Semi-Retirees Know How to Balance Work and Life

An increasing number of older adults are working, mostly because they want to.

Many people no longer prefer traditional retirement as an option. Instead, they are opting for semi-retirement, which gives them the opportunity to work longer while also having more freedom and free time.

Retirement has historically been thought of as a time to completely leave the office and transition from a life of work to one of leisure. However, many people choose to continue working well past the ‘traditional’ retirement age. Some do so out of necessity for money, while others do so for the additional benefits that coming back to work can provide (and some research indicates that people with higher Socioeconomic Status [SES] tend to work for longer than people with lower SES).

Notably, there is no absolute right or wrong answer when deciding whether to continue working after reaching traditional retirement age. Instead, some people might opt for a “semi-retirement” where they continue working at their current job or in a different industry, possibly for a set number of hours each week or only during certain months of the year.

They can gain many of the potential advantages of working in this way (such as a sense of purpose, social interaction, and, of course, extra money), while also having the freedom to decide when to work and what to do (like trying out a completely different career). Some retirees may discover that they enjoy work much more when it is not necessary to make ends meet and offers them the freedom to pursue other interests.

The main issue is that a lot of people are choosing not to take the “traditional” retirement route and instead opting for other options like semi-retirement, brief retirement, or career breaks. This means that financial advisors can be very helpful in determining the retirement option that is best for a particular client and in assisting them in developing a savings plan that will enable them to achieve it!