When you think of retirement, are your initial thoughts positive? Or, are they negative?
I came across a WSJ write-up on the results of a survey regarding retirement. In particular, the respondents were asked to come up with the words that come to mind when they think of how the feel when they hear the word retirement. Apparently, there wasn’t a list provided to survey-takers; rather, the answers were left open-ended.
The results that the article shared were interesting in that the top 10 single terms that came out of the research were a mix of both positive and negative sentiment. However, it skewed negative.
Positive terms included words such as: “excited”, “happy”, and “good”. However, frequent negative terms included those such as “old”, “scared”, and “nervous”. Additionally, when looking at results by age, it appeared that younger people tended to describe retirement in more negative terms than did older people.
So, what do you think of notion that retirement evokes negative feelings in people?
Personally, my first reaction was to be surprised by this. Admittedly, that’s because my initial thoughts that come to mind for retirement are probably more positive than anything else. My initial thought, if I had to summarize in one word, is “security”.
Maybe that’s because it’s what I value for retirement: security. Or, perhaps I’m not anxious enough to express something negative. I’m certainly not thinking of massive excitement. It’s more that I view future retirement from a perspective of “positive practicality”.
But it says something about where people are when it comes to retirement, and their awareness of the situation. Even if it’s deep down thoughts at work here, it seems like there is some actual awareness that people have about retirement. It can see how some might find it to be scary, given the reality that we will not work forever – despite how many people will erroneously rationalize that part.
The part about younger people being more negative is also interesting to me. The article mentioned how one individual interpreted this along the lines of older people having different perspective and priorities than younger folks. While at some level that’s probably true, I wonder if these difference are more due to the reality that younger people are less likely to have pension options that those of an older generation. There is no “system” to take care of many folks who are earlier in their career at the moment.
Anyway, it’s food for thought. Clearly, people see their future retirement (and chances to do so) with different vantage points and ultimately different emotions. What about you?
My Questions for You
What word comes to mind when you hear the term “retirement”?
Do the results of that survey surprise you?
Why do you think there is that distinction between younger and older perspectives?
All positive words like wonderful, perfect and happy. It stems from many, many years of planning. It helps that I already accomplished my goals. My biggest issue is will I change from a saver to a spender even on a small scale.
Well, the shift from saver to spender would seem natural in that actively working wouldn’t be a part of the equation, right? But that’s great how you’ve planned so well, and been able to get it done.
Like krankcents before me, I think about how perfect and wonderful our life is now that we are retired. We planned for years and years and have been retired for 9 years now. I can’t describe how happy we have been. It does take planning. You have to know what income you will have in retirement…..and I do mean “know” not “guess”. You have to plan for how you will pay your expenses and if possible, rid yourself of them before you make that leap. For us, nothing but positive.
That’s great! Congrats on your successful planning and execution of those plans.
I like the idea of retirement, but as I get older I feel it’s more and more out of reach for many, which kind of sours the impression just a bit.
It’s getting tougher out there, IMO People really have to be vigilant to plan for it, because the safety net to fall back upon really isn’t there.
It’s positive for me. I’m looking forward to having all the time in the world in my hands. That would be the time for me to visit the places I’ve never been to, spend time with my grand children and spend the rest of my life serving God!
Sounds like you have a plan that you’re looking forward to, and that’s great!
We’re overall feeling positive about retirement. That’s not to say we think it’s a slam dunk, but I feel like we’re doing what we can to prepare for the future.
I can see it skewing negative especially for those who are just starting and catching the headlines about how hard it retirement planning can be. Hopefully as they continue on their plans and see their own progress, it could help them to become more positive.
I think it might simply take some progress to get people more confident, as opposed to total fear. A big part is getting organized and getting started.