UBS released “80 is the new 60,” an interesting study analyzing people’s views about retirement. Today people do not feel old at 62, which was not true a generation ago when that age was close to retirement. In fact, how people feel about age is not based on a number — for many people, retirement may last 30 years as they pass through different phases.
How people feel about age is based less on a number or whether they are retired. What’s more relevant (in order of significance) is whether they can live independently, drive, remember things, their health and their hearing. Whether or not they are retired is one of the least important factors.
Retirement is not an event, it’s a process which the UBS studies characterizes as:
• Transitioning — working differently
• “My Time” — travel and leisure
• “Last Waltz” — a simpler, more relaxed life, but one complicated by health issues
Not surprisingly, people underestimate how much they will need in each phase, especially the last one. Factors driving where people retire, in order of importance, include an easy house to maintain that is close to family and friends in an interesting place with good weather.
So rather than retirement, should we call it “transitioning”? Maybe we should be asking the question, “When are you planning to transition?”
