Finally the 4 popular retirement myths are debunked by a major publisher. The Wall Street Cheat Sheet and I, Leisure Freak Tommy feels just a bit vindicated. I have raved about changing the definition of retirement for years and on this site. Just a few days ago before this article came out I even released a post titled Early Retirement Myth to crap on the myth early retirement means you will forever stop engaging in productive and compensated work. As someone who has always believed he would retire early and often, I take an exception to the false view of the traditional retirement definition. I had wondered if I am the only one who recognizes the change. The article by the Wall Street Cheat Sheet, written by Eric McWhinnie debunks the following 4 retirement myths:
1. Myth: Retirement means the end of work
2. Myth: Retirement is a time of decline
3. Myth: People primarily work in retirement because they need the money
4. Myth: New career ambitions are only for young people
I have written about myths number one through three since starting this site February, 2014. I haven’t said much about myth number 4- Ambition being for only the young. I consider myself a young retiree and proved it a myth by my actions.
From the article:
“The conventional idea of retirement is being challenged in the 21st century. A new analysis reveals that many commonly held beliefs about work in retirement are obsolete as life expectancy and aspirations improve. Retirement is no longer being defined as a period of inactivity. According to Merrill Lynch and Age Wave, retirement now has four distinct phases: pre-retirement, career intermission, reengagement, and leisure. The reengagement phrase is the biggest surprise in the study, as three out of four pre-retirees older than 50 say their ideal retirement will include working in some capacity. Furthermore, money is not the biggest motivator for staying in the workforce.”
I did leave a comment for the author and I will paraphrase what I said. Basically I agreed with the four phases of retirement as detailed above. Pre-retirement, career intermission, reengagement, and then leisure. But I said I see that these four phases will be repeated many times. I have already gone through them twice. First with retirement number one and then again for retirement number two. I also commented that my selecting an opportunity that I have an interest in and can be passionate about was counted as leisure too. When it doesn’t work for me anymore, it is time to move on. In other words. Once the magic is gone, so am I.
Again, from the article:
“This study confirms that as people live longer and healthier lives, they’ll continue to find satisfaction from work even after they retire from their primary career,” said Ken Dychtwald, founder and CEO of Age Wave. “For many, work is an enriching experience that may not end at the age of 65 or even 70. Whether it’s continuing to do what they love, pursuing a long-desired interest or simply seeking to remain socially engaged, there’s a revolution brewing. People have come to realize that retirement doesn’t necessarily represent the end of an active life, but rather the beginning of new and exciting chapters.”
This is exactly what Leisure Freak, retire early and often has preached from the start. There were some compelling details gained from their surveys.
Survey Findings
One was the Differences in pre- vs. post retirement careers. Where everyone rated the following as far higher for post-retirement:
- Flexible
- Fun
- Fulfilling
They rated post-retirement far less for the following:
- Boring
- Stressful
I couldn’t agree more with these survey results.
I have experienced what they are finally discovering and reporting. Another survey detailed the top reasons to work in retirement and guess what, just as I have said, the money isn’t number one. The survey revealed that to stay mentally active as number one. Money trailed work to stay physically active, for the social connections, and for having a sense of identity, and barely beat having new challenges a reason to work in retirement by just 1%.
Their results for Career change drivers had some interesting results. I don’t line up exactly with the results as my number one is to pursue a passion or interest followed by my number two to experience and learn new things which rated as number four and three of six in their results. Guess what number Six in the survey was? To make more money. First-was having a more flexible schedule, Second-more fun/less stress, Fifth- was to better use my skills to round out their survey results.
All in all I am happy to know my Leisure Freak ways are not crazy. It is about time that mainstream started to recognize this trend.
Finally the 4 popular retirement myths are debunked and their results are detailed with survey results where I have reported on this issue based on my experience. To read the entire article 4 popular retirement myths debunked, by Wall Street Cheat Sheet, written by Eric McWhinnie, you can use the above link or go to
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/personal-finance/4-popular-retirement-myths-debunked.html/?a=viewall
There is a lot of information in their article that I didn’t comment on but I think you will be interested in reading.
So what do you think? Should I worry now about losing my outside the box Freakish thinking label?