Quick Quiz – What % of Boomers Plan to Work During Retirement?

It was probably Jim Arnold and his great attitude toward career change (see link in previous post) that inspired me. But in any event, I figured I might as well introduce what I consider a key statistic toward the achievement of our mission – Helping you get the best out of the rest of your life.

You see, when I first started studying boomers facing retirement, it was from the perspective of a financial planner. And I have to tell you, it was pretty depressing looking at all the statistics that illustrate how woefully unprepared we are for what I am now calling “the life stage formerly known as retirement.” But then I came across this very heartening little statistic. A full 79% of all boomers expect to work in some capacity during their retirement!

Now this is not entirely great news because these work plans are not all voluntary. Many of us are making these plans because we know we have to. Which is still fine, because I’m convinced that this need is a huge blessing in disguise. And I don’t even need to go outside my immediate family to illustrate this point:

One of my brothers built up a business in the 1980s and then sold it for enough to retire comfortably at the age of 41. He lasted about eighteen months. As he put it later, “You can only hit so many golf balls.” As it happened, he loved the financial markets and has been working with me as a broker ever since.

Dad retired in the traditional way from the Post Office at around age 60. I believe he lasted six months before Mom almost kicked him out of the house. He was miserable, and he was making her miserable. He ended up getting a job at the main street liquor store. He had been the Main Street mailman for years, and he was back to his old self in no time.

I have a lot more of these stories, but I don’t think I need to use them because I’ll bet you have quite a few of your own. The whole American concept of “dropping out of life” at retirement just doesn’t make sense, and I think we all realize it intuitively. So maybe some of us will have to work. If we plan and manage this life stage successfully, we can still live out the Chinese proverb that says, “Find a job you love and you’ll never work another day in your life.”

There is much more to say on this topic, but I thought I’d introduce you to the statistic and the concept. It’s a key building block to achieving “platinum living.”