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Age of the Unretired

Tony Wanless

| March 22, 2011

Image by: Hiking Artist

With the clock running out on Baby Boomers' time in the work force, not everyone is ready to call it quits.

As Canadians put off retirement, we're entering the age of the unretired. This will create huge changes in business and the workplace.

Since I had a birthday recently, I’ve been thinking more about retirement. As one kindly birthday message put it, “One step closer to the age of wisdom.”

But in my case, much of that thinking is tinged with some horror. As you get older, there’s something about a digit clicking over that makes you realize that retirement may be closer than you thought. For people like me who plan to die with their boots on, so to speak, the concept of not working is inconceivable.

So I’m happy to see that “retirement age” is actually getting further away, according to a survey by CARP – the Canadian Association Of Retired Persons.

CARP says the average age at which Canadians now expect to retire has moved up to 68 from the traditional age of 65. It blames this on the recession and the new age of austerity in which we're living.

I think that might be true for people who were doing physical labour and can’t afford to stop working. But for most, I believe it has more to do with putting their knowledge to work in a useful setting.

These knowledge workers may say they are going to stop working at 68, but I think they’ll keep going into their 70’s, and perhaps longer because they have accumulated a lifetime of smarts that the business world will likely need. Even CARP agrees, and is rebranding itself from an association of retired people to an advocacy association for older Canadians.

Further, I believe that the whole concept of retirement is going through a massive change these days. It uUsed to be you started working at 18 or so, and stopped at 65 when your back gave out. I think that now, people will "retire" regularly, maybe three or four times in their lives, as they move into different areas of working. Maybe they’ll go back to school, or move from business into public service, or vice versa.

The concept of one job for life is long gone. Probably, the concept of retiring from a job has gone with it. It’s a relic from the industrial age.

Instead, welcome to the age of the “unretired” – people with knowledge who want to work as long as they can.

I’ve heard all the arguments against this – Gen-Xers who grumble because they believe all the top jobs are held by Baby Boomers, which to me is just a way of explaining away their own failure. Or the complaints from Gen-Yers who snicker at the Boomers’ inability to grasp the intricacies of technology and new media. Chalk that one up to youth’s usual contempt for anyone who isn’t like them.

But we're seeing a seismic shift in business and the workplace here and it seems to me – probably because I’m a Boomer – that there is no use fighting it.

Rather than lament it, let’s move on and work with it. If there are a lot of people around with knowledge and they want to employ that knowledge in work then we should let them.

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Another excellent article,

Submitted by basilpeters (not verified) on Thu, 2011-03-24 07:55.

Another excellent article, Tony. I agree with you. But there is also a much darker side that almost nobody wants to talk about. Well over 95% of the boomers can't afford to retire and won't ever be able to afford to retire. Retirement is becoming an outmoded concept. Today, the amount of money that you would need to retire, and be confident of living well for thirty years, is well over $10 million (in my opinion). This number will probably get lots of disagreement from the financial planning industry who tell people it's much lower than that. I suggest they look at the 'true' inflation rate for the last thirty years. And then factor in the effects of the US deficit, current account deficit, current government attitudes about deficits and the boomer demographics. If you do that, it’s pretty easy to see that the buying power of $10 million today will be a lot closer to $1 million in 30 years. If interest rates stay where they are now, it won't be easy to live well off the interest from that much money. I think we have to be realistic. Almost none of us boomers will be able to afford to retire. (And that doesn't even start to address the reality of what it will cost to buy medical care in a couple of decades.) I suggest we all embrace the new reality and start thinking of ways we can earn money in our 80's.

Perhaps some will get the

Submitted by ddrucker (not verified) on Wed, 2011-03-23 15:04.

Perhaps some will get the chance to work well into their 70's, but unfortunately, in the Hi Tech sector there is a dirty little secret: Age is definitely not an advantage in the Interview. If you're older than 45, you're going to have to convince the hiring manager that you've remained current (and they'll assume you aren't), are not going to cost them a ton more than a younger, hungrier candidate, and even may have to subtly 'convince' them that you have the energy, drive and commitment (read: I'll work late nights on last-minute projects that weren't planned for, forego family and weekends, etc.) that they'll find in a fresh-out-of-University and easily overworked 20-something glad to have any job they can find. Retirement may be a ways off, but if you don't already have a permanent position and you have more than a few grey hairs, you're in for a tough time getting hired.