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.

[ Home ] [ Up ]