I am in this category. Plan is to have 20 cr in my bank account by the time I am 60, which should hopeful see me through till 80-85 years, accounting for inflation. Plan to live in my family apartment alone, signing up for an elderly support agency to send a helper. Don't want to live in a retirement home and hope that doesn't happen. Hoping AI advices to a stage that we can have robot helpers take are of us at home 24x7. But we are probably 100 years away from there?

What an interesting question. I belong to this tribe. I am 40, live by myself, still feel like it is a long way to retirement/old age and haven't given this much thought. Perhaps I ought to! As an aside, when I was much younger, I thought 40 year olds were old. Not so, it turn out.

Fellow 41 year old here. Also single and most likely will remain so. I too have wondered about mercy killing etc but not sure India will reach that point. But I do think about retirement and what life will be like at that point. I find it interesting that in the handful of replies here already 3-4 people identified themselves as just about 40 or so and are single and considering retirement related issues.

The usual advice people give is to play sports, or do some activity like painting or photography or playing an instrument. Unlike in the West, sports clubs are few in India and not easily accessible. Also, adult learning is not a big thing in India. So, as an alternative, you could simply go jogging or do yoga, or learn new skills from YouTube or an online tutor.

Honestly, law firms should be paying attention to employee well-being and do fun activities for them.

Tons of money but no one to spend it on and to share happiness with. This is what happens if you obsess over money and become a law firm bro (or female equivalent). This includes people who were married but divorced because they put careers over spending time with their spouses or having kids.

I am sorry to say that LI, over the many years of its existence, has played a major role in the glamorisation of law firm careers. Many years ago, Kian compiled a law school ranking where a CAM/SAM etc job gave a law school a certain number of points, but a job with an NGO or lawyer's chamber gave less points, while an LLM admit (even if with scholarship) or a UPSC rank gave zero points. This contributed to a toxic culture in law schools where students only pursued law firm jobs and money. In some law schools, this also led to tolerance of mediocre profs who awarded generous grades. Even now, there is a ranking fight every single day on LI and most commenters say that a worth of a law school is to be judged solely by the number of tier 1 law firm placements. 😔

Just because you're single doesn't mean you need to be alone.

Efforts must be made to create a community or network of people.

There are plenty of people who are married/with kids who feel lonely too.

By the time you reach old age there is no guarantee that your kids will be looking after you or that your partner will be around. Trying to say one is better than the other is pointless. You can be happy potentially if youre single or with family. It takes effort in both cases.

Try not to create large space for negativity. This talk of mercy killing is just unnecessary as I forsee things will be improved in the future. If it is still something in your mind, just consider Dignitas and go on a final Swiss holiday. Most likely you won't.

I have currently gotten health insurance and barely use it, so getting no claims bonuses right now. Will continue renewing it, because procuring similar insurance later in life would be expensive.

I wonder if lawyers have a higher probability of being single compared with doctors, engineers, architects, accountants, journalists, fashion designers, filmmakers etc. Maybe it's because lawyers take longer to be financially successful and stable? Or because the profession has a skewed gender ratio? Or because lawyers are usually looked down upon in India and people don't want to date lawyers?

@everyone in this thread.

I have close to three year in litigation , but now hating it. I have paused it. I am non nlu person. And no internships. I belong to smaller place with almost zero exposure. I am trying to get into a corporate law firm

So, If you are willing to help and guide a bit, pls mail me -- seriouspen@mail.com

Thank You

Luck has to be in favor to have a partner who loves you and is with you through all the vicissitudes.

Here in law school, some are into casual, some not serious, some are breadcrumbling, some are dropping hints while having a partner, and some only want sex.

How difficult is it to find a woman with values! Perhaps, with such design, I will remain single and would prefer it that way.

This is an interesting thread. The two salient points being made are a) we will need a LOT of money saved in future, because of rising costs; and c) lawyers and not sought-after in the dating/marriage market because they are perceived as dishonest/toxic people!

Regarding the first point, it’s really becoming more and more expensive to live in India. We pay a lot in tax, but we get nothing in return. All of it is spent on freebies or stolen by politicians. So I guess the answer is to take big bets on the stock market/equity investments and maximise your income. It’s a gamble but no other option I see. The FD savings rate is too low.

Regarding the second point, the problem is that non-lawyers still have no clue about new-age law firm work like M&A, competition, international trade, IP etc. It’s a desk job just like any other corporate job. People still think lawyers appear in courts wearing black coats and lie through their teeth.