Retire or Not? Is that the question?

Retirement: World's longest coffee break.  ~Author Unknown
        

Today I received a phone call from a colleague who said, “I was not sure you would be at this number. I thought you might have retired and re-located.” This started me thinking about my friends and colleagues, and what they are doing.

Here are a few stories:

         One colleague was ousted from a job in corporate America 15 years ago. Now in her mid-seventies she is happily running a small consulting business and has no plans to slow down.  Another, a woman in her mid-eighties, has just fully retired, or almost. She continues to sit on boards and mentor younger colleagues. And yet another person carefully planned his full retirement in his mid-sixties, cultivating recreational activities and interests well before his exit date.

Three scenarios and there are many more. We do not necessarily put our feet up at 65 and collect a pension and social security. After all, retirement is a new concept in the history of man.

According to the MetLife Mature Market Institute in the MetLife Study of Women & Generational Differences, three-quarters of mothers retired before the traditional retirement age of 65, yet only 37% of their daughters predict they will retire before then.  17% of daughters say they will be age 70 or older, and 6% say they will never retire.

If we are fortunate we have viable choices. You can fully retire, partially retire, or keep going full tilt, or some other scenario. What are your plans?  How will you decide? What information do you need? What is your vision of your future?


Warmth,




Marilyn