![blog_cover_2[3311].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/0ad726_10131ba18c1644c39690e9c32bafe6e1~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_940,h_333,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/blog_cover_2%5B3311%5D.jpg)
What the So-Called Pundits Get Wrong About Retirement
- MarkG
- 18 minutes ago
- 8 min read
Laurie and I have now been retired for half a decade – it’s hard to believe how fast the last five years have flown by! And we have loved every minute of it, which makes me wonder what all the so-called experts and pundits are actually talking about when they opine on how horrible retirement would be, or is for those who are already experiencing it. Let’s set the record straight on retirement, once and for all!!
The absolute worst day of retirement is infinitely better than the best day of my working career, and that comes from someone who actually loved the jobs I had during my 34-year professional career working at The Center for Naval Analyses. I think I was one of the few people who woke up most Monday mornings actually looking forward to going into work – I loved the people, the environment, the challenges of the job, and working hand in hand with our primary sponsors (the Navy and Marine Corps leadership) each day.
But come on, ... Would you rather spend 60-70 hours per week in meetings, working on budgets, dealing with human resource issues, and managing client relationships or spending that same time pursuing your dreams, your hobbies, and enjoying life with friends? Would you rather wear a suit and tie for the entire day, five days a week, or a tee-shirt and shorts seven days a week? Would you rather sit in a car, battling rush hour traffic 7-8 hours a week, morning and evening, or spend that time sitting at the beach watching a sunset or enjoying cocktails and dinner with friends? Would you rather spend all of your time doing what YOU decide you want to do each day, or doing what someone else wants or needs you to do?
I think the answers to those questions are pretty obvious and self-evident and hope you do too! So why in the world are there so many people who opine regularly and with great confidence about the drawbacks, horrors, perils, and even evils of retirement? What do they think they know that everybody else doesn’t, including those who are actually living their best lives in retirement? And what do these “so called” experts and pundits all have in common?
OK, let’s tackle the first question. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve read lately about how bad retirement is for you, or how sad and pathetic it must be to live the retired life. Here are a few of the recent comments I’ve read on-line and in newspapers and magazines:
Mehmet “Dr.” Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: He has repeatedly said delaying retirement marks physical vigor and could help grow the economy or reduce the national debt. According to Oz, “Getting the average American to work one year longer by starting earlier or retiring later would generate about $3 trillion for the economy because “they feel healthy, they’re vital, they feel strong, they have agency over their future.” My response: Thanks Oz, but I generated more than enough money in taxes paid over the course of my 34-year professional career to contribute to the economic health of the country (and I still do, of course!), and as a direct result of my retirement, I have FULL and COMPLETE agency over my future, something I didn’t have when I was working. What a moron.
Alicia Munnell, a senior adviser to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College: “I’m a strong advocate of, if you can, keep working as long as you can. Nothing is better in life than structure. It eliminates a lot of anxiety, and a lot of people get joy out of their work.” My response: Work as long as you can? Why on earth would you do that? There are about a thousand things better in life than structure, but even so, why do you think retired people can’t live structured lives?? We do, but it’s structure that WE decide on, not that someone else decides on for us. What exactly are you afraid of, Alicia??!!
Margaret Spellings, President of the Bipartisan Policy Center and former Education Secretary under President George W. Bush: “I think people who retire too early are boring, boring, boring. They play pickleball and have nothing to do and watch too much TV. That ain’t me.” My response: Says the person who has never lived a single day as a retiree, ... There are so many bad and erronous assumptions packed into those three short sentences that I can’t even take her remotely seriously. And by the way: (1) I don’t play pickleball; (2) I rarely if ever watch TV; and (3) My days are full of interesting and fun things to do. So, wrong on all counts Marge. I just feel sorry for you, ...
Ben Shapiro, American Conservative Political Commentator: “No one in the United States should be retiring at 65 years old. ... It’s totally insane that you believe that you should be able to work from the time that you are essentially 20 to the time that you are 65 – 45 years – pay in, and then you’ll receive Social Security benefits sufficient to support you and your family for, like, another 20 years. That’s crazy talk.” My response: This glorified right-wing MAGA influencer sits at a desk for 4 hours a day talking to a camera – perhaps if he was digging ditches or working a construction job for 10 hours a day for 45 years straight he’d feel differently about the situation. Oh, and by the way, what’s crazy about paying into a system every day of your working life, and after 45 years or however many years, expecting to get some of that money back to help support your retirement? That’s the social contract all Americans make when they pay into the Social Security System. So just go away, ... seriously, GO AWAY!!!
Dolly Parton: “I would never retire. I’ll just hopefully drop dead in the middle of a song on stage someday.” My response: That’s all well and good for Dolly, but most people would likely not dream of dropping dead in the middle of whatever work they are doing that day and as a result, never enjoy a single day of retirement. I’d much rather drop dead floating in my pool enjoying a nice glass of wine than drop dead in the middle of a monthly finance meeting at work – just sayin’!
Charlie Kirk: Called the idea of retiring to just play golf a “waste of the gifts God has given you.” My response: Why did you think retirement is all about playing golf? I never play golf and likely never will. And, whatever gifts God may have given you, why did you think they all apply only to your professional career? What if the key gift God gave you can only be realized and put to use in a volunteer capacity, or in a task that doesn’t come with compensation that supports your livelihood? What if God’s reason for you to be on earth has nothing to do with your professional career? You really didn’t think this all through before you left this earth, ...
Sidney Poitier: “Why would I spend my last 10 years doing an impersonation of myself?” My response: I have no earthly idea what this actually means, ... I mean that, seriously, ...
Warren Buffet: Warned that retirement without purpose puts you at risk of losing your health. My response: He’s spot on. Whether you are working or in retirement, you have to have a purpose in life. Being retired doesn’t automatically mean you lose your purpose in life; in fact, perhaps it changes your purpose from an unhealthy to a healthy one.
Those are just a few examples, but I think they are illustrative for a number of reasons, and anyone listening to these so-called experts who speak definitively about retirement should use great caution in believing anything they say. And I say that for two reasons.
First, not a single one of these people are retired (with the exception of Warren Buffet, who is only “retired” in a technical sense of the word), or have ever been retired, so they have absolutely no idea what being retired is actually like. So why would I take advice, or lend any credence to the ramblings of someone who doesn’t know a thing about the issue they are talking about? Laurie and I have a team of financial advisors that we rely on to manage our retirement investment portfolio – each one of them has expertise in a different area of financial management, whether that be strategic financial management, or specific expertise in portfolio investment management. There's a reason we pay these folks to help us manage our retirement accounts and not the nice lady at the checkout aisle at our local Publix Supermarket.
Second, I actually find myself not only frustrated with their uninformed take on retirement but also feeling some level of sympathy for them. That’s because there is an implicit assumption with each of them that their entire sense of self-worth as a human seems to be inextricably tied to what they do as opposed to who they are as a person. Without their work, what would they do except for live a lost, aimless life with no structure, no purpose, no reason for living? I find that incredibly sad and also just a bit pathetic.
The fact is (get ready for philosopher Mark to make his first appearance in this blog!!), in order to live a fulfilling and rewarding life, every human needs three things: a purpose, a plan, and a passion. If all three of those are focused on your job and what you do to make a living, then you will definitely not do well in retirement. But that’s not an argument against retirement – instead, it’s an argument for rethinking each one of those things and tying them to who you are instead of what you do.
I spent the years leading up to my retirement actually planning for my retirement. Which means I thought through what I wanted my purpose in life to be (apart from my professional career – which was always ultimately a means to an end, ...) and how I would go about achieving that now that I would have unlimited time to do so. I thought about the things I was passionate about, and especially those things that I hadn’t had time to focus on that meant the most to me. Once I had those two things in hand, I came up with a plan for how I was going to realize both of them (talking with Laurie of course!). I have written about this process in some of my previous posts on retirement, so feel free to go back and look those up if you are interested.
I realize everyone’s situation is different, and everyone is wired differently as well. Which means everyone’s retirement journey will be different as well as the related challenges and opportunities that transitioning to retirement present. But the three things every human needs, regardless of what phase of their lives they are in – a purpose, a passion or passions, and a plan – are constant. The degree to which you take the time to figure those out is the key to determining whether you will thrive or struggle in retirement.
So, my advice is to listen to yourself instead of the so-called pundits and experts when thinking about retirement, because you know better than they ever will what’s best for you, and those you care about most!
