As the years go by, the world undergoes constant and rapid change. Though we don’t think much about it, aspects of retirement are going to change as well, so you should expect your own retirement to be pretty different from the retired couples that you see these days. It’s likely that you might not have a spouse to spend your retirement with, according to statistics, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Being in the dark about these changes might not be good for you the moment you decide to retire. So it’s definitely best for you if you know what to expect, which is how you’ll be able to ensure that you’ll get the best experience in store when your time comes. From the rise of life expectancy to easy accessibility of more creative and fun ways for senior citizens to have fun, here are all the changes that we can expect for your own retirement:
The Old Family System Is On The Decline
While life expectancy around the world continues to grow, the family system that once dominated American culture is disappearing pretty rapidly. Back in the 1960s, around 73% of American children had a nuclear family with two parents in the house to raise and nurture them. That’s all in the past, however, and the modern family looks pretty different. Less than 50% of all children in the country now have a nuclear family, with the rest not having anything of the like due to a large number of reasons like an increased rate of divorce, single parenthood, and remarriage. This factor is going to play into the retirement experience that the working class of today is going to go through because people who’re not thinking about marriage at all, or at least an early one, will have to think differently when it comes to legacy planning and funds for the future, not to mention family lifestyle.
Retirement Doesn’t Mean Relaxing Anymore
You could relax, of course, if you have the funding available. However, a lot of people are looking to consider part-time work even after they’ve retired. Even people who don’t intend to earn money after their work life are eager to take part in some sort of volunteer work, and the available options to people who aren’t working a full-time job anymore keep increasing. Retirees right now are more focused on maintaining their comfortable lifestyle, while people who are yet to retire have their top priority listed as traveling around the world which shows a difference in interest as well.
Medicare Has Increased Healthy Life Expectancy
People can now hope to live far longer than ever before, and that changes a lot of things. It might also answer why workers who’ve yet to retire would want to travel the world rather than living comfortably in their home because better health means the ability to spend the rest of their lives participating in activities that might not have been viable before. That’s something to put into consideration when planning your retirement because you’ll probably not want the retirement lifestyle that people are living these days.
Retirement Will Be Delayed More Than Ever
Since people will be healthier for a longer amount of time, they’re more likely to keep working, whether for their jobs or their businesses — or even a completely unrelated field to their previous work. Over the past two decades, the amount of people who’re working over the age of 65 has gone up dramatically by a whopping 117%. This trend will likely continue for the upcoming years, so you can probably expect to keep working well into your late 60s, that is, if you choose to. This could be great for people who aren’t financially ready for retirement as it gives them some extra years to get their retirement funds in order so they can have a fulfilling time for the rest of their lives. This also helps the economy as new jobs are being launched by people who keep on working later in life.
Change doesn’t really have to be a bad thing. Chances are that with the steady improvement of healthcare through technology, you’ll be able to live for a pretty long time, and healthily at that. However, some aspects might not exactly be positive, depending on your lifestyle, and it’s up to you to prepare for any such things.