Let’s Talk About Retirement

The whole idea of being able to retire is up for grabs thanks to the economic meltdown. Many of us will now have to keep working for the rest of our lives–or close–and that’s leaving us with a sense of deprivation. Not so fast. You just won the work world lottery.

People survived the Titanic. We can survive this. It’s not just a matter of getting used to the idea of living a diminished later life though. We need a whole new direction. And that is a very good thing.

I’m not going to bother you with how you working longer benefits the nation and brings you more money. I’m not going to remind you that staying employed usually means better health care coverage. Here are five other reasons why staying in the workforce is better.

NOT RETIRING CAN KEEP YOU HEALTHIER PHYSICALLY. People who continue to work stay healthier than people who retire to a life of leisure. Working gives you a sense of purpose. And purpose is good for you.

In a study of 900 aging religious, those with a strong sense of purpose lived life to the end with no sign of Alzheimer’s disease even though posthumous brain studies found the lesions characteristic of it. A study of 12,460 middle-aged Hungarians found those who believed their lives had meaning had lower rates of both cancer and heart disease. A retirement of drifting from thing to thing at leisure isn’t an automatic ticket to good health.

NOT RETIRING MAINTAINS YOUR EMOTIONAL HEALTH. Work is one of the best sources of self-esteem available. If you are good enough at something to get paid to do it, that’s strong evidence of your worth. Most of us don’t realize that’s important until after we let go of it. Then we struggle to figure out why we are feeling “empty.” We need to work. If not for pay, then in some other context.

NOT RETIRING MEANS YOU DON’T HAVE TO HANG ON TO A JOB YOU ****. If you aren’t planning to use your employer’s retirement benefits anyway (assuming there are some), there’s no reason to keep doing a job that drains you. But it’s tempting to tolerate a bad job fit or a boss that is literally making you sick in the name of “making it to retirement.”

If your job ***** and you’re going to have to work for as long as you live, for heaven’s sake go out and find one you like. It might take some time to pull it off, but you still won’t be there as long as if you hung on until you could retire.

NOT RETIRING GIVES YOU MORE ROOM TO FIND YOUR DREAM JOB. Let’s face it. When it comes to work, it takes most of us some time to figure out what we like. I know at lot more now than I did when I was forty. As you learn what lights your fire, you can move toward that kind of work IF you aren’t telling yourself that you’ll be “done” soon and into the retirement thing.

There are people well past eighty, in excellent health and fully engaged, who attribute their vitality to the fact they love their work. A local lawyer is 99 and still goes to the office. But not all day every day. Having a flexible work set-up can be part of the dream job, too. You might be able to do something as piecework or from the beach in Belize via WiFi and a cell phone. If you know you’re going to have to work forever, finding something you love is essential. Also more exciting.

NOT RETIRING MAKES YOU LESS VULNERABLE. Not working can leave you vulnerable a lot of ways. You’re vulnerable to becoming isolated. Your retirement income might go away, either because the entity providing it went bankrupt or the financial sector encounters another storm like this one. You’re vulnerable to having way too much time on your hands, particularly if you lose a spouse or companion prematurely.

It’s easier to get a few more hours–or take on a second job for a while–if you’re already employed. And for people who need people, the work setting is full of them.

The biggest lie of the traditional approach is that retirees are privileged to not be able to work. Retirement didn’t start out as a favor to older workers and that’s not what it is now. Retirement is a subtle, socially acceptable form of ageism. “Here’s some money. Now get out of the way.” Nobody cares what you do or even if you do it after you retire. You’ve rendered yourself irrelevant. BAD plan!

Instead, find a way to work that’s fun. Work at something you believe in. And find a work style and employer that make you feel you have a life not just a job. Retirement is a bad idea. Find what keeps you jazzed and enjoy what you do to make money.