Posts
How much do you need to retire?
Before you wax nostalgic for the good old days when you could count on pensions and Social Security to support you in your golden years, remember that those days were relatively brief -- not so much an era as an aberration.
The whole concept of retirement is fairly recent, an experiment that began with the creation of Social Security in 1935, observes Ken Dychtwald, a gerontologist and authority on aging in the U.S.
With the country facing massive unemployment during the Great Depression, Social Security was a way of providing older workers with guaranteed income so that they could leave their jobs, freeing up slots for younger workers.
"No one considered whether a life without work would be satisfying or sustainable," says Dychtwald. Even when traditional pension plans were at their peak in 1985, fewer than half of Americans working for private companies were covered.
As the leading edge of the baby-boom generation turns 60 this year, "it's time to retire retirement," declares Dychtwald, author of The Power Years: A User's Guide to the Rest of Your Life.
And he doesn't think that's necessarily a bad thing: "Like a great dessert, too much leisure can make you sick after a while. Boomers don't want to fade into obscurity. They want to trade success for satisfaction."
As the leading edge of the baby-boom generation turns 60 this year, "it's time to retire retirement," declares Dychtwald, author of The Power Years: A User's Guide to the Rest of Your Life.
And he doesn't think that's necessarily a bad thing: "Like a great dessert, too much leisure can make you sick after a while. Boomers don't want to fade into obscurity. They want to trade success for satisfaction."
