EMInfo Reader:  I am engaging greater numbers of senior clients who are struggling with the question of whether it is time for them to retire or not? What issues should they be examining at this stage of the life?

Dr. Burtnett: One only needs to examine the reports of the Bureau of

Labor Statistics generated in the early portion of this millennium to learn that more seniors are working now than any other time in U.S. history. 

Increased longevity due to better healthcare and improved personal habits (i.e., smoking cessation, more exercise, improved nutrition, etc.) are cited as contributing to those statistics. Many have not managed there financial circumstances in a way that allows them to leave their employment. The coronavirus pandemic stirred a new sense of the meaning of economic security and left many hanging on to their jobs. Finally, a larger employee population likes what they do and simply wants to engage in their careers for a longer period time.

Often seniors don’t fully understand that full retirement is not the only option when there turns grey and they slow down a step. In my book Career Challenges: Straight Talk about Achieving Success in the Technology-Driven, Post-Covid World of Work, I refer to the winding down, adjustment and exit phase of the career development process that includes a number of options seniors might follow on their path to full retirement.

Those alternatives include:

Retirement is a transitional time---not one of absolute stoppage. It may feel to some like removing a heavy backpack, but it doesn’t mean one is discarding it. Individuals at this place should pause and ponder for a time and then refill the backpack with new things and proceed in a new or different direction. 

The adjustments that lie ahead  at this time will likely include one or more of the options identified herein and will likely result in a unique blueprint that is consistent with the individual’s personal goals and aspirations. The final career stages and entry into retirement don’t have to be the end of anything. It is a time for an adventurous new beginning. Who knows? That is where you will find The Career Mechanic.