Drastic Paycut after Retirement Age

I bumped into an ex-colleague working in a govt-related company. He told me he's paid $200+ inclusive of cpf for working in morning till 1pm. He said that's what HR offered him as continued work as technician after hitting retirement age. He took it up saying got something to do in morning. Working full day is not much also.

$200+ incl. of cpf is a drastic cut to me & a reason why i don't like to spend $ frivolously & end up like him in old age. After deducting transport cost to work is even worse.

It is also a reason why i venture into investing. It is an endeavor that has no age discrimination as long as you can still think clearly. No doubt i'have paid some tuition fees as in losses in the market but it is clearly worth it as i've already recovered some of the losses by investing during the recent financial crisis when stocks are on sale.

People's lives are either an inspiration or a warning especially the older ones if we do not wish to go down a similar downtrodden path.

I chose the investing route instead of chasing after more paper qualifications. Many people don't understand me as they themselves are upgrading themselves with more paper certs. End result is still to get more $$, is just the path we take are different. As we have seen in recent years the more paper cert approach is breaking down with more off-shoreing, out-sourcing, automation.

"2 roads diverged in a wood, and i took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference..." -Robert Frost