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Off topic: Will you still be a translator in ten years' time?
Thread poster: Andrew Morris
Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:12
German to English
I've never met a retired translator May 22, 2019

My mentor worked until a month before he died – at age 84.
I know of several colleagues who were found dead at their desks.


Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Liviu-Lee Roth
Ann Marie Bohan
Tina Vonhof (X)
 
Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 05:12
Dutch to English
+ ...
Life happens May 22, 2019

I'm too old to make plans that far ahead. You probably know the saying, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Liviu-Lee Roth
Philip Lees
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Tanya Quintieri
Tanya Quintieri
Local time: 12:12
SITE STAFF
How? May 22, 2019

Jan Willem van Dormolen wrote:

Since I'm 63 yo, in 4 years time I'll be a pensioner. I'll probably keep doing a bit of work afterwards, but whether it'll be ten years is doubtful.


So do you have any pension-like arrangements in place?


 
Tanya Quintieri
Tanya Quintieri
Local time: 12:12
SITE STAFF
Not likely May 22, 2019

IDK, I see myself overseeing my empire. I did have this dream of running a corporate communications agency with my son when he started studying International Management. But he quit that... so maybe I’ll have my vineyard by then and do the occasional translation. Who knows. Things always turn out different from the plans I make.

 
Andrew Morris
Andrew Morris
Local time: 12:12
ProZ.com team
TOPIC STARTER
Best laid plans May 22, 2019

Totally agree about reality turning out to be different from plans.

I don't know what I'll be doing – the only thing I DO know is that it is extremely likely to remain the same as what I am doing now... There will be several iterations before then, I'm sure!


Tanya Quintieri
 
Elizabeth Tamblin
Elizabeth Tamblin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:12
French to English
Highly unlikely May 22, 2019

I think I will either be dead or doing something else.

Not that I haven't enjoyed my little foray into the translation world, but it was never intended to be a long-term thing.


 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 12:12
Member
English to French
It's called planning May 23, 2019

Tanya Quintieri wrote:
So do you have any pension-like arrangements in place?

When you hit 40, you suddenly realise that you start the second half of your life and it's unlikely to be the nicest part overall. It starts with eyesight and day-after issues.
The earlier you put money aside, the less painful it is in the long run. I didn't raise kids to look after me for when I am no longer able to wipe myself, and I find it so sad to die on stage.

So we've planned, we put aside €600 per month besides minimal compulsory retirement contributions, we bought small flats that we rent... We chose not to rely too much on state solidarity when Alzheimer hits us.

So I'll likely keep on translating in 10 years' time, but I sure want to stop working like everybody else when retirement age comes, or earlier if I can. And live what's left of my life comfortably. I see no glory at all kicking the bucket in front of a computer.

So, young people, start saving early while living the present.

Philippe, 51 soon

EDIT: spelling error on Alzheimer. It starts early.

[Edited at 2019-05-23 07:45 GMT]


Mr.Q
Tanya Quintieri
Andrew Morris
Luximar Arenas Petty
 
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 12:12
German to English
Very likely May 23, 2019

Kevin Fulton wrote:

My mentor worked until a month before he died – at age 84.
I know of several colleagues who were found dead at their desks.


I wouldn't mind dying while writing at my desk, although I would prefer to die reading a book in my armchair. However, I hope to God that I don't die there at 84 working on other people's texts with tight deadlines just to earn another few hundred or thousand euros. Life is too long for that.

I can imagine translating after I retire in 20-25 years, but I would certainly hope to not be translating commercially. I intend to enjoy my retirement like a second childhood. That's why we pay a chunk of money into Germany's retirement fund every month and why we save privately for retirement.

In ten years, I see myself translating, but maybe I'll figure out out how to earn a living as an artist, who knows?


Tanya Quintieri
Philippe Etienne
Andrew Morris
 
Tanya Quintieri
Tanya Quintieri
Local time: 12:12
SITE STAFF
The coming of age May 23, 2019

Philippe Etienne wrote:

Tanya Quintieri wrote:
So do you have any pension-like arrangements in place?

When you hit 40, you suddenly realise that you start the second half of your life and it's unlikely to be the nicest part overall. It starts with eyesight and day-after issues.
The earlier you put money aside, the less painful it is in the long run. I didn't raise kids to look after me for when I am no longer able to wipe myself, and I find it so sad to die on stage.

So we've planned, we put aside €600 per month besides minimal compulsory retirement contributions, we bought small flats that we rent... We chose not to rely too much on state solidarity when Alzheimer hits us.

So I'll likely keep on translating in 10 years' time, but I sure want to stop working like everybody else when retirement age comes, or earlier if I can. And live what's left of my life comfortably. I see no glory at all kicking the bucket in front of a computer.

So, young people, start saving early while living the present.

Philippe, 51 soon


Ah, yes... I will be 43 this year. As for retirement plans, I had it all figured out until my life turned upside down in 2016. I had a house then, with two rental units. Things were going well in that regard. I also have some 15 years of contributions in my former life as an employee. But then i got a divorce and we sold the house, loosing quite a lot of money, too. So I am back at square one. But, we (my new partner and I) are buying a house at the moment and we do have plans to buy other properties in the future.

One part of my plan is to actually monetize my company once I decide to retire. My client base is already an asset today, with about 30% passive income. So eventually I will sell my business. I have been thinking about turning it all into an s. r. o. just to make it all more "packageable".

And I agree: I didn't put kids into this world to be a burden once I'm old, whether financially or otherwise. But I wouldn't mind living close to one of them, perhaps in a multi-generation house with separate apartments. Then again, who knows what will be then...


Andrew Morris
 
Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 05:12
Dutch to English
+ ...
Maybe May 23, 2019

Kevin Fulton wrote:

My mentor worked until a month before he died – at age 84.
I know of several colleagues who were found dead at their desks.


Maybe that's what will happen to me. I'm 80 now and 84 is a little too close for comfort but who knows. Translation gives my life structure and it keeps my mind sharp (I like to think...). That is not to say that I don't welcome days or even weeks off, I don't work full-time anymore, no pressure.


Elizabeth Tamblin
Henry Dotterer
Andrew Morris
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Rosa Plana Castillón
 
Andrew Morris
Andrew Morris
Local time: 12:12
ProZ.com team
TOPIC STARTER
An example to us all May 24, 2019

I'm impressed and inspired Tina!

And yes, it's certainly true that translation, and indeed learning new languages, keeps those grey cells active.

When it comes to age, just think of Noam Chomsky. Still travelling the world, still lecturing, still sharp as a tack, aged 90. I saw him a few years back in Paris. A three-hour lecture that was a coruscating tour of world history, followed by 2 hours of questions. I guess he must already have been in his mid-80s.


Chiara Foppa Pedretti
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 12:12
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Old translators don't die May 24, 2019

They move into the Tower of Babel...

We bought my father his first computer when he was 80, because he drove us all mad with an obsolete word processor that someone had given him… And he went on complaining for years after that because the computer only had one alphabet, and he still had to write Greek and Marathi by hand. An iPad annoyed him at around 90, because it suddenly showed pictures of the carpet - he kept activating the camera by accident. He had given up on updating his
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They move into the Tower of Babel...

We bought my father his first computer when he was 80, because he drove us all mad with an obsolete word processor that someone had given him… And he went on complaining for years after that because the computer only had one alphabet, and he still had to write Greek and Marathi by hand. An iPad annoyed him at around 90, because it suddenly showed pictures of the carpet - he kept activating the camera by accident. He had given up on updating his second and last computer by then.

In ten years time, if I can still cope with the technology, I might be translating, but I might have scared off the patient clients I still have.

I'm a pensioner already, and in principle I can stop after the next deadline! (June 12) However, I am not planning to give up yet, and I have turned down several jobs this week because I don't have time!

I'll be 69 in a couple of months and I know all too well that life is what happens while you were planning something else. That's how I ended up translating.

But happy translating, everyone, for the time being!
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Elizabeth Tamblin
Tina Vonhof (X)
Rachael Clayton
 
Magnus Rubensson
Magnus Rubensson  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:12
English to Swedish
+ ...
I will be a lounge bar pianist Jun 20, 2019

I will be a lounge bar pianist. I'll translate as long as the translation pays more than my gigs. (The gigs are catching up.)

I have been a full time technical translator for 25 years. Before 1994, I was in a functions/dance band for a few years. These days I do smooth jazz & easy listening gigs on synthesizers. I tried to post a link to my one man band but I guess it's not allowed (it didn't show up) so I took it away again. No problems.

"Let's face the music... and da
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I will be a lounge bar pianist. I'll translate as long as the translation pays more than my gigs. (The gigs are catching up.)

I have been a full time technical translator for 25 years. Before 1994, I was in a functions/dance band for a few years. These days I do smooth jazz & easy listening gigs on synthesizers. I tried to post a link to my one man band but I guess it's not allowed (it didn't show up) so I took it away again. No problems.

"Let's face the music... and dance..."

cheers
Magnus R

[Edited at 2019-06-21 09:24 GMT]

[Edited at 2019-06-21 09:25 GMT]
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Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 12:12
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
Will you still be a translator in ten years' time? Jun 20, 2019

Wrong question. You could better ask: 'Will there still be a decent translation industry in ten years time?'

If I look at the present changes and read all the comments of my colleagues on Proz, I wonder.

[Edited at 2019-06-20 15:46 GMT]


writeaway
Magnus Rubensson
 
Rachael Clayton
Rachael Clayton  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:12
French to English
+ ...
Would be good Jun 20, 2019

I'm just starting so who knows! 😄

 
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