In a recent Merrill Lynch/Age Wave survey, almost three-fourths of respondents over 55 said they wanted to work in retirement. They didn’t need to work in retirement, but wanted to.
Seems strange, right?
But, keep in mind, in 1900 the life expectancy was 47 and the average retirement age was 76. Today it is 64 to retire, and if you make 65, you can expect to live to 85.
That’s a long time to do nothing.
And this survey of people over 55 years old had more surprising numbers about working in your golden years.
- Only 20% said they had to work for financial reasons.
- Over 60% of the working retired said it was more fun to work in a retirement job.
- 62% said they work to stay mentally active and connected to others.
Having tried to retire once back in about 2000, I can tell you, you lose contact very quickly.
Another 60% in the survey said working gives them a sense of pride, was stimulating and keeps them young. Studies have shown it does in fact help slow the decline of mental abilities.
And it can take a big financial load off as well.
And, after last week, I am on board the never-retire-completely train. Here’s why.
I tried to take the first week of September off and ended up taking only 12 hours off out of five days. I didn’t have to work; most of what I was doing easily could have waited. But I was either at my computer, on the phone or thinking about an article or a script I had to write and, of course, writing.
By Friday, I realized I could never retire completely. I couldn’t make five days without working, never mind a multidecade period. And that’s what retirement has become, 20 to 30 years of nothing to do and unemployment.
A wealthy retirement is about more than just money. Take some time this week and think about what 20 to 30 years of watching cars go by and early-bird specials will really be like.
Last week was enough for me.