Money Archives – Unretirement Project

What Does Delaying Retirement Mean for You

July 12, 2017 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

My father-in-law retired at age 55. He then spent over 35 years enjoying his retirement life by playing golf, tending to his gladiolas, and eating pork chops with potato chips. He could do this because he planned and saved for retirement.

Today, many people won’t be able to enjoy the same kind of retirement my father-in-law had. In fact, I’m certain that I won’t have the same kind of retired life he did. For some, the Great Recession dwindled – or eliminated – retirement savings. And the current discussions about changes to Social Security and Medicare…well, are making folks nervous.

That’s why I was particularly interested when I ran across this report from The Conference Board titled “Delaying Retirement” [PDF]. While the report is a few years old, I don’t know that the dynamics have changed much. And the report does offer some perspective about the extent that the Great Recession impacted families and their post-work savings.

For example, the report says that households’ net worth dropped from $66 trillion during the peak of the recession in 2007 to $48.5 trillion in 2009. That’s a pretty big chunk of change. Which explains why parents moved in with their adult kids and started rethinking when and how they plan to retire.

From a work perspective, the decisions being made to delay retirement are giving companies a little bit of a reprieve. Several years ago, HR pros were all running around like Chicken Little talking about the Boomers retiring and the impending labor shortage. Now Boomers are delaying and redefining retirement. So, the sky isn’t falling…yet.

But make no mistake, all of the Boomers will retire at some point. Some are already retired and others are making plans right now. They’re figuring out what the new normal is for their retired life. They’re getting comfortable with the changes they need to make in both their personal and professional lives.

While I initially read The Conference Board report as a human resources professional with the need to develop a workforce plan, I’m now looking at this retirement data differently – from the perspective of a person considering retirement. What lessons can I learn? You can grab a copy of the report here [PDF]. It’s well worth your time to understand the retirement dynamic and how it will potentially impact you.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby at the Neon Sign Graveyard in Las Vegas, NV

Bookmark This! #myRA Retirement Edition

April 26, 2017 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

There’s a well-worn statistic from Pew Research that says roughly 10,000 Boomers will turn of retirement age every day for the next decade. That translates into a lot of people planning for their retirement (and unretirement).

One specific component of retirement that comes up frequently is finances. Many articles have been published about Boomers not having enough savings for when they retire. In fact, I recently ran across the term “Threshold Generation” to describe individuals nearing retirement who saw their savings disappear during the Great Recession, hence being on the threshold of retirement. According to a study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), only 18 percent of people are confident they have enough in savings for a comfortable retirement.

Back in 2015, the U.S. Treasury launched myRA, a retirement savings account for employees who don’t have access to a savings plan at work or have not found an easy way to start saving, such as part-time and seasonal employees. They found that among workers who do not participate in a 401(k) or other defined contribution plan, 42 percent say it’s because their employer does not offer one. Furthermore, a 2015 BLS Economic Release found that 62 percent of part-time workers don’t have access to a savings plan at work for when they retire.

When the program was introduced, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew made this statement, “myRA is designed to remove common barriers to saving, and give people an easy way to get started. myRA has no fees, no risk of losing money and no minimum balance or contribution requirements. To make saving easier than ever, you can now put savings into myRA directly from your bank account.”

I’m not a certified financial planner. So, I can’t tell anyone how to save and invest their money. But I do know that if individuals are unable to care for themselves financially, it will have an impact on their lives and their work. Becoming financially literate is essential.

If you’re looking for retirement resources, a friend recommended to me Retirement Security SmartBrief. It’s a curated collection of articles about preparing to retire. I’ve found it to be interesting and very diverse in thought. Just in case you want to check it out.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby off the coast of Miami, FL

6 Reasons You Should Embrace #Unretirement

April 5, 2017 by Sharlyn Lauby 3 Comments

Over on my other blog, HR Bartender, I recently wrote about the reasons that human resources professionals should embrace the concept of unretirement. But it occurred to me as I was writing the post that individuals looking at their future might not be totally convinced that the concept of unretirement is right for them.

So, I came up with a list of reasons that someone might use to decide if they should think about unretirement as an option.

You like working. According to Gallup, 2 out of 3 employees are disengaged. We spend so much time focused on the disengaged statistic that we forget 1 out of 3 ARE engaged. There are plenty of people in this world that their passion is their work. There’s nothing wrong with that. Maybe at some point, those engaged employees will simply want to work less. And organizations will be thrilled to retain their expertise.

You want to finally do your dream job. While I understand that I just finished talking about employees who are happy with their jobs, let’s face it, some of us like our professions and we’re good at them, but it’s not our dream job. Unretirement allows us to get the education we want to pursue our encore career.

You want to make a little extra money. Regardless of how much money you have and what’s going on with Social Security and Medicare, we have to think about living on a budget. Which means that having the ability to make a little extra money might be attractive. Maybe it’s for a trip you’ve always wanted to take. Or a little splurge – like shoes and handbags.

You’re ready to give back. When we’re busy climbing the corporate ladder and raising children, volunteering can move lower on the priority list. Now it’s time. It could be mentoring someone in your industry or volunteering to be an usher at your local theatre. The point is, that carving out time to give back to the community that supported you is important.

You want to learn something new. If you aren’t looking for an encore career, you might want to take up a new hobby. It might be to play an instrument or learn a language or take up crocheting. Maybe there’s something that’s been on your ‘to-do’ list for a long time and you want to make it happen.

You want to pass along your knowledge and skills. This kinda goes along with #4 about giving back. Whether that’s coaching someone inside the company you work for or by sharing your experiences writing a blog/book, unretirement allows you to do those things.

Unretirement says that there’s no pre-determined age restrictions on living life. Of course, there are government retirement-related programs and you’ll want to understand how those work. That doesn’t mean that life stops. However, unretirement takes planning both in terms of figuring out what you want the future to look like and designing a road map to get there.

Image captured by Keith Lauby on the streets of San Francisco, CA