Retirement: Are you a “Wear Out” or “Rust Out” kind of person?
Posted By RichC on November 23, 2025
There was article regarding The Joy of Doing Nothing in the WSJ’s Lifestyle section on retirement last week … which forces the question “when to actually retire” and “how to actually retire?” One of the comments triggered a mental debate on slogan that get reversed, depending on who you are talking to: “It is better to wear out than to rust out” or “It is better to rust out than wear out.”
Although I do love my down time (doing nothing, sitting by the fire, sailing or “staring into space”) … I also believe that a lack of purpose and excessive idleness isn’t healthy. Too many people in retirement go downhill as soon as they stop working or no longer are actively busy.
On the other hand, having a nagging foot injury that impacts my mood and ability to do what I want … does have been questioning the “wear out” part of the above. But just because I can’t actively and comfortably do what 
I want to do, shouldn’t prevent me from mentally being stimulated … or even continue to keep learning new things (albeit slower than when I was younger).
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