For almost a million “retirees” in this U.S. state, work-till-you-drop is now the new normal…

The Sacramento Bee reports 740,000 Californians over age 65 are still in their jobs (or looking for work). The number’s about twice what it was 15 years ago. Higher numbers of seniors in both the 65-69 and 70-74 demographic groups are still in the workforce.

Chart

The article points to a number of reasons for the surge in seniors delaying retirement:

  • To secure higher Social Security payments

  • To keep working as a part of longer, healthier lives

  • To deal with the realities of living in poverty in old age.

  We know the prospect of “working till you drop” terrifies most people. Ten thousand American baby boomers are hitting retirement age every day… and many are nowhere near prepared for it.

But as Mark reminds us below, being underprepared for retirement doesn’t have to mean “retirement hell”…

Consider a couple with a $300,000 retirement fund dreaming of a $100,000-per-year retirement cost of living. Assuming they had a total of $50,000 per year coming from Social Security and pension payments, they still need $60,000 per year in pre-tax passive income.

To earn $60,000 on $300,000, they’d need a return on investment (ROI) of about 20%. That is highly improbable. But if they got part-time jobs that gave them an extra $15,000 in active income ($7,500 each), they would need a return of only about 8% on their retirement account. That’s very doable.

I’m not saying you should give up on the idea of retirement. I’m saying you should think of retirement differently. It’s a wonderful time of your life when you change the ratio of work to pleasure.

Instead of spending 80% of your days working for money and 20% having fun, you spend 20% of your time working and 80% having fun.

That doesn’t seem so bad, does it?

Bottom line: Keeping an active income in retirement is not just a “workaround” solution for those who can’t attain the traditional retirement… it’s something Mark believes everyone should do for their financial, physical, and mental well-being.

Mark and PBRG’s retirement specialist, Bob Irish, continue to work in “retirement” for these very reasons. Bob shares his ultimate secret to revitalizing his life—and wealth—in retirement right here.