When you’re feeling burned out at work, it’s natural to imagine yourself in a situation where you don’t have to report to a job any longer. And if you’re like a lot of people, you might equate that situation with retirement.
Retirement, by nature, is a post-career period of life when people get to reclaim their time and do the things that make them happy. But if you’re operating under the assumption that work shouldn’t be a part of your retirement, then you may be thinking about it all wrong.
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Why it pays to be open to working
It makes loads of sense to want to ditch a stressful, aggravating job in favor of retirement. However, it doesn’t make sense to write off the idea of working during retirement completely.
The reason work is often stressful for pre-retirees is that it’s obligatory. You’re not getting Social Security and can’t touch your IRA or 401(k), so you need your job-related paycheck to cover your expenses.
Once you retire, you can take a different approach to working. Rather than pursuing the highest paycheck or the most prestigious job title, you can focus on finding a role that genuinely brings you joy.
To be clear, that role doesn’t have to make you a company employee. You can start your own business or simply pick up gig work that you have a good time doing.
If you love animals, for example, you can sign up to walk dogs or care for pets while their owners are away. If you’re passionate about baking, you might start a home business where you create custom cakes for various affairs. And if you love talking to people and being social, you can shuttle passengers around town a few days a week or as your schedule allows.
The benefits aren’t just financial
Northwestern Mutual reports that the average retirement savings balance among baby boomers today is a mere $120,300. That’s unfortunately not a ton of money in the context of what could be a 20-year period or longer. And even when combined with monthly benefits from Social Security, a nest egg that size might leave a lot of people’s retirements lacking.
Picking up work could alleviate some of the financial stress many seniors face. And the extra income you bring home from a job could be your ticket to being able to spend more on leisure and entertainment — things that could make retirement a lot more rewarding.
But even if you’re someone who has loads of savings, it pays to consider the mental health benefits of holding down a job. Simply put, working is a great way to avoid boredom. It’s also a great way to stay active, keep your mind sharp, and interact with other people.
Many people struggle to adjust to retirement because they find themselves lonely and restless. Working in some capacity can help in that regard — even if that work is very part-time.
In fact, in a recent MassMutual survey, of the 33% of respondents who claimed they’re not happier in retirement than during their working years, almost 50% cited loneliness as a factor. So even if you have enough money between your savings and Social Security to pay for essentials and do things like travel, it could pay to set yourself up with a job for the company alone.
It’s easy to see why so many people regard retirement as a period not to work. But working could actually end up being one of the smartest things you do as a retiree, whether for the financial benefit, the mental health benefit, or a combination of both.