My own view is that a 65 year old today has more health, greater life expectancy and more to offer economically that a 65 year old of a generation or two ago. And even if finances force them to work longer than the traditional retirement age of 65, there is no reason for them to work in the same way or the same field. The more people recognize a new phase – some later in life in between stage similar to the way adolescence sits between childhood and adulthood – the more they can take advantage of it.
For a healthy person, working longer makes sense. They can pay more into the retirement system and delay taking benefits, which should increase the benefits they receive. But let’s not overlook the personal and societal benefits of working in a new way. When you consider the options, you may decide that “retirement” is not going to be part of your retirement, at least not yet. And that may be great news.
Chip Castille, Managing Director, is head of the BlackRock US Retirement Group. You can find more of his posts here.
1Work in Retirement: Myths and Motivations, Merrill Lynch, 2014
2The Big Shift, Navigating The New stage Beyond Midlife, by Marc Freedman, PublicAffairs, New York, 2011