永不
言休者
The New Normal
A survey from Barclays Wealth Insights called “The Age Illusion” in 2010 challenged my retirement paradigm and caused me to embrace risky as my new safe.
The research has highlighted an interesting and, perhaps, unexpected phenomenon amongst wealthy individuals across the world. Instead of planning a conventional retirement or making plans to retire early, most of our respondents aspire to keep on working in some form – to become a Nevertiree rather than a retiree. Some 60% of respondents say they envision always being involved in commercial or professional work of some kind, whatever their age.
“Most of the people we work with resist retirement like mad.”
“Stop counting the years – just make the years count.”
“I can’t really conceive of doing nothing.”
Key drivers for becoming a neverTiree:
- The problem of unpredictability,
- The expectation of living much longer,
- The quality of health and the high cost of medical,
- The uncertainty of economy and investment returns
My journey of becoming a neverTiree begins with understanding when and how the concept of retirement came about...
How long is the history of retirement?
The concept of retirement is a relatively new one – less than 100 years old. It all started during the Industrial Revolution, where older workers were slowing down the automation process. Hence, the need to encourage these older workers not to work while still getting paid was birthed, and most of these workers were lucky to live just a few more years after stopping work. The future cannot be a linear extrapolation of the past.
In Singapore today, you won’t be paid if you do not work, and increased life expectancy means that today’s retirees are faced with 20 to 40 years after their working lives, the question is whether or not they have the money to fund it.
The landscape is fast-changing, the new normal is to have ‘Financial Retirement’ and ‘Physical Retirement’ moving in the opposite directions, we should plan to achieve ‘Financial Retirement’ as early as possible, however, we should resist physical retirement like mad.
Two opposing realities in life...
I've seen those who are very fixated on "life is short, let's party..." but live very long without health and wealth.
I've also seen those who are very fixated on "planning for the future, delay gratification..." but die young.
What would you do if today is your last day on earth?
What would you do if you know you will live beyond 100 years old?
Rediscover the meaning of work - concept of iKigai
Ikigai (生き甲斐, "a reason for being") is a Japanese concept referring to having a direction or purpose in life, providing a sense of fulfillment to a person, and towards which they the person may take actions, giving them satisfaction and a sense of meaning.
If what you're doing is:
- What you enjoy
- What you're good at
- What the world needs
- What you can be paid for
Would you want to retire?
5 possible solutions to my concerns...
