Carrick on money
Today’s retirees are pioneers – no one before had as much wealth, health and mobility
Rob Carrick Personal Finance Columnist
Published December 12, 2024
There is no stage of life regarded as ambivalently as retirement.
Retirement is freedom from working. But it’s also seen as a time of wrenching change, uncertainty and loss of identity. As much as some people long for retirement, others fear or dread it. Scott Armstrong tries to bridge these extremes in a new book called Retire & Aspire, and through his consulting company, Mind Switch. Mr. Amstrong makes a point in his book I haven’t heard before – that retirees have never had as much wealth, health and mobility as they do today. To hear more, I invited him to do a Q&A by e-mail. Here’s an edited version of our exchange:
Q: Scott, can you tell us a little about your company, Mind Switch?
A: Mind Switch came from seeing an increasing number of friends struggling with finding purpose, fulfilment and confidence once their careers were behind them. It turns out adequate finances are just table stakes when it comes to having a great next phase of life and there were next to no programs to help individuals prepare for the non-economic challenges of retirement. There was, and is, a huge need for programs to help soon-to-be retirees live exciting and purposeful lives when there are two, three or more decades of life in front of them.
Q: In your book Retire & Aspire, you refer to today’s retirees as pioneers because no previous generation has as much wealth, health span or mobility. Can you elaborate on that – and explain the term health-span?
A: Not only has life expectancy continued to rise into the mid-80s, but we are staying healthier longer due to medical advances and an increased societal focus on staying healthy (remember when they allowed smoking on planes). The number of years we are living is increasing, and at the same time we are staying healthier longer. As a result, more of our retired life can be enjoyed with an adventurous spirit and active lifestyle – the go-go years.
This is truly an uncharted time for the soon-to-be or newly retired. No previous generation has had two or three decades of able-bodied time to learn, discover and explore. It’s exciting, but most stumble in the areas of finding relevance, personal purpose and physical vitality.
Q: You use the term “work-optional life” to refer to retirement. Can you define the type of retiree who is happiest doing some type of work in retirement, and give us some idea of how much time these people would spend working per week?
A: If we broaden the definition of ‘work’ to doing something that is growth-oriented and fulfilling, then everyone should ‘work’ in retirement at some level, even if they don’t get paid. As humans, we don’t do well when we just keep busy with daily routines focused on maintenance and enjoyment. We need activities to challenge our brains, both for fulfilment and long-term mental health. How much time an individual should be working depends on their level of passion for their activities, but think of four hours per week as a minimum.
I also see many people go back on contract to the work they could not wait to leave when they retired. This happened to my banker. When I asked why she came out of retirement she said, “I had to have something to do during the weekdays.” Hearing such responses frustrates me because so many retirees take the path of least resistance when boredom sets in and then they go back to what they know, and usually don’t love.
Q: How can people find the sweet spot where they are fulfilled with postretirement work, but still have free time to travel and enjoy their leisure?
A: After working for three or four decades, the majority of us are out of touch with what makes us enduringly fulfilled. Most of us have been waiting to be chosen most of our lives – for positions, teams, promotions, etc. In your work-optional life, this is where you do the choosing, and that can be intimidating. My advice: as you transition, allow postretirement work/volunteering to start with less commitment and enjoy discovering what truly lights you up.
Q: How do you help people focus on what a meaningful retirement will look like? What are some questions pre-retirees should look at?
A: A meaningful retirement, or work-optional life, will be unique for everyone. But there are some pretty universal considerations that we should all pay attention to:
- A 60-year study out of Harvard by Dr. Becca Levy has found a correlation between how an individual thinks about their retirement – whether they see it as a wonderful opportunity for the best years of their life or as a time to be feared – and an individual’s lifespan. The resulting difference is seven years on average. Yes, a positive perspective makes you live longer. For context, whether you smoke or not affects the average life span by just three years.
2.What will your post-career identity look like and where will you find relevance? Those whose sense of value is closely tied to their work often have a more challenging time transitioning.
- Retiring is hard for most people, even if they don’t love their career. Many hang on for another few years because they don’t have anything to move forward to. I ask people to keep in mind that for every additional year they work, they are trading time when their health is probably as good as it will ever be. This is the time to have their great adventures. If you want/need to go back to work at some point in the future, there are usually options to do this.
- We all go through a honeymoon phase when we transition – a time where most of us want to shed responsibility for others and adherence to schedules. Things like travel, visiting family and friends and attention to the house often occupy much of this time. How long the honeymoon lasts is individualistic, but think of three months to a year for most. And a universal truth – all honeymoons end. What will be there waiting for you when yours is over?
Q: How important for a fulfilling retirement is it to have saved well during your working years?
A: There is no getting around it. A solid financial picture opens up the door to a fulfilling retirement, but it certainly does not guarantee it. I have clients who were struggling even though they had seven-figure bank accounts. If you have enough saved to support your retirement lifestyle, you still need to identify purposeful activities that mean something to you, regardless of how much money you have.
