There’s a new normal that’s emerging for our nation’s seniors. No longer are older Americans quitting their jobs by age 65 and riding off quietly into the sunset. Instead, they are starting businesses, writing books and cycling across states.
Carey Kyler, vice president of consumer experience and strategy at AARP’s Life Reimagined, says her group’s research points to older Americans, particularly those between ages 45 and 65, swapping out traditional retirement for a new life stage. According to Kyler, this time in a person’s life is when they may embrace their passions, explore new ideas and set out on adventures they never would have attempted in their younger years.
“This is a life stage generations before didn’t have,” Kyler says. “The boomers and the Gen Xers will have to be very creative about what they do with it.”
Even seniors who have taken a more traditional approach to retirement say it’s not what you might think, and it’s definitely not a time to be lazily puttering around the house.
Most importantly, seniors say retirement is fun. Millennials might wonder what older Americans do with all their free time, but those who are in the thick of this life stage say they’ve been given the opportunity to do things they couldn’t during their younger years.
Whether working or playing, today’s seniors are embracing their later years as a time to shine.
