Why Are You Really Still Working?

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The reason why you’re still working could fall into a few potential categories - and it’s up to you to figure out why.

The first potential reason why you’re still working is that you must work for financial reasons. If you’re young, have a family that depends on you, and can’t financially stop working – there’s your reason. Many people fall into this category, especially if you’re far from retirement age. If you find yourself in the category, know that you’re not alone, but also take stock in your work life and try to ensure that you’re balancing your work and your life as best as you can. You can’t get these years back, so try to find a job that you enjoy and that brings you fulfillment, while you can continue to save for your future as well.

Why Are You Still Working?

The next category of people probably could financially stop working, but they may have additional financial goals that they want to make first. Maybe they want to stash away extra funds for college savings for their children, or they are just second guessing their finances. What can really help this category of people is financial modeling, so that they can test out various financial scenarios hypothetically and see how they might weather them. It can give them the reassurance necessary to feel secure in their finances so that they feel comfortable stopping their work.

There’s another group of people that simply don’t stop working because they genuinely love what they do. They could easily retire for multiple reasons but they choose not to because they would rather be working. These people are often deep into their professional career or own their own business and are hesitant to give it up.

Fear impacts the next group that can’t seem to retire, even when they might be financially ready to do so. They might be afraid of the financial repercussions of stopping their work, even if they would be financially solvent. Or, they could be afraid of the markets, or politicians, or just about anything – the point being, they let fear stop them from retiring, even when they could do so.

The last group of people that are still working, could stop working, but aren’t sure why they haven’t yet. This group generally lacks passions or hobbies that they’d like to spend their time on in retirement, so they don’t have a real focus on how to spend their time once they stop working.

Focus On Your Happiness

At the bottom of it all, no matter what group you’re in, if you don’t have to be working you need to determine the reason why you’re still working. If the reason is that it’s because you love your work and it brings you fulfillment, then great. If the reason is just about anything else, then you need to figure out what is really stopping you from your retirement so that you can optimize your happiness and enjoy the time that you have.

By Andrew Rosen, Contributor