Retirement is Dead! Long live Life!

Go without now in the hope of better future? That’s a big and risky bet to make.

The days of grinding and sacrificing in the hope that one day many years from now you’ll have the means, the health and the desire to do what you really want are gone. Indeed Millennials know it. They don’t seek roles or the life of their parents, they see things differently. Often we label this as idealist, arrogant or naive, but we do them a great disservice and also lose an opportunity to frame retirement and even for those 50+ working.

At 55 and beyond many are faced with still feeling and thinking young, but less relevant or valued. Another 30+ years of living and what to do with it? How will you make ends meet? Your government’s retirement system in the face of demographic shifts it can’t stop will render their attempts at preserving a dignified retirement fruitless. Talk back radio is full of angry and whinging retirees. The spectre of financial markets operating for the next 30 years without decimating in some way your savings is a massive and blind leap of faith. That system has not, is not and likely, will not, be run in your best interests.

Indeed even if you get there, is ‘there’ what it’s really cracked up to be? Ask those retired a few years back just how fulfilling and meaningful, let alone enjoyable their life is now? Many when prodded will admit those clichéd images of retirement we have pounded into us on TV are quite empty. Feeling bored, aimless and for many quite useless are typical responses.

Society has changed so much, the old norms no longer apply. The concept of retirement suited to an age long since gone. Indeed it was only invented around the late 1940's in America and served its role for the mid to latter half of the 20th century. Back then people new less, had access to less and lived way less as long. Think about how you feel now compared to how you viewed your parents at this age. Things have changed a great deal!

Longer, healthier lives coupled with excess leisure time, better education and awareness of choices and the broader world are banging head first into new social norms that discard and devalue seasoned wisdom over youth (as if it has to be one or the other). Western society actually encourages seclusion of older people with the advent of Retirement Villages and the disbursement of broader families across multiple towns and cities.

Men tend to find things harder, having spent a lifetime defined by what they do, not who they are. Now their old title, position or even type of work is gone. In retirement they drive their wives crazy! More divorces occur at this point than what you’d expect. Just so much golf and gardening and ga-ga-ing the grandkids one can do. Yet the demographics no one can alter mean a massive increase in these situations. Not good for people and their families, and certainly not good for society.

The world’s biggest rubbish dump is unnecessary. Society is literally dumping gargantuan piles of knowledge and wisdom into cut-off retirement housing and eventually that most delicate of landfill - cemeteries. Just imagine if this could be diverted and combined with youth? A better world prevails for all.

Is there an alternative? Well yes of course, and no this isn’t staying in a self-employed job until you fall over either!

A Portfolio of Life… (Phrased by an enterprising man from Boston, so I will use his term).

Think of your portfolio as a structured and purposeful collection of things that you choose to do in life. Work, play, giving, and doing. It includes your relationships too.

For instance, what are the skills (not job titles) you’re really good at? What are the pursuits you loved doing but long since stopped? What things have you read about and thought … “gee I would quite like being involved in that”. Moving now onto something undervalued in the western society of ‘me’, is the ‘they’. Doing, serving and helping others is proven to produce contentment and happiness. An essential aspect to a portfolio of life. How can you contribute to life? Who have you engaged in conversation you have not met before and ordinarily wouldn’t even think of doing so? Thinking outside ‘you’, present circles of people and habits is a major aspect in creating a Portfolio of Life and a happier ‘you’.

What was it that had you grinning from ear to ear in contentment? What dreams have you secretly harboured but are now dismissive of? You know the usual excuses; too old, too silly, too late. What do you have that youth hasn’t in something they are hard at work on? Some paid, some not. Some that will only be short term, others years, yet all working as a collective portfolio of interests, work and leisure.

Creating your portfolio doesn’t just naturally happen. With the right guidance and approach you can do this. What’s more for those still working it means the crazy high numbers espoused by ‘experts’ in finance that say you need in retirement, simply isn’t required. It can also mean no longer staying in the job you’re in within the year, ending full time labour that’s not on your terms!

Adjustments to how you view life, regard others, and long held habitual views will help you connect into your new portfolio of life. No room for retirement in a portfolio.

Aligning your life with who you are and what you can do is an opportunity that for the first time in modern history we can make. It brings a sense of fulfilment, be a valued member of society and yes, happiness. Ask doctors and they’ll add in less ailments and sickness too!

Retirement is Dead! Long Live Life!

Grant Pearson

Founder: www.Lifemyway.com Specialises in developing new ways to live and manage money.