Do we actually need to retire at all?

You might be working towards the wrong goal

For many people, retirement is the goal.

Either ‘normal’ retirement in their sixties, or early retirement before then.

It’s even in our website name.

But is it the right goal?

What is the purpose of personal finance?

For me the purpose of personal finance is to support your life. It is to make sure that you can concentrate on the things you want to focus on, that you can take care of your loved ones, that you can deal with setbacks and emergencies, and that you have the freedom to do what you want to do.

I value security and freedom very highly.

The endgame of security and freedom is financial independence, when you can cover your living expenses from your savings and investments.

But financial independence is certainly not a good goal for everyone. You have to be very motivated and a bit strange to go for that one.

Financial independence, retire early

I was really attracted to FIRE at first. Retire early after becoming financially independent? Fantastic.

Now I think it’s the wrong goal.

Most people who reach the FI bit tend to keep working. Either they enjoy the work they do, or they end up doing other work that they do enjoy instead.

Don’t retire

So I think retirement as a goal, as a destination, as something to aspire to, is the wrong goal.

Instead we should be looking for the work we enjoy. The work we could keep doing indefinitely.

Then we don’t need to retire.

So we don’t need to work on our finances any more?

That’s not what I said.

We still need to save and invest (work on those safety and freedom layers), but not so that we can retire, so that we can enjoy our life and reach our potential without having to worry about money.

After all, you don’t want to be trying to live on nenkin alone in old age:

But even beyond money, doing work you enjoy has benefits.

The non-monetary benefits of work

In the RetireJapan work suitability scale, work done solely for money is at level one, while work you would do even if you weren’t paid to is at level four (the top of the scale).

I believe one purpose of work is to allow us to move up the work suitability scale, from work done solely for money, to work that gives us a chance to increase our skills, to work that is somewhat enjoyable, to work we truly enjoy.

If you manage to find your level three work there is no need to stop doing it unless you become physically or mentally unable to.

And work can have other benefits too, from social connection and a feeling of self-worth, to physical and mental health.

People who stop working without a plan to replace the social, physical, and mental aspects of work can experience drops in their quality of life.

And we’ve all seen the opposite: people in their 70s, 80s, 90s who are still working at something they are good at and enjoy. They tend to be mentally alert and physically capable, with social connections to different age groups and an enjoyment of life.

A new goal

So I propose that the goal be to find some kind of work that you enjoy and can do on your own terms.

I often find myself talking to coaching clients who are very successful and have the resources to retire but have no intention of doing so because they enjoy what they do, or they have found a second career that brings them joy.

Rather than focusing on stopping work, why not focus on finding work you enjoy?

After all, if you love what you do you will never work a day in your life…

What do you think? Am I on the right track with this article or is it a bunch of nonsense? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.