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If your retirement funds seem inadequate, you're not alone. Here are five ways to deal with the issue of when, whether or how to continue working longer than you planned.
Think Yourself Younger
People stay healthier when they keep working as long as they're in jobs they enjoy. But some employees have had a rough time over the past decade. Those who have been downsized, overworked, deprived of benefits and otherwise undervalued by employers want to escape into retirement as soon as possible. Others suffer boredom and lack motivation to continue working.
However, in terms of potential health and vitality, these workers are about 10 years younger than their parents were at the same age. There is simply no good reason for them to retire in their early 60s, except to escape unhappy work situations.
If engaged in interesting and enjoyable work, older workers don't only benefit themselves but also an economy that's facing a shortage of 30 million workers in the next decade and staggering under the weight of impending Social Security entitlements. They could also live healthier and more vital lives than if they retired on schedule.
Imagining yourself 10 years younger can benefit all older workers, even those with abundant financial resources.
Slash Expenses
According to economist Juliet Schor, Americans uniformly spend 10 percent more than they make, no matter what their income level. If we give up anesthetic spending to help ourselves feel better and abandon the notion of deserving to have luxury in our 60s, then many of us could live on much less than we think. Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin's classic book Your Money or Your Life offers a step-by-step process for trimming your expenses to be more in line with your true values.
Stay Employed -- Same Industry or Company
Some companies (the smart ones, that is) are waking up to the impending talent shortage and inventing ways for people to work longer, either by continuing current jobs or trying flexible schedules and contract arrangements. If you love what you do, this might be a good option.
Stay Employed -- Transition to a New Organization
If you like the predictability of being an employee but want a fresh start with another organization or in a different field, this may be the way to go. Many people in their 50s and 60s are making energizing switches from business to nonprofits, where the pay is a little less hefty, but the atmosphere is often a bit gentler. This also offers workers that all-important "making a difference" feeling.
Become a Free Agent
Lots of Baby Boomers are fed up with taking orders from people who know less than they do. Striking out on your own can happen part-time, tacked on to other part-time work as an employee, or it can be a plunge you take when you're old enough to have some Social Security income or savings as a base. Either way, the one best way to have control over your income for as long as you want to is to find work that needs to be done rather than a job.
Two good sources for reading more about freelancing are Paul and Sarah Edwards's Getting Business to Come to You and my book, Free to Succeed: Designing the Life You Want in the New Free Agent Economy. Don't be fooled by all the talk about the New Economy being dead. More than three-quarters of American businesses are still sole proprietorships, and the Internet has equalized access to customers like never before.
The one thing not to do is to stay mired in feelings of desperation, anger and angst. There are many resources available to you, as well as advice from counselors and advisers in career centers, government one-stop employment centers and other community organizations.