As the largest group of Baby Boomers begins to pass away at age 65 this year, a point at which most people normally stop working to earn a living, they will reach “retirement” like no other generation to begin with, they will be happier than previous generations of retirees and, instead of sitting on a porch watching the sunsets and looking back, they will want to do more, according to studies conducted.
They will also live longer and have more energy, thanks to the advances of medicine, technology and a much healthier life, significantly, more people have expressed that they will work until the age of 70 than any generation before, although many have economic difficulties to live comfortably in retirement, no generation has retired with as much money in their coffers, as the Boomers.
In Addition, They Will Experience Changes That They Had Not Anticipated
According to an executive life coach who has traveled more than 2 million miles around the world, meeting and talking with people facing the end of their normal working life, who is cataloged, professional listener.
For some, it has meant a divorce or the beginning of a new relationship. Many thought that they were going to continue working, but unexpectedly they were left without their job, while others were surprised to start a new business.
Instead of getting ready for a normal retirement, many go through periods of various changes and transitions, unprecedented in generations ago, this is what can be called a “new phase of life”, a time to confront new opportunities and challenges that seem to come out of nowhere, and to extend the peak of productive, creative and purpose-oriented life.
Unforeseen Changes Boomers Face in Retirement
For previous generations, this season of challenges and opportunities and the need to continue solving things, beyond the normal retirement age, was not an option, nor was it necessary, instead, society estimated that people at that time were at the top, a life table of popular use had an arc shape and rose throughout childhood, adolescence, and part of adulthood, and they called it, the phase of life of learning and income acquisition.
Then, when a peak had been reached, the life table went into steady decline until retirement and old age.
A recent economic study of retirement-age Boomers, conducted by economist Robert Shapiro on behalf of the Retirement Income Institute, indicated, “That people between the ages of 50 and 60 underestimate their probability of living to age 75 by an average of 25%.”
The best way to illustrate the change in aging is a new graph that shows a steady increase until early adulthood and then a leveling off in middle age until we reach another increase beyond middle age that extends to a new peak, which represents the new stage of life.