Who Says You Have to Retire by 65?

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Retirement.

You get married, raise a family, work to support your family, and then you retire. That’s just the way it is. Right?

Wrong. Actually, retirement is a fairly new concept; and the concept of retiring in your sixties is even newer.

During the Industrial Revolution, many aging factory workers refused to stop working, even as their ability to work slowly started deteriorating.¹ It wasn’t until the 1930’s that the concept of making people want to retire was born with the Social Security Act. Since then, retirement has continued to evolve and change, but a bigger change is on its way.

According to a new AARP survey, over 50% of people surveyed believe that they will continue working past the age of 65. Now, that doesn’t mean that we never want to retire², instead, we just believe that we still have plenty to contribute to society. We still are skilled at our jobs, actually with all of our knowledge we have gained over the years, we probably know more than we ever have before.

Gone are the days of hitting 65 and expecting our life to be almost over. In the past few generations, the average life expectancy has increased by 29 years and shows no signs of slowing down.³ These days we know that we can still contribute to society, we can still help make the world we live in a better place, and, most importantly, we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

¹The History of Retirement
²AARP Life Reimagined Survey
³Life Expectancy in the USA

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Darrell Gurney
 

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