Retirement Planning: What We Can Learn from the Wealthy
The rich are different from you and me. -- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Yes, they have more money. -- Ernest Hemingway
And they're also more likely to continue working in their retirement years. -- Steve Vernon
Say what? But it's true: According to a recent survey of more than 2,000 high net worth individuals around the world by Barclays Wealth management titled The Age Illusion: How the Wealthy Are Redefining Their Retirement, sixty percent of all surveyed individuals agreed with this statement:
"No matter what my age, I envision being involved in commercial/professional work of some kind."
Fifty-four percent of U.S. survey respondents agreed with the above statement. What's worth noting is that these percentages are higher than results reported by surveys that covered a broader cross-section of U.S. citizens. For instance, the 2010 Retirement Confidence Survey prepared by the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) reports that:
- Nine percent of survey respondents never want to retire.
- Twenty-four percent plan to retire at age 70 or older.
- Fifty-seven percent plan to retire at age 65 or older.
The Barclay's report (for which I was interviewed and quoted, but as a retirement expert, mind you, not as one of the wealthy!) coins a new word to describe this phenomenon: the "nevertiree." The reasons for being a "nevertiree" cited by the wealthy individuals in the Barclays report sound pretty familiar:
- Uncertainty about the economy
- Desire to stay engaged with life
- Want to remain productive and contributing to society
- Want to have a sense of self-worth
- The need to provide structure to your day
There's a lesson here for the rest of us. Think carefully about the reasons cited for remaining employed. Do they apply to you? If any of them hit home with you and you either need to or choose to continue working in your retirement years, then the best advice I can offer is to seek the type of work that has the features described above: something you're passionate about, an environment that's pleasant to work in, and co-workers who respect your contributions. You can do this either by continuing in your current field of work, or by choosing a new employment path.
I was quoted in the Barclay's report as saying "It is both scary and thrilling to think of changing your life around and doing something new." And I'm speaking from personal experience. I left a successful consulting career to become a writer and retirement educator. And I couldn't be happier.
A commonly held view about retirement has been that it's considered to be an end to your productive years. The findings of the Barclay's report challenge that view. Sylvester Stallone challenges that view as well, as indicated by a quote that I read in a recent interview in Time magazine.
People think retirement is fun. Well, maybe, but if you have a certain kind of fire inside, there's no end in sight.
