Retirement, a relatively modern concept, is changing. Demographics, economics, and social change are all working to rearrange our notions about later years. Some commentators think that the term “retirement” itself needs to be retired. We’ll look at the trends and how they may affect you or people you know.
The changes in life expectancy have been astonishing. Since 1970, the average person is retired for seven more years according to the New York Times. Ken Dychtwald, president of Age Wave, notes the extraordinary growth in the average life span this way: “On the first day of the 20th century, the average life expectation was 47. On the last day, it was 78.”
Bottom line, the increase in our life expectancy has been partly tacked onto our retirement years. But when actuaries predict that there will only be two workers per each Social Security retiree, one has to wonder whether a society can run with one out of three adults living in retirement.
With the high unemployment rates of the financial crisis in vivid memory, it is hard to think about a labor shortage—but that is what the demographics point to. Two good things may come out of that: higher increases in wages, and more flexibility for workers seeking reduced hours, phase-down jobs, or other retirement-friendly alternatives.
Potential social changes are harder to predict. Anecdotally, more people below age 60 have indicated a preference to “always be doing something” in the way of work. Usually the object is a less stressful role, or part-time, or in a field of interest. At the same time, more people are thinking about checking things off their ‘bucket list’ when younger, while their health is good. One client told us, “It makes no sense to scrimp and save until you are too old and sick to do anything.”
One might say that more leisure is finding its way into our working years even while more work is getting into our leisure years.
Now more than ever, learning is an important part of keeping up with changes in the world and the skills required to earn a living. So just as work and leisure are expanding out of traditional boundaries, education is no longer confined to our early years.
We’ve written about the ideal way to retire before. The key things are to know what you want to do, and make plans to get there. Please call or email us if we may be of service in this regard.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.