Let’s Rethink Retirement
Retirement is defined as the action or fact of leaving one’s job and ceasing to work. My question is: retire from what? A 30 year job with no pension or healthcare, and Social Security and Medicare on which to live? And what will we do in retirement? No work, because we’re retired? What does that mean in terms of how long we are now living, and how functional we still are.
It is a fact; people are living longer. With retirement at 65, maybe 70, we could easily live another 10 – 20 years. Many people are living to 100, and retirement could last 30 years. Will we passively wait for grandkids to visit, Haley’s Comet to return, or illness, dementia, or death to visit us?
I think retirement, as a word, should be retired for people who are Aging Intelligently. AARP calls life after the job “Life Reimagined.” That sounds about right: reimagined and reinvented. We are of one mindset as children, and another as adults with responsibilities. Then we become the aging, ageless adult, with less responsibilities and more free time. Thanks to technology, we have more ways to contribute to society as an aging population. No longer is face to face contact necessary. We communicate by FaceBook and other social media, Skype, email, webinars, and shared computers.
Many aging people could use money earned instead of fixed income in retirement. Unless you work for the government or a union, pensions are a thing of the past. It isn’t getting any cheaper to live, and all those technology toys cost money. That leaves 401K’s to get you through the rest of your life. Which could last for another 30 years. With you being relatively healthy, mentally sharp, and vibrant.
But the real reason for abandoning retirement is the sense of wanting to remain active and useful, which has nothing to do with your age. People who take care of themselves and their health, exercise, get enough sleep, eat right, and feel useful age better than those who don’t. People who take responsibility for their aging process understand what’s going on in their body and mind, and take appropriate action. Because action is the key. Don’t just sit there and sigh. Get up and do something new, something novel, something that allows you to feel needed. Volunteer at a food bank, teach in the literacy program (libraries have this information), start a new business, capitalize on your experiences by writing, teaching, mentoring.
There is opportunity once you decide that retirement, as defined by the modern dictionary, might be a slippery slope to death. Get out there and do something. Before it’s too late. I will retire when I’m dead. Right now, I have things to do.
That’s Aging Intelligently