Fidelity Investments, in collaboration with the Stanford Center on Longevity, surveyed more than 12,000 retirement savers and recent retirees 55 and older to find out what drives people to retire. The survey was based on responses from people with a Fidelity retirement plan.
One myth-busting discovery was related to the notion that most spouses are motivated to retire because they want to spend more time with each other.
Nearly 60 percent of men want to spend time with their wives. The wives, well, they’re looking forward to spending more time with their grandchildren (nearly 70 percent). Forty-three percent of wives were looking forward to spending more time with their husbands.
Another myth the survey busted was one that scares me. You would think people would wait or at least try to wait to retire until they’ve saved enough money to live comfortably. However, the research found that nearly half of survey respondents just picked a date when they wanted to retire and that was that. Their projected retirement savings was not a decisive factor.
Respondents were asked whether time or money was more important in their decision to retire. Nearly half (49 percent) said they wanted to be sure they had enough years to enjoy retirement.
I get that. My husband and I want to quit our current jobs sooner rather than later so we can travel more before possible health issues slow us down.
But we’re also timing our retirement to a specific level of savings, just like the 51 percent in the survey who said reaching a savings goal is the major factor in deciding when to retire.
As for getting the timing right, the respondents who are retired said they aren’t struggling as some might believe. Rather, 82 percent said they retired right. The overwhelming majority are happy and are adapting financially. They are managing by matching their spending to what they’ve saved.
When we talk about “retirement,” it’s assumed that means not working at all. But that’s not the case for many people. Lots of workers retire and yet still work in some capacity because they like what they do and feel valued. My husband and I are planning on teaching financial literacy classes in the community and in prisons. We dream of opening a nonprofit financial wellness center where people can take classes and get unbiased help on everything from investing to buying life insurance.
American Public Media just launched “Unretirement,” a new podcast for people looking for “meaning and money well into the traditional retirement years.” Chris Farrell, senior economics contributor for APM’s “Marketplace” radio program, is the host.
New episodes of “Unretirement” are available each Tuesday. You can download them on iTunes or at www.infiniteguest.org/unretirement.
Maybe I’ll listen to the podcast while I’m taking those golf lessons.
Michelle Singletary welcomes comments and column ideas. Reach her in care of The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20071; or singletarym@washpost.com
