When Will You Retire?

This article by a local financial adviser considers when most people will retire — either by choice or by default (say, firing or layoff). Essentially, even retirement at 65 is proving difficult — and an impossibility — for more and more people. For many of us, our retirement could easily last thirty years. What are the chances we’ll stay at the same job? In some respects, freelancers will be well-off, as they often move from job to job with a lot of fluidity.

Below are some interesting statistics. From the freelancer’s perspective, this article shows how important it is to think early and often about one’s retirement. Even if you are working full-time in a salaried position, there are clearly no promises about retirement. Long gone are the world’s pensions. I also find the Bay Area very agist, and wonder how the job market will be for the 60-plus demographic. A freelancer might be well suited for such a market, assuming he or she has her health care (er, insurance) sorted out.

A recent study looked at the percentage of men between the ages of 58 and 62 who were working for the same employer they had at age 50. In 1983, 75% of full-time male workers worked at the same employer, compared to only 50% in 2006 (Source: Center for Retirement Research, September 2008). These results were consistent across all educational levels. If workers are leaving voluntarily, they are probably moving to better jobs with better pay, which should mean they will stay employed longer. If workers are laid off or forced out of their jobs in their 50s or 60s, they are likely to take inferior jobs at lower pay, which may mean they are less likely to stay employed into their late 60s.

On the plus side of working well into our 60s and 70s, the BBC reports that we’ll (hopefully) "avoid dementia."