Never going to retire

The following column was published in The News Star on Saturday, September 27, 2014.

Question: I have a small group of guys that meet with every week. We’re all in our 40s and 50s. One of the things that we all agree on is retirement. We’re not going to do it. We plan to work until we drop. For one, the idea of retirement is not a good one to me. Also, if I don’t have to save for a retirement I don’t want, it greatly simplifies my financial life. Wouldn’t you agree?

Answer: If anything, I think you and your friends have set your sights too low.

You’ve all agreed that none of you are going to retire – simply because you don’t want to. That’s great as far as it goes, but why stop there?

Why not agree to never get sick? Or never get tired? Or never age? Or, while you’re making out your wish list, never die?

I’m sorry, but while your desire to never retire may be laudable (in fact, I share it), confusing your desires with reality is naïve and dangerous.

People that work into their 70s are the exception, not the rule. And workers in their 80s? Well, how many do you know?

I know, I know – you’re going to be the first.

But consider – can you name anyone you know personally that is still working into their mid 70s or 80s? Not one? What does that tell you?

The process of aging is something over which you have some influence, but no control. I am all for eating healthily, controlling stress, exercising regularly and maintaining a sharp, optimistic attitude. All of these things may help you age like you obviously wish to – gracefully. And I truly hope that your wishes come true.

But, really, open your eyes. People do age. And if they age enough, most of them decline in their ability to work. That decline may be gradual, or it may come suddenly.

Aging obviously affects everyone uniquely. But to simply assume you’ll never encounter illness, a diminution of mental acuity, a reduction in physical energy or some other physical or mental disability is to wear glasses with dangerously rose colored lenses.

So what do I think of your idea? I think it’s a great goal, but a poor guide.

Don’t indulge yourself by thinking only desirable things will happen in life. Mature people take steps to prepare themselves and those they care about for hard, difficult things in life – including the aging process.

Ezekiel J. Emanuel observes a distinctly American hope for a “compression of morbidity.”

“It tells us exactly what we want to believe,” he writes, “that we will live longer lives and then abruptly die with hardly any aches, pains, or physical deterioration—the morbidity traditionally associated with growing old. It promises a kind of fountain of youth until the ever-receding time of death.”

In “deciding not to retire,” you’ve made an emotional decision to put your head in the sand so you can perpetuate your procrastination, and you’re now trying to back it up with a bold sounding plan – like Peter Pan, you’re simply never going to grow up (or like Ezekiel Emanuel’s hopeful Americans, never going to get old).

Go ahead – hope and work for the best.

But please, for your own sake and for those around you who will be left to pick up the pieces, plan for the possibility that you too will grow old. 

Byron R. Moore, CFP® is Managing Director / Planning Group of Argent Advisors, Inc. Email him at bmoore@argentadvisors.com. Write to him at 500 East Reynolds Drive, Ruston, LA 71270 or call him at (318) 251-5858. The opinions of any single advisor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Argent Advisors, Inc.  No forecasts can be guaranteed.  Argent Advisors, Inc. does not offer tax, insurance or legal advice.  The information contained in this column should not be construed as a substitute for personalized investment, tax, insurance or legal advice.