Retirement

Steve Lopez is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. His new book about considering retirement is "Independence Day: What I Learned About Retirement From Some Who've Done It And Some Who Never Will" and is featured in this NPR "Fresh Air" episode.

It's not pretty! All those degrees and awards that you've worked your entire life for, get packed away. All that research, academic papers, lecture or presentation notes get tossed...or put in the attic if you're lucky.

When I turned 50, a childhood friend who is a financial advisor asked me, “What’s your magic number?” I had no idea what he was talking about, so I told him that 4 was my lucky number.

Ever seen the movie Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure? Two teenagers used a time machine to collect historical characters for the ultimate history class presentation—a “show and tell” extravaganza. They brought in Napoleon Bonaparte, Billy the Kid, Socrates, and more. A great adventure indeed.

Recently, I heard the line that is today’s blog post title, and I realized I’d heard a lot of people saying that lately. Makes me wonder why we have such a fraught relationship with retirement.

Thanks to Tash from Australia for turning me onto this TEDx talk that demonstrates how essential it is that we “retire to” something as opposed to “retire from” a job.

For many, getting older feels like receiving a lump of coal in their Christmas stocking: “Nice to be living longer, but how the hell do I pay for these extra years?!”

Busy, busy, busy. That's what you'll hear if you ask a retiree how things are going. Inquire further, and you discover that "busy" means an assortment of leisure activities (pickleball is hot right now), cool courses (medieval instruments, anyone?), doctor visits, language lessons, and a round of golf. Occasionally you'll hear about volunteering, starting a new business, or writing that novel put off for decades.

I work in the field of retirement planning and coaching. One of the most pervasive forms of thinking among people that come to see me is to separate time into before and after retirement. Retirement acts as the wall separating who they are while employed and who they are going to be in the future.

If you’re an air traffic controller in your early 50s, you’re a lame duck, as this profession has a mandatory retirement age of 56. If you’re a 65-year-old pilot, you’re not flying anymore—truly a lame duck! And if President Joe Biden chooses not to run again (possibly due to how people perceive his age), he will also be considered a lame duck, or in this case, a leader with less influence.