The concept of retirement” needs to be revisited and re-imagined

BY STEVEN KASZAB

I received this message from a friend of mine, 84ish, with a few medical conditions but mostly trying to deal with his state of retirement and its pace.

“Thunder Bay is closed for business. Life is a pain in the ass when its slow and gets to ya after awhile, I still miss the action at work and was never really interested in retirement, never.”

“I used to listen to older guys in my youth on the railroad all day and shake my head, same at 3M where I was enjoying my status with fun and achievements. You and I like, most people had to retire and hated their job anyway, strange world we live in work your ass off, retire and sit in a cottage or in Florida waiting to get sick and die” (Conrad).

These are such strong words about so many things of importance to us all. One day we will all likely be where Conrad now is, and we too will be challenged on how we will continue our lives without work.

For many decades “retirement” was the stereotypical goal, the award for our long haul of diligently working for someone or ourselves. You have to rest sometime right? Well, if you listen to Conrad’s commentary, the achievement of retiring seems to be not as advertised, and for some unobtainable. 32% of Canadians have no savings or retirement income to live on; therefore they must be part of the future workforce. Most Canadians have only $185,000 in savings, while 19& have less than $50,000.  These statistics from CIBC also point out that the number of seniors who will live on the poverty line will be very high, trying to live on the limited funds given to them by our various governments.

Women live longer than males, therefore the female population will have to endure this poverty. We live in a society that warehouses many of our elderly in limited senior home spaces. Only those who had the foresight to manage their savings will be able to pick and choose where they live and how they live their retirement. Money talks in Canada, USA and throughout the world. Approaching the approved period to retire can be very stressful indeed.

Further to this is how you will spend your free time, because there will be free time, in fact a vacuum that needs to be filled.

If you do not have the finances available to you, its off to work you go, probably to 2-3 part time jobs. Senior workers are not treated very well in our present day society. A queer situation, since it is the seniors who have what society presently needs, experience in all forms of trades, professions, and endeavours.

“The Brain Drain ” within society cry’s out for the obvious; enlist our seniors in as many positions as possible, paying a living wage while they are at it too.

The concept of “retirement” needs to be revisited and re-imagined. Our population is getting older, wiser and more active too. They are an essential asset to our society, and should be properly invested into our post pandemic economies.