The New Retirement

Retirement today means creating a new way of life – “a new life chapter that you get to write,” reports EdwardJones.com in a new study about how Baby Boomers and Gen Xers view retirement. The study, called, “Longevity and the New Journey of Retirement,” was conducted in an ongoing partnership with Age Wave.


Recent retirees and pre-retirees think of their parents’ version of retirement as a time for rest and relaxation, a time to wind down, “like an extended vacation,” said Mona Mahajan, Edward Jones investment strategist in an interview with Yahoo Money’s Kerry Hannon. “But interestingly, when you ask them to describe their own retirement, most of our respondents said that they view their retirement as a whole new chapter in life.”  It’s a time to explore new options, new opportunities, and to pursue new interests, “…to live their best life,” she adds.  


The survey, conducted in January and February of this year, included more than 11,000 people over age 45 who are retired or within 10 years of retirement.


The study defines well-being in retirement as a balance between what the researchers identify as the four pillars of retirement: family, health, purpose and finances. Planning early for retirement is the key to thriving, state the study’s authors.


The findings reveal that timing and funding of retirement are both being adjusted from previous generations.


Key takeaways from the report include:

• Nearly 75% of those surveyed said they have been able to pursue their hopes and dreams in retirement in this less-pressured stage of their lives.
• Nearly 66% of those surveyed plan to work in retirement in one form or another.
• Today’s retirees appreciate their longevity and, on average, say the ideal length of retirement is 29 years. Seven in ten say they want to live to age 100.
• 90% of older Americans define being healthy as being able to do the things you want.
• Most retirees wish they had done a better job of planning for the financial (61%) and non-financial (54%) aspects of retirement.
• 72% of retirees say they worry about becoming a burden to their family, but one in four Americans over age 65 have not discussed their end-of-life care preferences with anyone. Most have no idea how their long-term health care costs will be covered if they require extensive care as they age.
• Two-thirds of Americans (66%) say the pandemic has made them think more about the kind of legacy they want to leave behind
• The pandemic has allowed 76% of Americans to “refocus on what’s important in life.” Having purpose and contributing to the greater good has taken on more importance for many retirees.
• 89% of Americans feel there should be more ways for retirees to use their talents and knowledge for the benefit of others.

By far, spending time with loved ones is the greatest source of purpose for those in the survey. At the same time, they also value learning and growing. Being able to define purpose in later years eludes about one third of those in the study.


Ken Dychtwald, chief executive of Age Wave, the organization that collaborated on the study with Edward Jones, recently shared findings of the landmark study with Kerry Hannon of Yahoo Finance. Here are some highlights of that interview:

• “The majority of people think this could be the best period of their lives. In our ageist culture it’s hard to imagine that maturity could be that desirable, but it appears to be how people are now envisioning what’s ahead. What we saw is this enthusiasm, this feeling that ‘I’ve got decades in front of me, I’m feeling pretty good.'”
• “In our study, the second thing that I most appreciated was we saw the evolution of the new retirement journey beginning a decade before retirement… ‘how will I define myself; where do I turn for guidance?’”
• “After studying retirees for 48 years, I believe that in this new era of enhanced longevity, the idea that you should stop working at 65 is both impractical and not necessarily good for the soul…. I surely can see the rationale to have a little bit of time to rest, recharge, and enjoy your family, do some of the things you always wish you had time for. But if you’re going to live to 90…you can’t afford to stop working when you’re 65. I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.” The majority of pre-retirees see themselves working post-retirement, but only part-time. “Some continued work can help people to remain both useful and youthful.”
• “From the study, 77% of retirees feel a responsibility to help future generations. And the number was even higher among the newly retired… It’s not just to give something, but to make an impact that they can see and feel."

For more information about the study, visit www.edwardjones.com/us-en/market-news-insights/retirement/new-retirement

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