Is Retirement Still an Option?

Medical progress means that for more and more of us, compared to even a few decades ago, our age no longer necessarily reflects our health or our ability to work. Somewhere along the way, it seems we have gained at least an extra decade of useful life.

Until now, we have tended to assume that our minds followed our bodies’ ageing processes, and that each stage of life deeply affected our outlook on the world and our ideas of ourselves. That was until what has become known as modern ageing challenged these conventions, forcing us to rethink what it means to be older, now that we are living longer. Soon, the over-50s will make up the majority of the population in many countries, particularly in the developed world, and this will prompt major changes, some of which are already underway, with implications for us as individuals and as societies.

From my own perspective, my expectations of living longer will inevitably mean delaying retirement, along with new cycles of personal and professional renewal. We can probably expect new educational initiatives focused on the over-sixties, along with seeing more older people attending university to either retrain or reorient them toward new careers or professional projects.

Society too, will change the way it sees and treats older people, if only because they will make up a sizeable demographic governments will want the support of. We can expect to see more novels and movies about adult life, we will have more older role models, and there will be more services and products aimed at older people; the needs of seniors will even be reflected in fashion. In fact, modern ageing is one of the most promising areas for entrepreneurs, generating any number of start-ups.

Becoming old is a “privilege” and a “special favor” wrote French philosopher Michel de Montaigne in the 17th century. (1) Today, at least in developed societies, passing the age of 65 confers the right to retire on a pension, whether state, or accrued through savings.

But what we now need to ask ourselves, given that we are going to be living longer is whether it’s a good idea any longer, whether it’s healthy, appealing, or simply possible to retire, at least at the current benchmark age, especially if it means doing nothing other than playing golf into the twilight years (assuming one’s pension is up to it).

One solution that comes to mind is continue with voluntary retirement at the same time as gradually raising retirement age in line with extended longevity so that our societies are able to continue paying pensions, whether private or public.

Of course, different countries have different voluntary retirement ages. In Sweden and the United States people can retire when they wish, and cannot be forced to step down from their job based solely on their age. But a recent survey by Randstad (2) shows that one in three people would like to retire between the ages of 62 and 63. At the same time, countries like Spain and Italy are raising retirement age to 67, while in Germany there is talk of extending it to 69. In China and India, it’s 60. And the country with the highest age is Australia, where it’s 70, which is what the European Commission is recommending that EU do, arguing that this will help keep us more active into old age.

But if we’re going to have a discussion about retirement, why not take the opportunity to rethink the nature of work along more radical lines, making for a more continuous working life in which we achieve more, and that rather than just stopping, we scale down our professional activities once into our sixties, but continue contributing? For many people this is simply another way of preventing us from exercising our seemingly fundamental right to rest after a long, hard working life. Seen from another perspective, working in this way can actually improve our quality of life in old age, while at the same time keeping our bodies and minds healthier. Carlos Slim, the Mexican businessman who shows no signs of slowing down at 75, has suggested raising the retirement age to 70, at the same time as introducing a three-day week with longer hours. (3)

Needless to say, such an approach wouldn’t work for people with professions requiring sustained physical effort, such as athletes or manual workers.

Returning to our central issue: when is a good time to retire? For most of us, this is largely a financial question: do we have enough money to do so? Retirement is not a time to be faced with economic worries and we want to make sure that we have saved up sufficient funds to allow us to pursue whatever plans we might have made. It’s not a good idea to retire when you still owe a lot of money, or if you still have major outgoings such as the education of your children.

Aside from finance, there are other questions to be addressed. Firstly, as management guru Robert Sutton points out (4), the idea is to step down gracefully, particularly if you want to be remembered as a “selfless steward” rather than a selfish narcissist. This means dealing effectively with succession, transferring your knowledge and your contacts with major stakeholders to the rest of the team, and being prepared to help out if needed.

It is also essential to have your own plans and projects for this new age in which you will no longer be working. In particular, do not stop learning new things, and continue developing the skills that you put into practice during your professional life, keep up to speed on technology and the sciences, and keep your network of personal relationships active.

More and more of us are opting to retire to places where there is developed world medical treatment available, along with a benign climate, low prices, and where older people are safe. The globalization of financial services, coupled with agreements between countries, such as within the European Union, that allow access to the state health service is seeing growing numbers of pensioners head to countries like Spain, or some enclaves within Latin America.

Philosophers have largely seen old age in two lights: the most optimistic view is perhaps that of Cicero, whose essay On Old Age takes a stoical approach to ageing, explaining that we gain in experience as we enter our final stage of life, and that we can compensate for our physical decline by living in the mind. He uses the analogy of a ship’s captain, who is able to direct operations even though he no longer able to shin up the mast any longer (5). But what Cicero is really doing is praising the members of the Roman Senate, made up of older, experienced men, as opposed to Julius Caesar and his successors, who imposed an autocratic system of empire.

Two millennia later, Simone de Beauvoir, the doyenne of existentialism, writes in The Coming of Age of entering a stage of decline, and that society sees the process as negative, regardless of how we ourselves feel about it. “No one ever speaks of a beautiful old women,” she writes, but only of “a charming old woman.” (6)

The way we see old age says a great deal about us: which of the two descriptions do you most identify with?

Employers also face the important responsibility of managing their senior staff. It’s a good idea to create a company demographics map to help handle this challenge, given that an ageing population can impact on the talent coming through the pipeline, as well as productivity. (7) At the same time, to get the most from what older staff have to offer, it is a good idea to introduce more flexible working hours, as mentioned above.

One of the things I have always admired about China’s large corporations is that many of them have special departments, led by vice presidents, whose job is to look out for the interests and wellbeing of retired workers. This reflects China’s traditional respect for older people, and a way of thanking them for their contribution to the collective good. For example, the policy of state oil company Sinopec toward its 400,000 former employees, is: “Retirees have won colleagues' respect and recognition with their integrity, hard work and contributions to the company in the history of Sinopec. We are doing what we can to care for their living and health condition, add comfort and joy to their life, such as visiting them from time to time”. (8)

Of course there are also people who do not want to retire. In the information society, anybody who is still in possession of their mental faculties can make a contribution. And if you are the owner of your own business, then you probably aren’t thinking of retiring any time soon. It’s part of the reality of being an entrepreneur. Perhaps some of us should think about becoming entrepreneurs as we enter our sixties, after all, it’s never too late, and what better way to enjoy the final stage of our lives than by putting all our experience to good use?

 Notes

Photo: Rocks covered by lichen at Sibaúma Beach, RN Brazil (27th August, 2015)

(1) Michel de Montaigne, De L’Age, in OEuvres Complètes, ed. Albert Thibaudet and Maurice Rat (Paris: Gallimard, 1962), p.311.

(2) https://www.jubilacionypension.com/jubilacion/guia/cual-seria-la-edad-ideal-de-jubilacion/

(3) Ibidem.

(4) Robert Sutton, Stepping Down Gracefully, Harvard Business Review, June 2011.

(5) Cicero, Cato Maior De Senectute, ed. by J.G.F Powell (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988).

(6) Simone de Beauvoir, La Vieillesse (Paris: Gallimard, 1970).

(7) Rainer Strack, Jens Baier and Andres Fahlander, Managing Demographic Risk, Harvard Business Review, February 2008.

(8) https://www.sinopecgroup.com/group/en/socialresponsibility/Care/scc.shtml