Retirement

Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.

An increasing number of individuals are choosing to put off this point of total retirement, by selecting to exist in the emerging state of Pre-tirement.

Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions no longer allow the person to work any longer (by illness or accident) or as a result of legislation concerning their position. In most countries, the idea of retirement is of recent origin, being introduced during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Previously, low life expectancy and the absence of pension arrangements meant that most workers continued to work until death. Germany was the first country to introduce retirement, in 1889.

Nowadays most developed countries have systems to provide pensions on retirement in old age, which may be sponsored by employers and/or the state. In many poorer countries, support for the old is still mainly provided through the family. Today, retirement with a pension is considered a right of the worker in many societies, and hard ideological, social, cultural and political battles have been fought over whether this is a right. In many western countries this right is mentioned in national constitutions.

Retirement (Beanie Baby)

The retirement of a Beanie Baby or a product from any line of Ty Inc., the manufacturer of Beanie Babies and other lines of collectibles, is its withdrawal from production. This has occurred in varying amounts of time following its introduction, depending on Ty's goals for that particular item. Some Beanie Babies have remained in production for several years following their introduction. Others have been retired just days after being introduced. Occasionally, beanies that have been introduced for a single purpose have been retired on the day they have been distributed. More rarely, some beanies have had their production canceled prior to their shipment to retailers, but following their announcement to the public, thereby never becoming available.

When a Beanie Baby is retired, it is no longer produced by Ty, though if Ty has some remaining in its stock, these may be shipped to retailers. While some Beanies were produced abundantly, thereby making them readily available in stores (authorized Ty retailers and the secondary market), other rarer ones have proven more scarce, and have been highly sought by collectors. These are often sold for high prices.

Retired number

Retiring the number of an athlete is an honor a team bestows upon a player, usually after the player has left the team, retires from the sport or dies. Once a number is retired, no future player from the team may wear that number on their uniform, unless the player so-honored permits it; however, in many cases the number cannot be used at all no matter what. Such an honor may also be bestowed on players who had highly memorable careers, died prematurely under tragic circumstances, or have had their promising careers ended by serious injury. Some sports that retire team numbers include baseball, cricket,ice hockey, basketball, American football and association football. Retired jerseys are often referred to as "hanging from the rafters" as they are, literally, put to hang in the team's home arena.800

The first number officially retired by a team in a professional sport was that of hockey player Ace Bailey, whose number 6 was retired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1934.

Details and examples