In 1881, Bismarck designed a plan for retirement, hoping to defuse a threat from Marxists, who were gaining popularity throughout Europe.
The plan was carried out in 1891 with the age initially set at 70; it was lowered to 65 in 1916.
At the time, most potential pensioners would be dead by 65.
But nowadays, if you reach 65 today, according to the Social Security Administration, you can expect to live around 20 more years.
But we can’t exactly blame Bismarck for not being forward thinking enough — it was 135 years ago!
One study found that “retirement increases the chances of suffering from clinical depression by around 40 percent, and of having at least one diagnosed physical illness by 60 percent.”
What I have seen over and over are people planning creatively for other options later in life.
It often involves scaling back a bit, or even changing careers around 55 or 60, but still working for 15-20 more years.
If you can find a way to extend your working life by a decade or more, even with part-time work, you give your retirement account that much longer to grow.
In many cases, I’ve seen people “retire” from jobs they hated a decade or more earlier than they thought financially possible.
The income from meaningful work was enough to cover their expenses. Often, these “retirees” can’t keep saving for retirement.
But they also don’t need to spend their retirement savings.
If you realize that you aren’t going to retire, then maybe you don’t have to keep working at a job that’s slowly driving you insane.
For many people, retirement is the light at the end of a deep, dark tunnel called a career.
So what if we flipped the paradigm and the end goal wasn’t to stop doing the wrong kind of work, but to start doing the right kind of work?
Just imagine how liberating that will feel.
Find the work you love so much you never want to quit.
The plan was carried out in 1891 with the age initially set at 70; it was lowered to 65 in 1916.
At the time, most potential pensioners would be dead by 65.
But nowadays, if you reach 65 today, according to the Social Security Administration, you can expect to live around 20 more years.
But we can’t exactly blame Bismarck for not being forward thinking enough — it was 135 years ago!
One study found that “retirement increases the chances of suffering from clinical depression by around 40 percent, and of having at least one diagnosed physical illness by 60 percent.”
What I have seen over and over are people planning creatively for other options later in life.
It often involves scaling back a bit, or even changing careers around 55 or 60, but still working for 15-20 more years.
If you can find a way to extend your working life by a decade or more, even with part-time work, you give your retirement account that much longer to grow.
In many cases, I’ve seen people “retire” from jobs they hated a decade or more earlier than they thought financially possible.
The income from meaningful work was enough to cover their expenses. Often, these “retirees” can’t keep saving for retirement.
But they also don’t need to spend their retirement savings.
If you realize that you aren’t going to retire, then maybe you don’t have to keep working at a job that’s slowly driving you insane.
For many people, retirement is the light at the end of a deep, dark tunnel called a career.
So what if we flipped the paradigm and the end goal wasn’t to stop doing the wrong kind of work, but to start doing the right kind of work?
Just imagine how liberating that will feel.
Find the work you love so much you never want to quit.
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