What percentage of retirees ...

[solarstorm]

... are embittered, grumpy, ill-tempered, irritable, old people in you estimation?

Just asking because of a recent experience...

[angus]

I've seen the T-shirts that say "Retired:  no worries, no commitments, no money" and the like.  Most of the folks wearing them didn't seem particularly ornery.

I'm trying to think of all the retired people I know.  I can come up with eleven.  Of those, only two are ill-tempered.  I'm certain that one of those two was already an ill-tempered individual long before retirement.

That's about 10% if we exclude the one who was already a nasty cuss. 

It probably depends upon your line of work.  Many people in my field work till 65, 67, even 70.  I know one guy who's 71 and has no intention of retiring.  I have mixed feelings.  On the one had, I'm opposed to age discrimination and forced retirement.  He's more or less good at what he does and he definitely enjoys what he does.  On the other had, he definitely doesn't need the money and he's clearly occupying a position that is probably desired by many recent graduate school graduates.  I want to tell him, "Dude, retire already!  Give some young guy a chance to do your job!"  On the other hand, I know I'd never tell him that either privately or publicly.