Unemployed & Old |
The Retirement Dilemma The population of the United
States in 2022 was 333 million, of whom 4.9 million retired from the work force
in that year. Average savings of American
retired people in the United States in 2022 was $120,000 at age 64. Forty
million retired Americans had no savings at age 65. The median income of retired
persons was $45,760 in 2022. Evidently large numbers of Americans are very poor
at retirement. This appears to be unnecessary, since women constitute 49% of the
American workforce. This means that a majority of married women work outside the
home, so that even a modest income of $55-$60 thousand augmented by a second
income of only $40,000 would result in $100,000 annually for a family of four.
IF THE MARRIED COUPLE WERE TO SAVE THE EQUAL OF ONE WEEK’S PAY EACH MONTH,
THEY WOULD HAVE NO FINANCIAL PROBLEM AT RETIREMENT. Unfortunately, many
Americans spend large amounts of their income on divorce, on alcohol, on
gambling, on drugs, and on adultery. Such lifestyles guarantee poverty at
retirement. The financial dimension of
retirement does not solve a different problem for many retired people. That is
the emotional consequence of being unemployed and
finding nothing with which to occupy one’s time. No matter how much
money one may have at retirement, there remains the issue of how to spend the
empty day. Many formerly active people who worked, even at jobs they did not
like, are terribly unhappy when they have nothing to do day after day. Some of
these retirees were the boss or supervisor at some job, only to discover that at
retirement they are without authority over anyone. Some of the retirees visit
the place of their previous employment only to find that they are not welcome
there. The solution to this dilemma lies,
of course, in finding an occupation on retirement which preferably is something
the retiree already practiced part time while still working. For example, a man
who had a high paying supervisory job retired and then took up playing
in a band in which he had played only on some weekends before retirement.
Several retired professors wrote books or journal articles in their areas of
competence, while others successfully learned a foreign language, took piano
lessons, learned how to paint, enrolled in college classes, volunteered to work
in a hospital, etc. It is important, therefore, to do something other than the
job while still in the workforce and then concentrate on the part time job or
hobby occupation once retired. Everyone needs to engage in a satisfying
activity during a lifetime of employment so as to be a successful
retiree. Do not go to a nursing home or
assisted living facility. These businesses do not nurse anyone and are not a
home. They only aggravate the sense of loneliness and depression from which so
many retirees suffer. Do something you always enjoyed when still working and
remember that our second activity cannot start the day you retired. Have a
second interest all your life and make retirement a beautiful experience. Shalom u'vracha. |