Here for every stage of your life. (855) 436-6552
Partners for Life — Insurance Agency & Financial Services
← Back to articles

Retirement: To Be or Not to Be

Retirement—the classic idea of leaving work behind—does not arrive simply because you wait for it. You have to make it happen, on a date you set for yourself. It is true that focusing on something as distant as retirement is difficult, but if you are young and healthy, now is the time to start planning and saving for it.

A few decades ago, people had shorter lives, and many who began their careers in the middle of the last century worked for 30 years and then retired with a good pension. Social Security provided retirement income that closely resembled their income during their working years.

That is not today's reality for people retiring, so imagine what your situation will be in 30 or 40 years. Add to that the fact that today we may live much longer than the generations before us. If you take care of yourself, you could easily live to 100. You probably already knew that. Have you thought about what you would do if you lived to 100 and retired at 65? Now, have you thought about how much money you would need to live through that extended break without working? You would need a lot of money to live 35 years without a job. That is a long time to go without income.

Depending on your lifestyle and plans for retirement, you may need more than a million dollars. And unless you inherit it, saving that much money during just the last ten or fifteen years of your career is very difficult, no matter how well you are doing at the time.

If you have not started saving and investing, you need to get serious right now. If you are not contributing generously to your company's 401k plan, start today. If you are already contributing to your 401k, it may not be enough—seek a financial counselor. If you cannot contribute to a 401k because your employer does not offer one, make sure you contribute to an IRA. If you have no plan at the moment, consult a financial advisor who can point you in the right direction. Do your own research and get informed.

Do not tell me you will never retire because you love your work. That story has been sold before—I have seen it in movies, and my children have read it in comic books. If you live to 102, I do not think you will work until the end.

You may sincerely want to work until you are 102, but I do not know many people that age who still work, much less earn as much as they did in their prime. Ultimately, retirement will be imposed on you, even if you do not want it.

Get ready!