What is Retirement, Anyway?

It used to be that retirement meant we stop working, stop earning, and indulge in leisurely pursuits until our time runs out. Lest we stray from this path, a massive advertising effort by the retirement industry reminds us constantly of our need to amass a daunting fortune of savings before we can dare consider retirement. Whatever else, we are warned to avoid any prospect of running out of money before we run out of life. The new mantra for a “prudent” retirement is to work longer, save more, retire later.

Or not. Mounting evidence suggests that retirement today is less about leisure and more about a transition to a different mode of daily activity. It is less about work to pay the bills and save for retirement and more about investing our remaining time where we experience the most social impact and benefit. We are seeking to focus our efforts where we can make a lasting difference.

Instead of a life of golf and bridge stretching to the distant horizon, the new retirement can be busier than the work life that preceded it. It can take many forms: starting a business, volunteering, work for a not-for-profit, teaching, the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps. The common thread is a desire to leverage a lifetime of experience to the benefit of our families, our communities, our societies. While this work may or may not generate any pay, it must be gratifying to be the new retirement.

A recent book that weaves together many of the threads of this emerging trend is The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage beyond Midlife by Marc Freedman. Freedman takes us back through the history of how society conceives the various stages of life and how that societal perception evolves over time. He proceeds to make a compelling case for a “new stage” that lies between our early working lives and the traditional view of a retirement of leisure before our eventual decline with old age. For more insights into this new stage, check out his website Encore.org.

So, as we approach the traditional retirement age, for those who love their jobs, keep at it. For those who think they desire a leisurely retirement and have the means to afford it, congratulations and good luck! For the other 80% of us, the potential of an “encore” career to afford a transition from a life of “work” to a life that nurtures our souls while it continues to support our pocketbooks is worth a closer look.