Retirement is a great time to jump-start your health and fitness. Health clubs not only have programs designed for your age and level of fitness but also provide a community to help you reach your goals. Health and vitality are the keys to having a long retirement, one that allows new activities, travel, and continued learning.
One of the biggest myths associated with the concept of retirement is that when we reach a certain age, the need to live a meaningful and productive life declines or is eliminated. The “ideal” retirement is portrayed as a time of endless leisure, with no responsibility and endless days of fun. Although this may sound great on the surface, the truth is that most people are not meant for this type of retirement, and statistics back this up. Over one-third of male retirees go back to work in some form within one year of retirement. Replacing full-time work with full-time leisure is not the answer.
By the late 1960s, the concept of retirement had taken hold. Nearly everyone saw retirement as the culmination of the American Dream. Private pension plans now covered over one-half of private sector employees.
Although one can cite a few instances before this date, 1883 is when retirement was essentially invented. To help his countrymen resist a threatened takeover by Marxists, Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck of Germany announced that he would pay a pension to any nonworking German over age 65. This was a brilliant plan not only because it was successful, but also due to its actuarial integrity. Since very few people lived to age 65 at this time in history, very few benefits had to be paid out! Bismarck also set the world standard for the exact year at which old age begins and established the precedent that government should pay people for growing old.