The Dangers of a Retirement Mindset
I’m Andy Temte and welcome to the Saturday Morning Muse! Start to your weekend with me by exploring topics that span leadership, business management, education, and other musings designed to support your journey of personal and professional continuous improvement. Today is November 2, 2024.
Many of us go through our careers yearning for the day that we can finally retire. “I can’t wait to retire so I can do whatever I want, whenever I want,” or “I can’t wait for retirement so I can just relax and do the things that I enjoy” are common refrains.
In my opinion, this is as much a reflection of the work culture in the US that rewards the busy, stressed, workaholic persona. “I put in 90 hours last week, I must be killing it!” Or, “Jim comes in early and stays late—his dedication is admirable, let’s give him a promotion and a raise!” There’s a certain guilt that we’re expected to feel if we’re not working ourselves to the bone at the expense of our health, families, and other interests that help us feel whole and worthwhile.
With all this pressure, both peer and societal, to strive for excellence and status—to run the rat race—during our careers, it’s no wonder that the notion of retirement is so attractive to many of us. However, the historical path where (a) structured learning during our youth leads us into the workforce in our early 20s, (b) we work a long and arduous career to amass as much wealth as we can for retirement, and then (c) we retire to live a life of leisure and consumption, has a major flaw.
The flaw rests in the implication that in this third stage of life it’s okay to become sedentary and okay to stop learning.
I believe that we need to stop thinking about the arc of our lives as learn→work→retire. Yes, as we age we do slow down. The march to our final days is inexorable. Our bodies begin betraying us, recovery from injury and illness takes longer, and our brains physically shrink in size, affecting memory, decision-making, and the speed at which we process information.
The mindset of learn→work→retire was codified into our social structures in a time when our life expectancies were shorter. The learn and work sides of the equation were roughly the same as they are today, but since life expectancy is longer, retirements can now stretch for many more years. In 1960, the average life expectancy in the US was 69.66 years, but by 2020, that number had risen to 78.81 years.
Armed with this data, some might say: “Cool—we get an extra 7.15 years of retirement, rest, and relaxation relative to our grandparents!” A few of you are saying: “Wait a minute, I thought we had an extra 9.15 years of life expectancy?” Since retirement age has increased to 67 from the 65 year mark your grandparents enjoyed, the net is 7.15.
The point is this. While it’s true that our brains shrink and our bodies break down, that doesn’t mean we should stop moving forward as long as we possibly can. Regular exercise and a good diet can help stave off physical decline and regular brain exercise can help maintain neuroplasticity—the ability of the brain to adapt and change.
You’ve probably seen this in action. Think about your immediate circle of friends and relatives. What happens when uncle Lewis allows the easy chair to wrap its loving arms around him, he succumbs to its grip and watches television all day? Uncle Lewis declines. Alternatively, your aunt Betty is the Energizer Bunny. Always on the move, volunteering her time by working a few hours a week at the local food pantry, walking with friends at the mall, singing in a choir, and dabbling in learning a new language. You’re in the thick of your career, and it makes you tired just looking at all the things aunt Betty is up to.
On average, the uncle Lewis’s of the world have more mental and physical challenges. They require more hospital stays, more pharmaceuticals, and pose a larger strain on family and societal resources. Aunt Betty is the opposite and may even be a net contributor to society.
So what’s your plan for retirement? Yes, you may want to step off the treadmill of a fast-paced career path, but it’s essential that you not stand still. Standing still is the fast pass to a slow and oftentimes painful slide into oblivion. Instead, commit now to developing the habit of continuous improvement and lifelong learning. Keep moving in retirement. Give back. Mentor. Take a part-time job that fits your purpose. Living a full life means living a full life. Don’t give up on yourself.
To make this happen—to have more individuals live fuller lives—we must change our current learn→work→retire mindset. Let’s leave the rat race in the past. If you’re a leader, stop rewarding your workaholics. Just because someone comes in at 7am and stays until 7pm doesn’t mean they’re the most productive member of a team. What it means is that they’re out of balance and need your help to see the benefits of self-care, continuous improvement, and delineating the urgent from the important.
Instead, start to change the narrative and encourage the full use of allotted vacation days. Invest in learning and development. Lead by example and show others that it’s okay to take a break. Show your people that you know the difference between the urgent and the important. Let’s do less spinning about the urgent and invest ourselves in the important.
The road of life is long. It doesn’t need to be a dysfunctional grind in our peak years with the promise of a golden ticket at the end. We can teach a new generation to embrace a balance between hard work, play, lifelong learning, and growth so they can live to their full potential throughout the arc of their (longer) lives. If you’re in my age bracket, just because you lived the rat race doesn’t mean that you can’t change your mind about what retirement is supposed to be all about. Reject the easy chair and keep moving forward.
Grace. Dignity. Compassion.
