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Why You May Want to Delay Retirement
Although it seems like everyone has the goal of being able to retire as early as possible, there are multiple reasons why it might be beneficial for a person to consider delaying their retirement in order to reap the benefits that the delay can provide.
Just because you are of appropriate retirement age, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should feel forced or pressured into retiring. There are many reasons why waiting to retire might actually be to your benefit in the long run. Here are just a few:
Saving More Money
One of the most obvious benefits of delaying retirement is the fact that it will allow you to save more money. Instead of retiring as quickly as possible and relying on the amount of money that you have currently been able to save, delaying retirement by even just a few years can allow you to really dedicate yourself to saving large amounts from each of your paychecks, and to store that extra money away where you will be able to easily access it in the future. This will allow you to retire much more comfortably and worry less about money issues such as healthcare and entertainment costs.
Allowing Retirement Funds to Grow
The more time that you give your 401(k) to recover from the 2008 financial collapse, the more money you will likely have in your account when it comes time for you to retire. The retirement funds of many have really recovered since the stock market started to turn things around, and by waiting a year or two more, you will likely be able to secure a more comfortable retirement.
Learning New Hobbies
Many people have a tough time adjusting to retired life. One reason for this can be because they have had so much of their time taken up by work that they aren’t used to having an abundance of “down time”. It’s important during the years before retirement comes to have a plan as to how you might spend your free time. Giving yourself some extra time to rediscover your interests or learn some new hobbies will ensure that you are able to adjust more quickly to retired life and find new activities to fill your time with.
Making a Plan
Taking your time to prepare for retirement allows you to do some planning for other parts of your life as well. There may be places you’d like to visit, volunteer work you want to do, or friends and family that you’d like to see more often. Taking additional time before retiring, in order to plan out what you might do during these “free” years, ensures that you will enjoy your retirement that much more.
Enjoying Work
If you like what you do at your current job, you may not feel too bad about spending an extra year or two there and enjoying another year or two in your field before you turn in your key. For many, work is very fulfilling, and the transition to a life of retirement may seem overwhelming or difficult in some way. Taking another year or two to work, even if it’s just part-time, might make leaving your job for good that much easier.
There are many things that need to be taken into consideration in order to ensure that you are able to not only enjoy retirement to the best of your ability, but also plan for the future as well. Take time now in order to ensure that you go into retirement as prepared as possible, both financially and personally.
Author Bio: You can find Dave Smith blogging all over the financial community with his passion for saving and frugality. Even if you are rich, he believes it is still healthy to have a balanced wallet.
I hope money will not be the first consideration in a decision to delay retirement. I want to be prepared for a health problem or something else that would prevent me to work, and decide to work some more only if I enjoy the job.
Pauline, you’re in a great place, too, that you have multiple streams of income, so that you can retire one day without really having to retire if you don’t want to. This is what I aspire to!
I hope that the only reason that I would delay retirement would be because I love my job. Unfortunately, it seems that most people will be delaying retirement because they simply don’t have enough money.
You’re so right. :-(. I think people think “Oh, there’s time to save for retirement”, and then all of a sudden, here it is, and they’re broke. Or they think they’ll be able to live off social security. I’m just not sure. You’re smart to be preparing now so that you do have options when you might want to retire.
Good points, especially the first two. having more time to both save AND let what you have grow will ultimately give you much more to draw on when you do retire. Personally, I will work as long as I can. the key thing with me is I want to make a career shift in about 4-5 years doing something I WANT to do, not something I HAVE to do (and making a lot less money too).
Jose, that should be what everyone strives for: getting to the point that they do what they WANT to do. Congrats on having a plan that will get you there!
Yeah, Alan, we there with you. With hard work and good planning though, our families will be there soon enough. 🙂
Nahhhhh…..I still want to retire as soon as humanly possible! I think I will adjust fine! =)
🙂 Yes, I can’t imagine retirement being difficult, myself, but I’m sure it is for some.
Like has been stated, I would hate to have to delay it because of money…which way too many are facing today. We do want to retire, once we get to that age, but planning is key both financially as well as realistically.
So true, John!
There is no way I want to delay my retirement, if anything I want to bring it closer. Although I do appreciate the points you have made and agree with them should your financial situation not permit you to retire comfortably.
Sadly, I think that’s probably the case for many people today, like John said.
Some great points that most people probably don’t want to hear as many of us wish to retire earlier rather than later. Unfortunately too many dream about retiring early but aren’t taking any actions that could help them actually achieve that goal. If you’re very risk adverse and worry about your money running out – then you may be a prime candidate for delaying your retirement and the continued comfort of earning a steady paycheck and benefits as long as possible.
You’re SO right, Shannon. Whether a person wants/has to retire now or later, making a plan and taking those actions to reach retirement are crucial steps to getting there!
We’ve all seen situations of people who retire and aren’t realistic about how much they will enjoy it, as you point out. Great insight.
Thanks, Tony! As Kim pointed out, it’s the choice that makes the difference, isn’t it?
I want to be able to retire. That doesn’t mean I will, but having the choice makes all the difference.
SO true! It’s the choice that’s the important part, isn’t it?
I think it’s important to plan for the worst and hope for the best. We all want to our lives to go as planned, but it doesn’t always happen.
That’s why I think everyone should plan like they may have to retire early, but not necessarily retire right away. Why? Because people get hurt, injured, sick all the time and cannot work quite as long as they had planned on it.
However, I agree that people should work, or do something that they love, a bit longer than many wish.
That’s a great way to think, Justin: plan for the worst and hope for the best. Based on John’s (Frugal Rules) recent post on retirement, it doesn’t look like America is doing very well in the planning stage right now. 🙁