Is it time to “retire” retirement—at least as it’s traditionally defined?
It’s a concept often debated, and Empower Institute is out with a new survey that appears to confirm the premise.
“Retirement is no longer about reaching a certain age,” according to Empower. “It’s more of a mindset and American workers close to retirement, or pre-retirees, are eagerly looking forward to the next chapter in their lives.”
The survey results and accompanying white paper, titled Rethink, Rewire, Retire, find that:
- 83% of pre-retirees said they expect to live their best life in retirement
- 83% of pre-retirees said they would rather save more money today, so they don’t have to cut back in retirement
- 81% of pre-retirees said there are more job and career opportunities for people post-retirement
“People are no longer looking at retirement as the end of something, but rather the beginning of something new,” Ed Murphy, President and CEO of Empower Retirement, said in a statement. “This important shift has changed the way people save for retirement, or what they now consider their second act.”
Planning sooner
Despite citing challenges and having financial questions, pre-retirees say they started planning sooner than their retired counterparts and 67 percent said they felt confident in their ability to plan for retirement.
Pre-retirees are looking forward to describing themselves as explorers, travelers and volunteers and 44 percent of pre-retirees said their top advice to their younger self is to save enough to have fun, as well as for necessities.
Both retirees and pre-retirees say there are more opportunities now than 20 years ago to have a second career, start a business or work in the gig economy. More than 60 percent of pre-retirees said they plan to continue to work or join the gig economy, citing freelancing and consulting as their top choice for work.
“We are all recognizing this shift in the retirement landscape,” Murphy added. “Planning for retirement now means planning for a new chapter in life and we think that’s pretty exciting.”
- SEE ALSO: Rethink, Rewire, Retire
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
