Retirement

It is helpful to think of retirement as a time of transition when the grind of the workplace is finally exchanged for a less-stressful and more-leisured lifestyle. Retirement is, therefore, to be welcomed rather than dreaded. Nevertheless, retirement may involve some pain: reduced income (although occupational pensions are becoming more common), loss of status (particularly if there have been prestigious trappings associated with one’s job) and being cut off from the camaraderie of the workplace. But if retirement involves loss, it also has its rewards. In earlier times, comfortable retirement was only possible for a select few: today, thanks to social security and retirement benefits, it is within the reach of all. Society has come to recognize that men and women who have reached a certain age are entitled to the privileges of retirement. Life has its rhythms: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die” (Eccles. 3:1-2 NRSV). It was a beneficent and merciful Creator who ordained that we should work only six days in the week and rest on the seventh. Retirement is to be welcomed as an opportunity for the enjoyment of life.

Traumatic Retirement

Unhappily, there are some who unexpectedly find themselves retrenched and faced with involuntary and premature retirement. It is not surprising that for them the term retirement has sinister overtones, for it is associated with “getting the sack.” In the bad old days, that was an ever-present reality. In military parlance the word retirement still has negative associations. In warfare it is a synonym for “withdrawal” and was often a prelude to defeat. The editors of the fifth and final volume of A History of Private Life argue that retirement, however camouflaged, is a tragic misfortune: “To expel a man from social life at age sixty, when he is still able and eager to work, is an act that must be shrouded in honorable rhetoric so as to hide its ignominious character.” But that is an extreme view. Involuntary retirement consequent upon retrenchment or ill health is however a special problem. Of course, the pace of retired life is so different from that of working life that the abrupt change can be wrenching and, for those not ready to retire, disastrous.

Planning for Positive Retirement

Retirement, if associated with reasonable financial security, is a richly rewarding experience, opening the door to a wealth of creative and fulfilling activities. Retirement should be approached positively. It is emphatically not a sentence of death. In our modern world most people are able to look forward to twenty or thirty or more years of retirement during which they can pursue other purposes and other goals. Nicolas Coni, William Davison and Stephen Webster, in their authoritative book Ageing, argue that planning for retirement cannot start too soon. Even children, they suggest, should receive instruction about retirement. Interests explored in youth can in retirement be developed and enjoyed to the full. Therefore, they argue, as retirement approaches, it is important to consider what interests you have previously enjoyed and can now revert to.

The goal must be self-fulfillment, not self-indulgence. Jesus spelled out some of the dangers. He told a parable about a man who, having accumulated ample goods, decides that this is the time to take his ease and to eat, drink and be merry. He glibly assumes that he has many years ahead of him as well as ample goods. But death taps him on the shoulder and says, “You have forgotten me, my friend.” Jesus comments, “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). Dean Inge, the acerbic dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London, warns that men of fifty need to beware of a sort of fatty degeneration of the conscience when they are not much inclined to fight against anything, least of all against their sins. Retirees need to take note.

When to Retire

People are living longer and retiring earlier. At least a quarter and possibly a third of all the human beings who have ever lived beyond the age of sixty are alive today. Fortunately most people can now look forward to decades of active social life before the onset of the physical and mental handicaps that reduce individual autonomy and define old age. Those who are able to do so are, therefore, likely to retire before “the doors on the street are shut, and the sound of the grinding is low . . . when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road . . . and desire fails” (Eccles. 12:4-5 NRSV). The time of retirement will depend on a variety of personal and financial considerations.

The advantages of early retirement are many: the opportunity to take up other interests, to adopt a different style and pace of living, to engage in part-time employment, to undertake charitable and volunteer work, to participate more fully and practically in the work of the church and, perhaps belatedly, to spend more time with one’s spouse and family.

The disadvantages of early retirement are living on a reduced income, the difficulty of finding activities and interests that are worthwhile and fulfilling, and the tendency of allowing oneself to vegetate and go to seed. The worst scenario is being reduced to the desperate expedient of killing time. Financial considerations weigh heavily with most people. Median incomes for retirees are markedly lower than those for people in their middle years, even when adjustments are made for family size. Most retired people are dependent on social security and retirement benefits apart from savings and investments. Early retirement may mean these are diminished or postponed. Nevertheless, demographers point out that on the average older people, with their years of asset accumulation behind them, own more and owe less than younger people. Further, the majority of older married people own their own homes. Allowance needs to be made for the certainty of increasing medical expenses in future years. Whereas older people spend less than younger people on budgetary items (including leisure items), they spend more on items relating to health, particularly when there is no comprehensive program for medical insurance available.

The mandatory age for retirement is becoming progressively lower. This makes the transition difficult for those who believe they are still in full possession of all their powers and who enjoy their work. Politicians are exceedingly reluctant to admit that they ought to retire at the age of sixty-five. Ronald Reagan in the United States, Winston Churchill in England and Konrad Adenauer in Germany were all in office in their seventies; Churchill and Adenauer remained into their eighties. Pope John XXIII, who inaugurated far-reaching changes within the Roman Catholic Church, was not elected pope until he was seventy-eight. In other walks of life there is, however, widespread support for a mandatory age of retirement.

Retirement should be embraced positively as a well-earned reward. If it can be seized early, so much the better. Those who retire early by choice have happier and longer retirements than those who resent retirement and are bitter about it. Those who have enjoyed variety in life are more likely to do so in retirement than those who have not. Once the decision to retire has been made (or made for one), there are some urgent practical problems to be faced.

Where to Live?

The obvious options are to continue to live in one’s own home, to purchase a condo, to lease an apartment, to move into a retirement village. The decision is a highly personal one. Some are jealous of their independence and prefer to be alone; others enjoy community living. Some prefer the country; others prefer the city. These personal factors will dictate one’s choice. There are also the factors such as access to transportation and health services.

There are public as well as private factors involved in the choice of location. A characteristic of contemporary life is community planning, with its impact on the physical and social environment and its influence on day-to-day activities and human contacts. This includes proximity to one’s church. Retirees do not as a rule avail themselves of freedom from occupational commitments to move away from their former homes. Rates of moving are higher among younger age groups. When older people move, they are more likely to move within the confines of their immediate locale than to change their community setting. Ties to one’s place of residence become stronger as one grows older. Those who own their own home, or have strong social connections with their neighborhood, are least willing to move.

In Western society the ideal today is the nuclear family. Once the ideal was several generations together in one home—grandparents, unmarried uncles and aunts, parents and their children, all as one extended family—but that ideal does not hold today. Joy Davidman, in her little classic on the Ten Commandments entitled Smoke on the Mountain, cleverly adapts one of Grimms’ fairy tales and satirizes the way in which the old are, in modern households, made to feel an embarrassing encumbrance. Once they were lovingly cared for; the modern “serpent’s-tooth” method, she accuses, is to lead Grandpa gently but firmly to the local asylum, there to tuck him out of sight and out of mind as a case of senile dementia (p. 58).

Patterns of living in today’s society have changed dramatically, so much so that instead of the extended family, what we have is subdivision into two or even three generations of distinct nuclear families: the young people with their dependent children, the middle-aged parents and the aged generation of grandparents. Many family units today are single-parent families, thus complicating the picture further. As life expectancy has increased, husbands and wives are more likely to survive together, living independently. The ability to do so presupposes continued health, when in fact aging is accompanied by ills such as rheumatism, arthritis, heart disease and high blood pressure. Further, there will be increasing visits to the doctor, periodic hospitalizations, restricted activity and days spent in bed. In the United States four out of five persons over the age of sixty-five have at least one chronic condition.

If, on balance, the decision is made to relocate, one must consider a variety of practical matters: the advantage of single rather than multiple levels, sufficient space for one’s possessions and visitors, ease of maintenance, heating and air conditioning, convenient access and security. Retirement villages have become increasingly popular, particularly complexes that cater to a variety of needs. The usual pattern is separate houses or self-servicing individual units within a larger complex, residential accommodation with servicing as well as meals provided, and nursing homes together with a hospital annex. The whole complex is under the supervision of an administrator. Specialized staff are employed as well as that typical twentieth-century innovation—diversionary therapists who are responsible for community activities.

Complexes that provide a full range of accommodation, from totally independent units for those who require no assistance through sheltered accommodation to full nursing care, have a very great appeal. It is necessary to buy into these schemes, and the price is high. But once in, there is the guarantee of being provided for at whatever the level of need. Churches have moved extensively into this field and provide highly professional services in a Christian context. Through the death of a spouse, many elderly people find themselves left living alone. Many married women end their lives as widows. For such people, some form of communal living is often the answer.

What to Do?

Those who have enjoyed variety in life are more likely to do so in retirement than those who have not. A full, broad education is also likely to stand one in good stead. Those who have found happiness and job fulfillment are the ones who are most likely to find satisfaction and fulfillment in active retirement. Those who approach retirement happily and expectantly are those likely to use retirement well. Of course, retirement is less likely to be happy when it occurs without warning, due to either sudden retrenchment or ill health, but even then retirement opens up new possibilities.

It is foolish to adopt the view that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. This has been clearly demonstrated when younger students and more mature students are enrolled in the same courses. The older students usually do better because of their higher motivation and their increased self-knowledge. Retirement opens the door to the pursuit of new intellectual and cultural interests. This can be immensely rewarding. The nature of the subject does not matter, provided it gives pleasure. One can learn, or relearn, a foreign language to assist with travel plans or reading. There are also adult-education courses available in most cities. For those remote from the cities there are long-distance teaching techniques (see Information Superhighway). Using one’s mind and keeping it agile and nimble are believed to offer some protection from dementia.

Physical activity as well as cultural is important. Retirement is an opportunity to take up new sports and to improve one’s skills in the sports one already enjoys. It has been said that fitness is a luxury for the young but is essential for the old! The fitter you are, the less likely you are to become ill, and the more quickly you are likely to make a full recovery should your health break down. It is the elderly who are most likely to suffer from illness in Western society, and their illnesses are probably due to degenerative changes in their bodies. It pays to invest time and energy in staying fit. Physical fitness can be regained during retirement, and muscles that have wasted due to lack of use during a sedentary life can be redeveloped. It is not necessary to indulge in dangerous or macho sports to ensure fitness; activities such as walking or swimming or cultivating a garden help.

Taking up sports and vigorous exercise in later life need not be dangerous. The secret to any new activity is starting gently and gradually working up to a peak. Whether it takes weeks or years does not matter, so long as one finds pleasure in it and practices regularly. Exertion can cause even the young to sweat, get breathless and have palpitations! The goal of mens sana in corpore sana (a sound mind in a sound body) is to be sought, not only for one’s own sake, but for the sake of others.

Retirement can degenerate into a life of appalling selfishness, narcissism and self-indulgence, but retirement can also make possible a life of loving thoughtfulness and service. Humanitarian and charitable organizations need help; such regular volunteer work also helps the retiree. Authorities note that a common reason for seeking early retirement is the craving to be freed from the rigid routine and the exacting demands of a full-time job, but for most people, structure in one’s life pattern is important and continues to be important after retirement. Retirement is an opportunity to restructure one’s routine and to adopt a pattern that is less rigid and tightly packed. Demands on one’s time will multiply. The ideal is balance—balance between one’s physical and mental activities, one’s volunteer work and one’s family. Structure and routine should therefore be used to maximize the pleasure and the joy of retirement.

» See also: Aging

» See also: Death

» See also: Menopause

References and Resources

P. Ariès and G. Duby, eds., A History of Private Life (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap/Harvard University Press, 1987-1991); J. E. Birren, ed., Handbook of the Aging and the Individual: Psychological and Biological Aspects (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959); N. Coni, W. Davison and S. Webster, Ageing: The Facts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992); J. Davidman, Smoke on the Mountain (London: Hodder & Stoughton); H. Humisett, Retirement Guide: An Overall Plan for a Comfortable Future (Vancouver, B.C.: Self Council Press, 1990); H. D. Shelton, Older Population in the United States (New York: Wiley, 1958); C. Tibbetts, ed., Handbook of Social Gerontology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960).

—Stuart Barton Babbage