RETIREMENT REDEFINED
WHEN YOU REACH YOUR RETIREMENT GOAL, THEN WHAT?
— THE AMERICAN RETIREMENT —
retirement n.
1. withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from active working life
2. a place of seclusion or privacy*
*Merriam-Webster Dictionary
This is the American definition of retirement. You withdraw from active working life and go to a place of seclusion. Really?
Society has placed
TARGET AGES
on when they think people should quit working.
SOCIAL
SECURITY
66
MEDICARE
​
65
IRS
​
59.5
PENSION
PLANS
60+
Quitting your job does not have to be based on a set age. It also does not have to be set on how much money you have.
Many retirement planning companies often frame the question of “what is your number?”, meaning how much they think you need for the remainder of your life.
How can you truly live if that is all you’re living for, a number?
Many spend 30-40 years of their lives working and saving so they can live the next 20-30 years as a vacation.
Just as we become good at what we do or experts in our field, we are expected to quit and enter into a vacation for the remainder of our lives. This is what our culture tells us is normal. But this alone leads to an unfulfilled and empty life.
​
We have allowed the American culture to define what we do in our lives. We are told when to retire based on a set standard. You don’t have to follow our culture’s idea of retirement.
— REDEFINED —
Today, one’s older years looks totally different than it did just a few decades ago.
We are living longer, healthier lives. Employers are more flexible today than ever before. They want and need the experience and expertise of older employees. They have created opportunities for them to work part-time and flexible hours. This has allowed typical retirement age employees to work longer with less stress and to have time for their families and other things.
Thirty years of retirement may not be what is sounds like.
You do not have to retire if you don’t want to. But if you do, have purpose and meaning during those years. Do not live your next 30 years waking up each day with no purpose and just searching for things to “keep busy”?
We often settle with temporarily satisfying, selfish adventures, when God has so much greater in store for our lives.
— LIVE LIFE WITH PURPOSE —
Why not ask the Creator what He wants you to do with what He created?
It could be that God’s will for your life is to retire from your current job in your early sixties and volunteer or provide care for family members. It could be to continue in your profession well into your seventies or eighties but with a totally different perspective than you had earlier in your career. Maybe there is a great opportunity to impact the lives of many through your work.
Whatever it may be, let it be purpose driven. You will not be satisfied living a life centered around you. Our true fulfillment in life on this earth is when we show Christ centered love to others. Live life with purpose and meaning!