Key takeaways
- While financial and work-related factors are the primary reasons people continue to work, nonfinancial factors like family, health, and lifestyle ultimately cause people to pull the trigger to retire.
- Wellbeing in retirement is not just about money, or even intellectual stimulation. It’s largely about the freedom to do what you want, when you want.
- As you enter a stage of preretirement, consider working with an advisor to help shape strategies for Social Security, health care, and cash flow in retirement.
When will you be ready to retire? Particularly if retirement is still far away, you’re probably thinking in terms of dollars—how many you will have and how long they will last. But new research finds that for many people, the decision to retire is not just about money. It’s about life, and the freedom to enjoy it.
That’s the conclusion of an extensive survey of over 10,000 pre-retirees and recent retirees. The online survey was conducted by Fidelity Investments in collaboration with the Stanford Center on Longevity and Greenwald & Associates1 and only included respondents who believed they had some control over if and when they would stop working full-time.
While financial and work-related factors are the primary reasons people continue to work, with eligibility for Medicare and Social Security as key factors, the survey also finds that it’s often nonfinancial factors like family, health, and lifestyle that ultimately cause people to pull the trigger to retire. Among retirees, 72% chose leisure as a very or somewhat strong reason to retire, 64% pointed to stress at work, and 62% cited a desire to spend more time with grandchildren.
“We’ve seen a shift in values as people near retirement,” says Eliza Badeau, Director of Thought Leadership at Fidelity. “Many people seem to desire freedom over money. It’s less about the money and more about spending time where it matters most to them,” she adds. “Most people say they look forward to the freedom that retirement brings such as spending time with their family or doing hobbies they enjoy—ultimately trading in that job stress for leisurely interests.”
Research finds that for many people, the decision to retire is not just about money. Discover 3 preretirement phases that are influencing peoples decision to retire here.
— Read on www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/retirement/time-to-retire