The Alternative to Retirement

1.) What difficulties—from retiring baby boomers in the United States to a graying China, to the massive overhang of Europe’s elderly—can private corporations, governments, and other sectors expect as the aging revolution unfolds across the globe? How will changing demographics affect workforce composition? Retirement age? Pension outlays? Taxation? Immigration? Economic growth? How can governments, corporations, and nongovernmental organizations work together to address these issues?

In general, countries experiencing high fertility and rapid population growth, have a “young” population structure and the important policy considerations are if there are enough schools and, sufficient jobs and housing to accommodate this population. Countries with “old” population structures face the problems of structuring and developing retirement and health systems to serve this older population and also they have a considerable reduction the number of the working force. The decline of the work force is one of the most dramatic economic tendencies of the past four decades in the United States. The individual’s decision of whether to stay in the workforce or to retire is based on the collaboration of a number of factors including the following: eligibility for Social Security benefits, availability of and benefits under an employer-financed pension plan, work

The article is about how the baby boomers even after they have reached an age past 65, they are still refusing to retire. Many are choosing to stay in their jobs, because they still feel healthy enough to continue working, they want to be productive, afraid they might outlive their money and because employers still want them for their knowledge. Similarly the Newspaper article discusses, the biggest reason of why the senior’s citizens are choosing to work even after they have passes the retirement age.

While the physical, emotional and social aspects with aging may be experienced in varying degrees and in a variety of ways, the milestone of retirement is a prospect that is universal in the Western world. In most countries, the idea of retirement is of recent origin, being introduced during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Previously, low life expectancy and the absence of pension arrangements meant that most workers continued to work until death. Nowadays most developed countries have systems to provide pensions on retirement in old age, which may be sponsored by employers and/or the state. Today, retirement with a pension is considered a right of the worker in many societies. ("Retirement," 2013, p. 1) Retirement is a milestone which, to most, marks the entrance to “old age”, the point at which an individual is socially recognized for their long years of service and permitted to spend the remainder of their “golden years” enjoying the fruits of their labors. While this perspective is an ideal, retirement carries with it a social status that can be both beneficial, when viewed as a reward, and detrimental, when considered by the retiree to be a sign of being obsolete. Preparing for the changes that come with retirement, and in this day and age the inability to

While these aspects of society certainly do impact a nation with a growing older population, they are not the most problematic. Financial instability of the country should not be the spotlight of concern, but as people are living longer, people should be more concerned with that the typical life should look different in the future. With this in mind, the article proposes other areas of concern: lack of incentive for volunteering, little to no new education for older adults, and massive technological change with no way for older generations to learn how to use it. If these areas are not provided with change, it will ultimately lead to economic hardship for the elderly, due to the lack of new education and technological knowledge, which would, in turn, able them to work longer. If older generations were able to stay in the workforce longer, our aging society, which people believe may eventually not have a large enough work force, would be able to avoid this presumed

The majority of people age 65 or older in the United States are still working in full time positions. This opens the question if they planned for retirement, or what if anything went wrong while working? How do they feel about still having to work? Have they taken proper steps in preparing for retirement? Are they only working to pass time? These are the questions that everyone should be asking themselves about their own retirement plans, and what they have done to financially prepare for that stage in their life.

As people get older, life can get more complicated. When one ages, one is more prone to more negative experiences such as death of loved ones or an incident that is life changing. According to this article written by Jane E. Brody, such experiences can effect one’s ability to work the same job they have been working for 30 plus years (2016). However, many as a society hold the assumption that older adults lack the ability to recreate their vocational experience and instead should “settle down” and retire. Realistically, however, many older adults are not economically stable to retire. Jane E. Brody argues that changing your career to something that is fulfilling to an aging adult can not only be possible, but highly satisfying and beneficial.

The age markers are slowly changing and so is the concept of retirement. The modern aged community is unwilling to declare themselves as retired. One of the respondents made a statement that he wishes to work as long as he could do. A self declared retirement will make one detached from activities thus speeding up the ageing process. An earlier retirement will most probably make the individual feel old soon and this emotional drift will have a dramatic influence on his physical as well as mental and emotional health as well.

Allen, S. G., Clark, R. L., & Ghent, L. S. (2004). Phasing into retirement. The Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 58(1), 112-127. Gelfand, D.E., & Bechill, W. (1991, Summer-Fall). The evolution of the older Americans act: a 25-year review of the legislative changes. Generations, 15(3), 19-22. Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2010). Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment (8th ed.). Mason , Ohio: Brooks Cole/Cengage.

Aging is described as a sequential, irreversible, progressive, and non-pathological process of maturation in an organism and that translates to a gradual decline in the ability to perform activities optimally. Aging is an individual process that can be a period of stress for individuals especially following their retirement (Hiller & Barrow, 2015). The current study sought to understand the process and experience of aging from the perspective of elderly individuals. In discussing matters of aging and retirement, many assume that women are always eager to retire, and adjust well, as compared to their male counterparts (Bauger & Bongaardt, 2016). Many people assume that since women are generally made as homemakers, they are willing and happy to retire while men, whose nature is to be the main source of family income, find it hard to be out of work (Moody & Sasser, 2014). Indeed, there exists very little literature that sheds some light on this area, particularly on the attitudes of each gender towards retirement and process of aging. Given the significance of retirement to this life stage, the study sought to understand the emotions and views of individuals regarding their retirement through the lenses of (1) Physical health and wellbeing, (2) Friends, Family, and Community, (3) Work and leisure, (4) Finances and lifestyles, and (5) Living

retirement provisions to leave their jobs before they would otherwise have chosen to retire. Others who remain on the job claim that they confront hostile work environments or are demoted to less remunerative positions, with their age being the big factor.

Planning for retirement should not be based on Social Security alone, but rather by saving portions of personal earned wages and putting finances into long-term investments. Depending on Social Security as the only income after retiring is an unsafe and undependable way to prepare for retirement. People who contribute to Social Security are mandatorily putting money into the Social Security Reserve; this money is used for older generations that will file for these benefits before the younger people working, in the early 21 century, ever receive a chance. Money controlled by other’s hands will never be a guarantee for a secure future, yet money saved by an individual to put toward personal goals will reward greatly. By taking the time to

Although mandatory retirement is not largely popular, it still has an effect on many older workers and how they plan for retirement. "Mandatory retirement involves less than 1 percent of the work force and so opens up only a small fraction of the total jobs", because

2012 is marked as a significant year for Singapore’s workforce demographics. This is the year where the first batch of baby boomers turned 65 years old (National Population and Talent Division, Prime Minister’s Office 2012). Under the Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA) in effect since 1 January 2012, while the statutory minimum retirement age remains at 62 year old, employers are now required to offer re-employment to eligible employees who turn 62, up to

     As and investor, you are overwhelmed with advice in newspapers, magazines, and mailings discussing what to invest in for a successful retirement nest egg, when to start saving for retirement and who to invest with. There are millions of people who realize that an investment portfolio for retirement is necessary, but do they really understand the investment instruments and the amount they must invest for tomorrow? The subject of retirement is a fascinating area but it also could be a fuzzy subject without the correct amount of knowledge, understanding and professional guidance. The number one question of concern for individuals facing retirement issues is whether or not they