and that’s ok. I keep seeing all these different things about how to retire by a certain age or within so many years. I keep seeing advice that if I only had the will power to live on beans and rice for the next ten years, I could pay off my debts and retire. But what if they are wrong. What if I spend the next ten years living on bread and water and watching grass grow for my entertainment and then I still don’t get to retire?

The concept of retirement was born in a time and age when most work required some type of physical labor that was not possible to continue into your 70s. It was also born in a time when the average life expectancy was a lot short, which means people started to develop serious illnesses earlier in life and there was nothing doctors could do but recommend lots of rest.

Times have changed. If you are reading this and are curtaining in your 40s and are reasonably healthy and have a profession based a college degree that does not require large amounts of physical labor, you could easily continue to do that job into your earlier 70s and you should expect to live long enough to do so.

And here’s the kicker. The people who say I’m wrong and plan on the whole early retirement or even normal retirement thing, and are busy calculating how they are going to live on 4% of their retirement savings each year (sounds like fun), have over looked one thing. While we are going to live a lot longer, we are also going to develop a number of health issues a long the way of getting there. And if you think medical costs are high now, wait till you see what they are twenty years from now. Bye bye retirement savings. The hospital is calling, and they want their money.

So, as I was saying, retirement is dead, and that’s ok. Because we are going to be able to remain productive into our 70s, and because someone currently in their 40s should expect to live into their 80s, that means there is only around a ten year period where you should expect to live completely off of savings and not off money currently being earned.

So relax. It’s going to be ok. You have 30 years to correct course, pay off your debts, save for that special “live of your savings” decade, and enjoy life along the way. No beans and rice for us. But no steak and lobster every night either. Something in the middle and life is good.

Oh, forgot to address the people who are saying “but I don’t want to work into my early 70s, I want to travel the world”. A couple of things on that. We are adults, and as adults we have learned to accept that we don’t always get what we want. Like I hinted above, the people who think they are going to get to are going to find that the money they saved for that will be eaten up by hospital bills. You, being the smart individual you are, are going to keep working into your 70s at a great job that has health insurance and covers 80% of that cost and allows you 3 to 4 weeks vacation each year in return for your years of service and as a result you will be have time to travel the world each year and have the money to do so. Meanwhile, those other people are going to be stranded in some third world country having to have their emergency surgery done by some doctor that doesn’t speak English. Oh, and they’re going to have to pay cash.

So, by now you’re thinking this guy is so negative and this version of our future sounds so depressing. Let me address that by saying that I am excited for our futures and you should be too and that is my whole point (just in case you missed it). My point is not to make you feel bad that you are going to have to work until you are 70. My point is that because we live in a time where a 70 year old who has developed special skills as an engineer, doctor, tax adviser, or teacher can still contribute at that age, we are in a much better situation than our great grand parents who only had options to pick from that required hard labor that only a 30 year old could handle. The other reason I am excited is that because we are having this discussion now when we are in our 40’s or early 50’s, there is time for you to plan ahead and incorporate into your career plan any transitions into other types or work you would enjoy more and would not mind doing when you are 68 or even 70. And for those with an entrepreneurial spirit you have not yet tapped, you have time to plan whatever business venture you would like to do and start it now on the side and grow it into a full time endeavor when you are at that age, and do it while you enjoy full time employment at your current job.

So relax and take a deep breath and be happy. Retirement is dead, but the future is bright ahead. Enjoy your life and plan ahead so that you will be doing the work you enjoy when you reach 68 or 70. And start now to contribute to your 401K so that you will be prepared for that small period of time in your late 70s and early 80s when you will need it. Go make the second half or your life the best half. You can do it.