New to AcademicProductivity.com?
Here are a few posts that other readers recommend you check out:
[dismiss]
If you are like most people in the academia, you place a lot of value on security and benefits. You also have great plans for that day when you retire and have time to… well, have a life 
.
Jack Cheng has a superb post on how much you can expect to live and use that free time you have earned:
Picture an average American who decides to stop working at the age of 65. Got it? Now guess how many years he’ll have to enjoy his post-retirement before he passes away.
I’ve asked this to a bunch of friends and coworkers over the last two weeks. I’ve heard answers like “15-20 years” or at the very least, 10 years. But none of those is even close.
The actual answer? 18 months.
Scary. Being a workoholic doesn’t sound that good. Sorry to post this in a productivity blog
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you !
[how to cite this post]
[hide]
AMA citation:
Quesada J. Thinking on what you will do after retirement? Think again!. Academic Productivity. 2008. Available at: https://academicproductivity.com/2008/thinking-on-what-you-will-do-after-retirement-think-again/. Accessed January 1, 2012.
APA citation:
Quesada, Jose. (2008). Thinking on what you will do after retirement? Think again!. Retrieved January 1, 2012, from Academic Productivity Web site: https://academicproductivity.com/2008/thinking-on-what-you-will-do-after-retirement-think-again/
Chicago citation:
Quesada, Jose. 2008. Thinking on what you will do after retirement? Think again!. Academic Productivity. https://academicproductivity.com/2008/thinking-on-what-you-will-do-after-retirement-think-again/ (accessed January 1, 2012).
Harvard citation:
Quesada, J 2008, Thinking on what you will do after retirement? Think again!, Academic Productivity. Retrieved January 1, 2012, from
MLA citation:
Quesada, Jose. "Thinking on what you will do after retirement? Think again!." 24 Nov. 2008. Academic Productivity. Accessed 1 Jan. 2012.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 24th, 2008 at 5:44 pm and is filed under Announcements, Time management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 26th, 2008 at 2:57 am
This post underscores one of Tim Ferriss’ core messages of distributing mini-retirements throughout life.
November 26th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
I do not believe this data is even close to accurate. If this were accurate several huge problems go away. 1) social security funding. 2) medicare funding. 3) failing to save for retirement. According to the CDC the expectation at age 65 is 18.7 years. I would bet, though I don’t have the data, that the life expectancy for someone working until the day they turn 65 is higher than someone not working on that day. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lifexpec.htm
December 3rd, 2008 at 4:31 am
The 18 months figure is unbelivably bogus that is why nobody guesses it.
December 6th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Nobody can believe that! I’d like to see the scientific or statistical evidence for that.
December 8th, 2008 at 12:12 am
And the answer is: DON’T RETIRE.
Why? Because it is a health risk. So if you don’t enjoy your job, find a job you do enjoy. Good luck with that.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Picture the average American who DOESN’T retire at 65. How long does he have to live? 8 months is my guess!
Being a workaholic is never good – you got to stop and smell the flowers sometime! It is better to find a job that you can live with rather than sticking to one that can kill you.
Are you seriously trying to tell us that a man who retires at 65, and takes up beachcombing, is going to die in 18 months due to boredom? I am younger than 65, but more than willing to take up the challenge. (It’s a tough job but someone’s gotta do it!
) Any sponsors?
December 30th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Well, I don’t know about the US, but here are the statistics for France:
“A 60 ans, l’espérance de durée de retraite des femmes est de 6,3 ans supérieure à celles des hommes, respectivement 24,4 et 18,2 ans en 2000,” (Le Monde)
For those who don’t understand French, it says that when retiring at 60, women have a life expectancy of 24,4 years and men of 18,2 years. I’m assuming it would be relatively similar?
January 1st, 2009 at 6:50 am
For me retiring in such an old age is not advisable. How can one enjoy life after 60? I believe retirement is good at the age where everything is already in order or the person is already considered as complete. At 30 or 40 is best.
January 6th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
life expectancy at birth for an american male is 75 according to the CIA world factbook
February 14th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Life expectantcy is less for inner-city than suburbia. I moved to the country-side recently and I can see why.
February 28th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Yes 60 is little bit late. You are right with 30 or 40.
March 2nd, 2009 at 6:27 am
Well, I did go thru’ Jack Cheng’s superb post. It’s worth spending sometime on. Jose, your question(how many years one should be able to enjoy post retirement plans??) did revoke lot of other questions in the mind.. Thanks for the post.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:07 am
I think in my case, as soon as I retired.. I will find just another job to keep me busy.
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:11 pm
I will open a Shop .. probably a Grossary store!