Picture this, you’re 60 years young, going through the motions at your 9-5, and some recent graduate walks in with a starting salary $5k below what you have worked 20+ years to receive. You’re unfulfilled with your work as you likely have it down to a science, and you have yet to feel challenged in quite some time. Now, if you were in your 30s, it would be evident that a career change would be the right move for you, but you only have a couple more years to stick it out until retirement, right? Wrong. Though you may have been led to believe that you could pack it in at 62, the age of retirement may actually be a few years further down the road than you thought.
As you near the end of your 50s, you may be feeling burned out with your current employment making early retirement appealing. Statistically speaking, men retire at the average age of 64.6 years, and women at 62.3 years. What you may not know is, that in 1983 Congress passed a law that gradually increases the age of retirement due to an increased lifespan. Just because Jack, retired at the age of 65 in 2010, doesn’t mean that you should do the same 12 years later. In 2022, the full retirement age (FRA) for those born in 1960 or later is 67. Unless you have prepared accordingly, it’s likely that you may burn through your savings before you anticipated.
Like anything else in life, there are pros and cons to early retirement, and given the above information, though only 2 years shy, 65 is now considered early retirement. We can all look at the last two years and agree that nobody saw that coming. No employment means no income, and with early retirement, you are extending the years of no income and leaving more room for your financial plan to go haywire. You must also consider the cost of benefits you will no longer be receiving through an employer. Medicare kicks in at the age of 65, but before that, you will be on your own in finding coverage and I don’t need to tell you how expensive that can be. Have you ever been away from work for an extended period and thought to yourself, “man, I can wait to get back into a routine and feel like I am doing something productive.”? I’m not talking about your one-week vacation to Florida, because nobody is excited to come back from that. I am talking about maternity leave, or perhaps a medical surgery that causes you to be out of work for 3+ weeks. Be honest with yourself, you probably found yourself staring at a wall at one point during this leave and felt bored. That feeling will not just vanish come retirement. After years of being in the same routine, it is only normal that once you are pulled from that routine it can leave you feeling unsatisfied or with loss of meaning. Having a cocktail at 12:00 pm with nobody to tell you otherwise is only exciting for so long. Keep this in mind when you find yourself ready to throw in the towel at 62.
Don’t feel like you have to tough it out because ‘at the age of 60 you will not be an attractive find to a new employer’. Employers are well aware of the increasing retirement age, and you may bring a set of extensive skills to the table that a recent college graduate could not offer. You may rise to the occasion of a new challenge and be happier than ever in your remaining working years. Who knows what new endeavors could come of it. That being said, we strongly recommend working with our recruiting agency to aid in your search because it always helps to have someone in your corner, advocating for you.
If you find yourself looking for a career change and don’t know where to begin, please give us a call at (518) 275-4816 or send your resume to jobs@walrathrecruiting.com. We are happy to aid in your job search and find your perfect fit!
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