Ideally, retirement means giving up work and enjoying life. It is supposed to be a time when people start to relax after everything they have worked and struggled for comes into fruition. Reality has been so different. Most people are left with no choices but to continue to work after they reach their retirement years. An average person is said to have a retirement age of 65, but some go as far as 70 or even 80 still striving so hard to make ends meet. How did this happen? Here are some reasons why most retirees end up returning to work.
1.) Lack of financial literacy. The importance of financial literacy is very overlooked. Most people get too complacent when they still have a good source of income. They spend and enjoy their income and doesn’t plan for the future. Financially educated people maximize the potential of their money. They use it to provide them security and soon, financial independence. Most people know how to work for money but doesn’t know how to make money work for them. They don’t get health care and life insurance plans, income and property protection, and doesn’t plan and prepare for the future. Being financially educated or literate means knowing how to build the right and solid financial foundation, something that everybody needs in order to achieve financial freedom. It takes time to build but in the end, it is very worth it. Some very financially educated people retire after working for only 10-20 years, not a bad span of time.
2.) Being too complacent. A successful retirement boils down to only two things: (1) planning for the future or retirement; and (2) executing that plan very well. Many people don’t plan for their retirement because they rely too much on the pension plans that the government provides. While still younger, active, and working, they don’t allocate a small amount for their retirement and use all of their income. The pension that the government provides normally isn’t enough thus, with a very limited and insufficient income, most retirees are left with no choice but to go back working in order to earn an income and increase their cash flow. If they have only prepared for it earlier and well, they should have avoided such tragedy.
3.) Some retirees live too long. For some people, they may have saved and prepared for their retirement but its not enough. When everything is gone, they are left with no choice but to earn an income. Chances are, they’d be going back to work. With old age comes sickness and bad health. Retirees have higher financial needs because of their health issues and if they live longer than everybody else, they will need more money.
4.) For the love of working. For some, financial issues are not the reason why they go back to work after they retire. Most people just get used to working and they love it. If a person is working for decades, it will be very hard for them to adjust to a different and sedentary kind of life. They get used to waking up in the morning and doing something for the day. Many people get sick when they stop working for many reasons but generally, it is all about emotional, psychological, and physical issues. If this is the reason why most retirees go back to work, then it is good. In fact, this must be the reason why retirees go back to work, not financial issues.