My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease when she was sixty-five years old. She was self-employed. She was also successful and famous. Her job had no retirement age, so no one could make her stop working.
All of the people around her, including me, were confused. She believed she could continue her work, but that was impossible. All the people around her except for me turned their backs on her. I took care of her for twenty years. She lost the opportunity to retire. However, I don’t recommend excessively early retirement.
I know a historical figure who retired too early. I think it might have been a mistake. The ancient Roman Emperor, Diocletian, was a good emperor except for his killing of many ancient Christians. He tried to keep Roma safe.
Diocletian created an efficient system to defend Roma: the tetrarchy. He divided the empire into four parts and put an emperor in charge of each part. It worked. The Roman Empire became peaceful again. He retired when he was fifty-five years old.
Diocletian gave the four empires to younger successors: emperors. These successors were not his blood relatives. He built a palace for his life in retirement. His hobby was gardening. He was not interested in politics any more. He enjoyed his hobby. What a wonderful life!
However, Diocletian’s successors started civil wars. They wanted to decide who among them was the real emperor. The Roman Empire ended up in chaos again. Diocletian had a wife and a daughter. They hovered in the chaos and were arrested. Eventually, they were executed.
Diocletian was almost the only emperor who retired by choice in that period. I think giving up tremendous power is difficult. Many dictators hold on to power as long as they can. Diocletian was probably an unselfish person. He didn’t choose his successors from among his blood relatives. I think he tried to be fair.
If he had been a greedier person, he would have tried to be the emperor for as long as he could. And if he had chosen his successors from among his blood relatives, it is possible his wife and daughter would not have died tragically.
Retirement is difficult.
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by Olga Kurbatova
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