We've covered the changing nature of retirement so often in our Baby Boomer section we feel like we're feeding a fed horse by covering it again.
But it's an important trend and there continues to be a flurry of interesting articles on working in and/or delaying retirement. So ...
Quartz's Perennials, not millennials, will trigger the next wave of talent retention efforts provides a good description of the trend towards later retirement:
"Increased life expectancy across the industrialized world means that more people have more years of healthy life than ever before. Women who deferred careers while raising children may only be hitting their professional stride in their later 50s; men and women who spent decades in engaging roles may be reluctant to abandon the social and intellectual stimulation of work for decades of leisure time.
Meanwhile, the corporate shift from defined-benefit retirement plans, which guaranteed a steady income, to defined-contribution plans, which place the onus of saving on workers, has left many older people financially unable to quit work without a substantial drop in their standard of living."
The article suggest that corporations need to change their policies to retain older workers instead of losing them and their skills and knowledge. The article's closing summary is:
"Of course, there are still plenty of employers that are reluctant to rethink approaches to benefits, pensions, and hours for older workers. But eventually, the labor market is going to force them to do so."
The NY Times' The New 50s: Far From Retirement focuses on how older workers can contribute by becoming "new elders". Key quote:
"... everyone working past middle age today needs to become a modern elder, simultaneously sharing wisdom while embracing fresh ideas and ways of thinking."
Also in the New York Times, Bringing Older Americans Back Into the Fold, focuses on the broader topic of reintegrating older people into the lives of younger ones.
The article points out we've been treating retirement like a second childhood that is focused on leisure activities. But that doesn't necessarily lead to happiness. Key quote:
"When you look at what developmental research on happiness and purpose in later life shows, it fits together like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. Older people who mentor and support young people are three times as likely to be happy as those who fail to do so."
Given how rapidly the world is aging it's not surprising there's a lot of interest and media coverage of this topic. The New York Times even has a special section with even more articles devoted to The New Retirement.
Despite the saying, demographics really isn't destiny. But global aging the new retirement will continue to be important trends driving economic and societal changes - and the growth of the independent workforce.
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