I was sitting across the table from a nice couple who were near retirement. We were going through the normal questions when it came time to talk about longevity and how long their savings may need to last. So, I asked the couple about their family health history and how long they thought they might live.
In typical fashion, the couple looked at each other, unsure of how the best to answer the question. Then the husband murmured, “I don’t know, maybe 80 or 85?”
As they turned their gaze back to me, I replied, “To be conservative, we should run your numbers to 95 or 100,” humorously adding, “I don’t want you to reach 86 or 87 and come knocking on my door to stay with me.”
They both chuckled, but the husband was quick to chime back in, “95 or 100? If I make it past 85 just take me out back and shoot me.”
Once again, we laughed, however, the fun was short-lived as his statement hit me like a ton of bricks. For the first time, it became crystal clear as to the problem with such a statement and the profound impact it will have on both the financial services industry as well as within human resource departments.
What that seemingly simple, and all to cliché statement, made me realize was that many people look at the process of aging in retirement the wrong way. They perceive it as a linear process or what I would refer to as assembly line thinking. Where life functions in a conveyor belt fashion and any new parts, or years in this case, are added to the end of the line. Therefore, people think that because they are living longer, they will be older (and less capable) for more time.
But that’s not what is happening. Instead of extra years being tacked on at the end of the line, superchargers are being installed near traditional retirement age. These supercharges are the reason 60 is the new 40 or 70 is the new 50. As a result, baby boomers feel decades younger than their parents did when they approached retirement. As a result, they are throwing out the old playbook once again.
Essentially, boomers are ushering in a late-stage era of life, where they have 10-20 more years of productive and capable working years when compared to previous generations. But here’s the deal. They don’t want to ride off into the sunset, play golf or hang out at the senior center all day. They want to start a business, go back to school, create a non-profit or take a new career path, to name a few.