Rethinking Life After 60: Day 4: Not Your Grandparents’ Retirement, What’s Changed and What Hasn’t

Think about the retirement your grandparents had, or even your parents. For many, it meant stopping work at 65, collecting a stable pension, and settling into a quieter life.

Fast forward to today: the financial landscape is more complex, health care systems are strained, families are more geographically scattered, and the social contract around aging is rapidly changing.

We’re living longer, but not always with the same community or family supports. Defined benefit pensions are disappearing. The costs of housing, food, and medical care have risen. And many of us have to plan and advocate for ourselves in ways previous generations didn’t.

Yet, some things haven’t changed, and that’s important too. The desire for purpose. The need for connection. The importance of health, autonomy, and being valued. Those are timeless.

Understanding what’s changed helps us build practical, up-to-date plans. Honouring what hasn’t changed reminds us that our core human needs endure.

Today’s retirees have more tools, technology, financial literacy resources, travel options, and flexible work models. But those tools require new mindsets. We need to view retirement less as “rest” and more as “redefinition.” Take the example of Lillian, a former high school science teacher who retired at 62. She initially planned to spend her days gardening, reading, and taking it easy, all the things she hadn’t had time for while working full time. But within a year, the routine wore thin. She found herself restless, disconnected, and unsure of her place in the world. It wasn’t physical exhaustion she needed to recover from, it was the loss of structure, purpose, and connection to others.

One day, at her local library, she saw a flyer seeking volunteers to support a STEM program for girls. Curious, she signed up. That one decision opened up a new chapter: mentoring, coaching teachers, even giving talks at community events. “I didn’t go back to work,” she says. “I went forward into a different kind of work, work that fit who I am now, not who I was.”

Lillian’s story highlights an important truth: rest may be part of retirement, but it can’t be the whole story. Many people are redefining themselves in this stage, and that shift in mindset is what makes all the difference.

So, while the road may look different from our grandparents’ time, the journey still asks: What brings me joy? What makes life meaningful? And how do I stay engaged in a way that fits the world as it is now?