How do you want to retire?

When you are asked to retire, there are certain rules, laws, and institutional constructs that socialize you to retire. Retirement is a recent ideology that allows society to do away with its aging population. You should never retire; you can change where you choose to contribute to society, but don’t give in to the institution of retirement.

According to sociologists, “Institutionalized retirement is when society effectively marginalizes older adults, thereby limiting their influence and reducing competition for resources and opportunities.”

Retirement Is an Institution Constructed By Society

“A great deal has been written about retirement, especially in the past decade. Much of this literature has relevance for sociology in that it deals with social structures and social processes and how they influence retirement policies and individual decisions about retirement (Atchley, 1982).”

Socialized retirement is about reducing competition for resources and opportunities. By moving older adults into retirement, it keeps society going. See, “society was here when you came, and it will be here when you are gone.” It’s just like God, according to Karl Marx.

Have you noticed the average citizen retires, but our leaders don’t? Look at the Supreme Court, Congress, the Senate, and the presidency. All these people are still actively controlling society well past the age of retirement. Some of them are barely living. Some are being wheeled around in wheelchairs.

Why? Because retirement is a construct to help manage citizens, resources, and opportunities to keep corporations going. Most of the time, retirement puts us in a worse situation than we were before we retired.

Many retirees are working two or three jobs to make up for the one they were forced to retire from. They have been pushed out. Not to mention, the economy doesn’t provide opportunities for the average citizen to save up for retirement. People are living paycheck to paycheck. This is all part of the institutionalization of aging.

Look at this statistic:

“According to our research team’s analysis of the latest available data: Of more than 55.8 million elderly adults in the U.S. (65 or older), 1.3 million live in nursing homes, representing 2.3% of the elderly population. An additional 818,800 elderly Americans reside in assisted living facilities (A Place For Mom, 2023).”

Just because you don’t see a huge government building labeled “retirement” doesn’t mean it’s not an institution. The majority of institutions don’t have buildings but are embedded in society through laws, policies, and sanctions. I won’t go deep into this in this post, but I will do a separate post on the “Institution of Retirement.” So let’s continue this post on a lighter note.

How Do We Want to Retire?

This is a very important question to ask yourself in 2024. Nothing is predictable anymore. Many people assume because they are alive, they are living their lives. This is not true. At best, we are existing most of the time, just doing what is necessary to make it day by day, supplying our bodies with what they need to survive.

But how many of us are actually living our lives on purpose with intention? How many of us, as we get older, will continue to live our lives knowing we are having the best experiences life has to offer us? This is not about money and having a good time; it’s about knowing you are designed by life to have this unique experience as you. You are life embodied; how are you enjoying your experience as a life force?

As you age and move towards “retirement,” what does that look like to you? Do you have a vision for what you want your retirement season to look like?

As we age, society has already constructed how you will be treated and the value it will place on your life as a retiree. Is your dream to buy a home in the country and sit on the porch and drink cool lemonade?

What vision do you have for you and how you want to experience the rest of your life? Is there a business you always wanted to start? Do you want to travel the world to places you’ve never visited before? Do you have a bucket list that you want to check off?

Most importantly, is retirement the end of your life or the beginning of your journey to knowing yourself? See, in society, retirement is an institution, and most of us are seeing retirement through the lens of the institution. Not to mention that many will end up in an institution where they are alienated, isolated, and kept from the prying eyes of younger generations.