Retirement
Below is the list of our discussion questions
1. Why do we have retirement? Is it:
To manage disability?
A reward of leisure time for working over our career?
For government to encourage people out of the labour force to reduce unemployment?
Because employers do not want older workers?
To do altruistic work we could not do when we needed to earn an income?
An anachronism from the past no longer relevant?
2. Is the optimal age to retire from society's view aligned with me as an individual? Aging populations mean higher pension costs and labour shortages, so governments are delaying the retirement age. People are protesting in response, implying the individual prefers an earlier retirement age to pursue paid leisure. Even though I enjoy my work, do I have an obligation to retire early so a young person can have a job as implied in Bertrand Russell's essay Andrew referenced regarding work "In Praise of Idleness"?
3. Given many retirees appear to lose purpose after retirement, should you delay retirement for as long as possible? Is working always better for you meeting your goals, forcing on you the discipline to achieve things you could not do on your own (so work is like a fat farm for you)? At the other extreme, should people aim to be financially independent and retire by 30 as in the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) movement? How important is freedom to do what you want when you want without being accountable to a boss?
4. Should the government have a mandated retirement age or should it be based on if needed (when parenting, learning or in ill health) as proposed by the actuary Darren Wickham?
5. Should we spread time off more over our life (say a 4 day work week) rather than 20 or 30 years at the end?
6. Does being retired with adequate income mean you can do more meaningful activities? Or can I do more social good being employed if my job helps society?
7. What should my identity be in retirement? David Hume said our identities are not fixed but change over time. Should we be spending our time on altruistic work? Or is it a time to do the personal interests like hobbies you did not have time for in your working life? Or is retirement a time to be even more ambitious in my goals? If my physical abilities go down from aging, my other strengths like connections and experience go up. Can I be like Robert de Niro in The Intern or Donald Trump and Joe Biden who are having the highlight of their careers in their 70s?
8. Should my retirement be about fixing the mistakes/regrets I made in my life? Or is it too late by then?
9. Is it an ethical requirement that I play a mentoring or parenting role in the life of my grandchildren or other youth?
10. How important is social interaction versus sense of purpose? Should I buy a block of land in the bush and regenerate it to conserve wildlife but be isolated? Or should I increase my public life as an activist like Jane Fonda?
11. How should my partner's retirement plans change answers to the above?
Optional Readings
You can read these related articles if you like for ideas but not necessary
It is time to abolish retirement Darren Wickham
Finding Meaning During the Retirement Process: Identity Development in Later Career Years
Martha Nussbaum and Saul Levmore – Aging Thoughtfully
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone/ageing/10785986