Working past 70! let alone 75 is becoming a reality for more people than we care to think about. Due to the recession over the past several years and many people losing their jobs, their homes and their savings, it has become an unfortunate reality. Perhaps you have already noticed that there are more and more seniors working in the service industry. You see them at fast food outlets, stores even good old Walmart. They perform low paying jobs to augment their income and possibly also obtain health care benefits.
The problem is a common one in the arena of personal finance. If you are approaching the age at which you’ve planned to retire, but find that you don’t have enough money saved, do you have a plan? Are you going to work longer. Can you work longer is another question for many people as well. They may not physically be able to work as long as they want to. If you find yourself in this situation and have some ideas, please leave a comment on our blog. We all need some advice and just sometimes the experts have it wrong. Good old common sense sometimes is the best medicine for us all. Working Past 70 is becoming a reality for many people.
Working Past 70 – Other Solutions to Stretch those Dollars
If you are younger than 40, then you have lots of time to make up your losses and also save for retirement. If you are 55 , 60 or even 65 and lost a bundle during the recession, work and severe belt tightening is probably in order. Also you may have to make some compromises as well, such as moving in with the kids or even a good friend to share expenses. Financial planners do not usually talk about these solutions since there is no business for them and they cannot generate any income from you. However sharing expenses like we did when we were teenagers and young adults may be the way of the future for many older adults on a tight budget.
One has to be very careful if you are going to enter into this type of arrangement. There are many desperate people who would not hesitate to take advantage of someone. In addition, compatibility is a very important element that is increasingly important as you get older. We all spend more time at home as we age, which means you spend more time with the person you are sharing with. Being compatible is extremely important to ensure a harmonious lifestyle.
Working Past 70 – Sometimes Working Beyond 55 is not Realistic!
If you have your health, and can continue to work in the same environment that you are use to, then working for a longer period is probably ok. But what if you cannot work in the same job, then what do you do?
For example if you have a physically demanding job, you may not be able to continue with this type of work into your 60’s. We all get bad knees, bad hips, backs and as a general rule have less energy. Doing a construction job may mean that you just cannot do it until the age that you planned on.
It could also mean that you need to retrain yourself and switch to another profession as a result. Teaching yourself and taking courses takes time and money, but thousands of people do this every year. You can train for that new job and in some cases continue in your new profession well into your 70’s. Financial advisers, insurance agents and many other similar types of jobs are well positioned in this way.
Stay on top of Trends
What ever profession you have, it is important to stay current. Additional training and self teaching is an absolute must. You should think about learning something new each and every day to avoid becoming out of date with your job and with younger competitors. If you are a computer programmer, learn new programs, stay current with technology and all of the latest buzzwords. If you are in fashion design, every year brings something new, so you got to stay on top of your game.
On the other hand if you just need a little bit to survive and to top up your retirement income, you may want to consider a low stress job that gets you out and mingling with people. This brings us to our last major topic. How does one prepare for retirement?
What’s the best way to manage preparing for retirement.
Plan, plan and then plan some more. Every 6 months you should be evaluating your retirement plans and have emergency plans set up so that if something does not work out just the way you thought, you will be able to adjust and utilize one of your backup plans.
This is so important. There is no one set plan or recommendation since we are different, have different needs and objectives. However if you spend some time evaluating yourself and your needs, and then take action to achieve your plans, you might be ok. Whatever you do, don’t depend on anyone else but yourself to prepare for retirement. Not the government , your friends or your family and certainly not your company. They may or may not be around when it comes time for you to retire.
Take control of your life and begin to make your retirement plan today. Set some objectives and goals and work towards them.
Are you changing your own retirement planning to deal with the new realities? Please share by posting to comments. Spam comments will be auto deleted.
