In general, we often think that at around 60 or 65 years old, people can comfortably retire and live off their pension for the rest of their lives. There are only certain cases when people choose to delay their retirement, for a few reasons. CEOs tend to retire later if they haven't found a successor to take over their position. Others choose to step down from an active daily operational role and take on a more consultative or supporting role instead. But the question is, when's the right time to retire?
These days, whether for financial reasons or personal reasons, people stay on longer at their jobs and retire much later than the mandatory age. Indeed, many countries are still facing the repercussions of the pandemic, so perhaps, many people choose to extend their employment as long as the company still allows them in order to keep themselves or even their families afloat.
Others may choose to retire later because they find fulfillment at work. It may be that their career or profession has become so embedded to their identity that retiring from the thing that they spent most of their lives on feels like having a part of themselves ripped away from them. There might be a sense or feeling of loss there which is why there are people who may not want to retire just yet.
However, even though a person wants to continue working at their job, and are still pretty motivated to do so, it may be in their best interests as well as the company's to train some new employees in that position and reallocate them to less demanding positions. Some job rotations or restructuring may be helpful to both new and old employees, in order to keep the company flexible.
It's also important to do periodic assessments for employees. Even though older employees have experience and may not need to be tested, the company needs to check their mental health or their physical capacity to see if they can handle the pressures of their work and the physical demands it entails.
My mom has taken an early retirement package from her company, mostly because of health reasons. The stress from the daily operations at work has taken a toll on her physical condition, so she decided to retire from her full-time position. However, due to certain circumstances, she decided to retain her function in the company but on a contractual basis, since she still needs to train someone new for the position and to settle some other matters before she can finally leave in peace.
My uncle too has retired as soon as he hit the age of 60, however, he shared how he would have stayed if he were given the choice. But ever since he developed an anxiety disorder and started to have frequent panic attacks, he and my aunt decided that retirement would be more beneficial, as the stress from work could trigger his panic attacks which would be more deleterious in the long run.
From these examples, one of the main reasons why people retire is due to health reasons. If they have health conditions which hinder their performance at work, even though they are willing to continue, the costs outweigh the benefits. Other reasons include more uncontrollable situations or involuntary reasons such as taking care of a spouse or parents.
In certain fields, there is a lack of human capital and resources which is why people stay longer even though they have already reached retirement age. In some cases, the companies beg their employees not to retire until they have found new people to fill in their positions or they have trained someone to succeed the retiring employees.
Many people may find it difficult to let go of their jobs because they need the financial benefits from a full-time job or they derive satisfaction from being able to do their jobs. However, certain situations dictate they retire, whether it be from their own health condition or a family member's.
Ultimately, the decision is in an individual's hands when they will retire, although there are some jobs which require a certain level of cognitive ability or physical capacity, so mandatory retirement is a must to ensure that the jobs are done properly without causing any harm to the worker, the company, or the client.
(Image credit: Rudy and Peter Skitterians/Pixabay)
