There are some subjects that Americans are just weird about. Studs Terkel said we wouldn’t talk about sex when he was a kid in the 1920s, but death was everywhere. By the time he was old in the 2000s, death was tiptoed around, and sex was all anyone would talk about.
We’re weird about race, obviously. Parenting. Religion. Money. Politics.
Okay, we’re weird about most subjects.
But—retirement?
Yes, we’re all over the place on that too, it seems.
BlackRock CEO and workaholic Larry Fink wrote in the latest version of his annual shareholders letter last month that society can’t afford to have people retiring as young as they do. “No one should have to work longer than they want to,” Fink wrote. “But I do think it’s a bit crazy that our anchor idea for the right retirement age—65 years old—originates from the time of the Ottoman Empire.”
Dan Amos, the CEO of Aflac, recently said he doesn’t want to retire, even after running the insurance company for 34 years. “There’s only so many fish I can catch,” Amos says. “I’m not going to be that good of a retiree.” Fortune magazine implied he’s been in the same job so long he might be “marking time.”
Meanwhile, two young athletes did decide to quit sports recently, and they had to defend their decisions to seemingly incredulous journalists.
“After a couple of years of painful deliberation, I have come to realize that I do not want to play professional golf,” said Stanford University golf star Rachel Heck. “I do not want a life on the road and in the public eye. I no longer dream of the U.S. Open trophies and the Hall of Fame. And I realize now that these dreams were never what my dad intended when he first put a club in my hand. He pushed me when I was young so that I could find myself in the position I am right now: Stepping into the future equipped with the skills to tackle any challenge and the courage to pave my own path.”
Thirty-year-old tennis star Danielle Collins has some health issues, wants to have a baby, and wants to get off the road, too. No one can accept that she’s going to quit at the end of this year, despite her repeated declarations. “I’ve loved what I’ve done and the opportunity and the doors it’s opened, but it’s not easy, and I am a homebody,” Collins says. “I’m a simple person. I like to water my plants and walk my dog and go for a coffee in the morning, and make sure the bed’s made. I got my special laundry detergent and have my little beauty stuff in the cabinets and, gosh, if I had to be at home all the time, every single day, I’d never get sick of it. I like reading my book. Doesn’t take a lot to make me happy.”
The proper response to Larry Fink is: I don’t think you want to try to tell a union plumber or even a commission salesperson that the reason they want to knock off at 65 has something to do with the Ottoman Empire. The reason they want to knock off is because they’re worn out.
As for Amos, Heck and Collins: Seems like they’ve thought a lot about what they’re doing and why, and come to honest conclusions. They could be wrong, of course; maybe Amos should leave, maybe Heck and Collins should stay—but what the hell business is it of anyone else’s?
None. Except, we’re weird about retirement in this country. Just like we’re weird about everything else.
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