Article 23

Before reading this article I never really thought much about retirement. I didn't realize there are so many different aspects to retirement, or I guess it's better to say so many options. I used to think that once a person retired it was all about relaxation and enjoying the activities they didn't really get to do when they were working every day. I can now see that is a misconception. I did not realize that Americans have six different lifestyles to choose from once they retire. I do realize that many people do love their jobs and the perks that come along with being employed but I also figured once retirement was an option for an older adult they would be more than willing to take it. I didn't quite understand why anyone would want to go back to work once they had retired and give up the satisfaction of finally be "free" from the stresses and headaches of working full time. But it does make a lot of sense that people need to feel productive and active and when a person retires that part of their life could diminish. I also see the social aspect of why a person would return to work because the loneliness could really get to a person. I agree with the article in which it’s very difficult to come up with one universal definition of work. There are so many different types of jobs in this world that don't always revolve around a business or money and the article I think does a good job of defining work in an economical and social way. The five motivations do seem very obvious and yet I really never thought about what really made a person want to work. The only aspect I thought about was that everyone needs to work to make a living. Obviously without a job you don't have an income and can’t survive in society. I never thought that social interaction would be such a high motivation to work. I also figured yes you would make friends at work but you would have your friends outside or work that you meant through out your life to socialize with. I was very surprised when the article stated that more recently men were entering the workplace later and retiring earlier and women where entering the labor force earlier and retiring later. I really find that surprising because in our economy or the stereotype is that men are the providers and the women are the care takers and yes that has changed through the years but it does still exist. Another thing I found interesting is that older workers who remain in the work force have been found to be just as productive as younger workers. I was happy to read that because it shows how wrong some of the stereotypes are of older adults. I was not aware that social security benefits are now encouraging people to work longer. I also was not aware that a reduction in pension benefits for those who retire earlier will go from 20% to 30% of their full income. That’s a significant increase. I believe that it will work in encouraging people to work longer which in turn means retiring later. Although many parts in this article surprised me the findings did not. I was not surprised that those who retired have higher scores of life satisfaction than those who are working full or part time. Working brings on a lot of stress to many people. I would think that a person who has retired but its still active in the community by volunteering or another form of community service would rate their life more satisfying. The data in this study concluded from this study indicated that those who retire and engage in volunteer or recreational activities are higher life satisfaction scores than those who have never retired. And that does not surprise me at all because I know I haven’t even started my career yet but I can say I’m excited to be able to retire and enjoy my self after many hard years of work.