Check out this CNN article titled No retirement for these older folks, just work. It is a fun read 🙂
It talks about Morris Wilkinson who, at 91, still delivers mail for the USPS.
It talks about Sally Gordon who, at 101, works for the Nebraska Legislature.
It talks about Dr. Howard W. Jones who, at 99, works at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
It seems that each of these people WANT to work, which is great.
But the article made me think about how long we’ll HAVE TO work… which is not so great! Back in the olden days (a few years ago) we could kind of count on retiring, with a pension, at 65.
Now I don’t know anyone who is seriously thinking of throwing in the towel at 65, mainly because most people can’t afford to.
Working just one more year might help you make ends meet better in retirement. Or it might provide you with health insurance for just one more year.
I don’t hear a lot of talk about this trend of retiring older, but as we live longer and pensions are a thing of the past I think we’re going to have a lot more working years than we might have thought.
It will be interesting to see if this is a trend that continues, and what it means for our workforce…
I agree. There’s a huge difference between wanting to work and having to work. Rather than thinking about what it would be like to continue working in a regular job into your 90s, I would concentrate on developing the ability to work out of the comfort of your own home. Not though data entry or online job scams, but offering your insight and advice to the industry where you worked prior to your “retirement.”