without a retirement age, so let's make the most of your strengths!'

The reason there are so many topics like this is that they are all based on the premise that you will continue to work for your entire life.

I feel like there is some great force in the background.
That is the pension system. The government knows that the financial situation is dire. That's why they are raising the pension contribution period from 60 to 65, or delaying pension payments from 60 to 65. Furthermore, they are making it possible to choose 70 or older.

With this background,

The first half is 'Let's pay into the pension,' and the second half is 'Let's work for life.' Even though it's one sentence, the public receives it in separate parts, so I wonder if we haven't been brainwashed into accepting the second half—that we must keep working—as a given.

Of course,
the advantages of continuing to work are discussed as if they were absolute truths by numerous books and famous people, so I think that's fine in its own way. If working fulfills your desire for self-actualization, then that's OK.

But what if that's not the case, and you're just doing it because you have to?

I think the fifth level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the need for self-actualization, is the key to improving life satisfaction, so I wonder if continuing to work really leads to that?

I thought, 'Do we really have to keep working our whole lives?' and gave it some thought, but I wonder if we haven't been unknowingly dyed by something called 'brainwashing'?

So, (not that there's a specific reason)
for the time being, I tried quitting work.

The 'tried doing' series is popular in online videos.
Tried dancing, tried singing, tried doing such and such...
The experience gained through actual practice is more valuable than anything else.
Hearing from others, reading books, attending lectures...
As actions, they are all good, but they are centered on input.
It's often said that we should be more conscious of output, and it's also written in books.

Maybe 'I tried quitting my company' is similar to that?
I see it as one form of action.

My personality is cautious; I'm the type who prepares in advance and tests the stone bridge before crossing it. I didn't quit on a whim; I spent eight years organizing my thoughts before I quit.

Well, my second life has only just begun.

Because I get asked 'Aren't you working?' so often, I wondered if working is just common sense, so I wrote down my thoughts on that common sense in a note.

The reactions of the masses, who have the preconceived notion that working is a prerequisite, are as follows.
When I say I'm unemployed in my 50s
→ A poor office worker who was fired, can't even change jobs, how pitiful...
When I say I retired in my 50s
→ They ask, 'Where is your next job?'
When I say I'm retired in my 50s
→ 'There's no one like that around here. Wait, you're not working?'

I don't look like an old person yet, so I guess these kinds of conversations will continue for a while.

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