(Newswire.net — June 18, 2015) –Do you love how you make your living? If you do, why in the world would you stop doing (and getting paid) for it if you didn’t have to do so?
If you’re at or close to retirement age right now, I bet you’re at least a bit apprehensive. Who wouldn’t be, with all the media blather about retirement being impossible for many if not most of us, thanks to multiple recent episodes of economic…unpleasantness?
Well, I’m not. Because I have made peace with the idea that I may never retire. In fact, instead of worrying that I may never be able to retire, I’m looking forward to never retiring.
Why? First of all, because I love what I do. I get paid to think, write, present and collaborate with smart, interesting, collegial people about things that fascinate me. Mostly business and technology-related things, in case you’re wondering. And many of those same things make it possible for me to work anytime from almost anywhere. Have laptop, tablet, smartphone and Internet connectivity, will travel—and work.
Second, because I’ve been doing it successfully for more than 35 years, and gotten to work from home for most of that time. So I’m either good at it, or really good at fooling a lot of really smart people. That second option seems a lot less likely.
Third and most important, there’s no reason I can’t continue to do the work I love and am good at for as long as I can continue to ambulate, cogitate, communicate and take nourishment. (Many of those same media pontificators railing about the impossibility of traditional retirement have also been saying things like “60 is the new 40” a lot, after all. AARP and other senior-watchers delight in pointing out, many of us are living and working longer than our parents and grandparents did. Heck, companies are already marketing robotic exoskeletons for humans that make heavy objects seem weightless, offering construction workers the prospect of active careers into their 60s and 70s.)
So while I may never be able to afford to stop working entirely, the good news is that if I can stay healthy, I can likely continue working indefinitely. And I get to do work that I enjoy, from wherever I happen or want to be most. Given all of that, as long as I can keep working productively and enjoyably, and continue to be paid for doing so, I see no reason to stop.
What about you?
Michael Dortch is founder, principal analyst and managing editor at DortchOnIT.com, “an independent voice for technology-dependent people” and consultancy to users and providers of disruptive business technologies. He is also a certified instructor and trainer for SnappConner PR’s Content University program. Michael has been translating what technologists say and do into information non-technologists can understand and use since 1979. In 2010, he made the inaugural list of the “Top 500 Analysts Using Twitter”—twice. Learn more at www.DortchOnIT.com.