Photo / Towle Tompkins
Felicia Knight
Updated: January 27, 2025
Commentary
Retirement vs. realignment: What does it mean to retire in 2025?
By Felicia Knight
For most of us baby boomers, retirement doesn’t have as much to do with gold watches or rocking chairs as much as it does trips to the Gold Coast or rocking out to the latest Stones tour. We’ve worked hard. We’ve spent too many years on the wrong side of the work-life balance, and now it’s time to enjoy a little less stress and a lot more fun.
Instead of retiring, think of your life after the 60-hour work week as more of a realignment. Aligning your priorities to focus more on family, friends, yourself and what brings you joy. Maybe it’s a second career that incorporates your favorite hobby or cause. Maybe it’s a move that brings you closer to adult children and grandchildren. Maybe it’s filling your days with the simple pleasures of raising a garden and leisurely bike rides. Or maybe this is your chance to follow Dead & Co. coast-to-coast.
Getting to this point means you have to think about it early in your career, however. When you’re 25 or 30, it’s easy to think you have all the time in the world to worry about retirement. Thirty-five to 40 more years of work is a lifetime away from your current worries about getting ahead, making partner, amassing clients, paying off college debt while saving for your own children’s education, or buying a reliable car. Health care is a drain on finances as is all the insurance needed to keep you whole in case of a catastrophe. And a house? Don’t get me started. At this point, a “starter” house is cheap at $400,000.
Still. Now is the time to see a financial planner and start looking at your retirement. Social Security is a nice benefit, but you’ll need more if you want your retirement years to be more than barely paying the bills. Plan for what you want. Get an expert to tell you what you need to do and by when in order to step back from the daily grind.
For years my mother, a Depression-era child, who could stretch a dollar further than anyone I ever knew, would ask me, “Are you saving money? Are you putting something aside for a rainy day?” To assuage her fears, I’m sorry to say, I lied. “Yes, Mom,” I told her, and quickly changed the subject. In truth, it felt like that rainy day was pouring buckets every single week and I was barely making my car payment. Once I reached a point where there was something left over at the end of the month, my immediate thought was not, “I should start a 401(k).” It was (in typical boomer fashion): “Why should I deny myself a night out, a new car, or better yet, a trip to Europe?”
I was in my 40s before I got serious about saving and consulted a financial planner. What a revelation! If only I had done it sooner. I’ve always worked best with structure, deadlines and goals. The plans I worked with had all of these and came with a huge sense of accomplishment. Feeding the retirement accounts meant securing a future that I could look forward to instead of dread.
I know I was lucky enough to build a career with an upward trajectory. Not everyone is able to do that despite a lifetime of hard work. Everything from layoffs to illness to a bad economy can hamper the ability to save, but if you have that ability, it’s irresponsible not to.
After being in the taxpaying workforce since 1974, in 2025, I’m joining the ranks of the retired. What does that look like for me? Honestly, I’ll probably still take a few clients — if I want to, but I have the option to say “no.” Mostly, I’ll realign my life to focus on more quality time with the people I love. And I’ll send a sincere “thank you” note to our financial planner.
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