The old quip goes “I’m getting older but it beats the alternative” comes to mind more often these days. Maybe its because the question of “when are you going to retire?” comes up more frequently. I have to admit with the frequent reminders from well meaning people it’s hard not to think about it every so often.
Having had the distinct privilege to work with so many people who have retired I have accumulated some observations about the topic. I find that these groups often fall into three distinct categories. I’ll call them the “Tried Its”, the “Love Its” and the “My Timer’s.
The “Tried Its” as a group decided to retire but, after a short period of time found that there really was only so much golf, travel and other stuff that they really wanted to do. They wanted and needed the intellectual stimulation of “being in the game” and eventually found ways to do so by going back to work in some fashion or starting a business.
The “Love Its” are quite a bit different. They will often say “I don’t know how I found time to work before!” and similar statements. They are often engaged in a number of activities that fill their needs for intellectual stimulation, socialization and curiosity.
From my experience the “Tried Its” and Love Its” are equally happy groups of people that look forward to each day. The “My Timers” on the other hand retire because they had reached retirement age felt it was “my time” and my days of being useful have passed. These people tend to be crotchety, resentful and look for issues to complain about. I tend to have short conversations , if any, with the “My Timers”. They are no fun!! Fortunately, this is usually a small group relative to the other two.
I came across an interesting article the other day and thought you might like to see it as well. In the article the notion of a retirement age at 65 or 67 is brought into question. Since the age of 65 was first presented in the late 1800’s in Germany, the question may be appropriate! The fastest growing age group in our country is the 100+ category and the ideas it puts forth about how this will likely change how work is performed and the choices that we and future generations will need to consider are, in my opinion, timely and important to consider.
As for me (for those of you wondering) it has reinforced that I love what I do and retirement is a very long way away. Based on the trends in place there seems no reason for me to change my mind for now!