Being (not so shy) and retiring at 40

vivienhuang

Being (not so shy) and retiring at 40



BBC Capital has posted a though provoking article on retiring at 40 (original story here), and while the financial guidelines in the article are no doubt quite sound (aim for 25 times your desired income in retirement), there remains one vital and unanswered question.

Why the heck would you?

There are two main arguments as to why early retirement might be a dream best left unrealised. The first relates to mortality and retirement age and suggests that those taking early retirement are up to twice as likely to die before 65 than those who retire later. Plenty of studies support this as well including this one from 2005 that found the magic age for retirement seemed to be 60 years – the point at which the ‘risk’ of early retirement related death didn’t increase.

The second argument relates to sheer and unadulterated boredom and I suspect is closely tied in with the retirement-vs-mortality link. Retirees (and especially men) are wrenched from a world that revolves around work and thrust into a life that typically offers nothing more challenging that the occasional game of golf, gardening or bridge. While this sounds like bliss for many, a life that has found meaning in the travails, challenges and constant learning demanded by work suddenly struggles to find meaning in the seemingly trivial tasks around the house or country club.

No wonder why so many of them pop off the perch within a few years of retiring.

With birth rates declining in the developed world, and governments steadily increasing the statutory retirement age, we’ll start to see more mature workers remaining in employment for longer. This is not a bad thing at all. For one, the knowledge and experience that older workers have will remain available to employers and younger employees. The impact on the health system may well be ameliorated and incidences of mature age depression (especially in men) may even drop.

I for one don’t plan to retire; I may change jobs or slow my pace a little, but the thought of pruning the gardenias just leaves me cold.



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mason00

都想40岁退休，可能吗？