What if the Best Retirement is No Retirement at All?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio, News.

**David Lloyd** (0:09)
I'm fitter, I'm better at my job than I was when I was 30 Why on earth should I, why would I want to sit around and do nothing?

**Stacey Vanek Smith** (0:17)
David Lloyd spent his career working in commercial radio, first as a presenter and eventually running stations in places like Manchester, London, and Birmingham. But by the time he was approaching 60, he found himself and his peers in what he calls semi-retirement.

**David Lloyd** (0:34)
We were doing bits of consulting and writing and we're on that drift towards from being busy every day to doing nothing.

**Stacey Vanek Smith** (0:41)
David wasn't ready to retire, but work was starting to dry up. He was also noticing a shift as a radio listener. More and more of his favorite presenters were getting replaced by younger talent, and the stations were playing music that wasn't really tailored to him and people from his generation.
So during the pandemic, he had an idea.

**David Lloyd** (1:01)
For a radio station for people our age.

**Stacey Vanek Smith** (1:13)
That's right, Boom Radio.

**David Lloyd** (1:16)
After baby boomers, because we know that boomers become a bit of an insult, let's reclaim it.

**Stacey Vanek Smith** (1:21)
It wasn't just for people David's age, it was made by them too. The station employs people who have decades of experience under their belts and desire to keep working, but who might have limited opportunities. David and his radio peers are part of a growing segment of the global population that wants to continue working later in life or who are returning to the workforce after years away from it.

**David Lloyd** (1:45)
This is the radio station we've actually spent our whole lives getting ready to run. It really is. So I'm having an absolute ball.

**Stacey Vanek Smith** (1:53)
I'm Stacey Vanek Smith in for Sarah Holder and David Gura. And this is The Big Take from Bloomberg News. Today on the show, why are so many workers delaying retirement or re-entering the workforce? What challenges does that pose for them and for the labor market and what one group of radio lovers did to take matters into their own hands.
In the US, entering your 60s marks the start of a new chapter, senior citizenship. You become eligible for things like Medicare and reduce transit fares. You can start claiming social security funds. And the expectation is you're going to retire soon if you haven't already. It's an idea that dates back centuries to late 1800s Germany.

**Haleh Nazeri** (2:38)
I think it was Otto von Bismarck who created the social security program back in Germany.

**Stacey Vanek Smith** (2:45)
When almost no one would draw down on it, right?

**Haleh Nazeri** (2:48)
That's right. That's part of what we're trying to have a conversation about is that system no longer really functions the way it should today because that was a system created when people weren't living as long. And the jobs were quite different back then. They were more physical and agrarian and manufacturing kind of jobs. So it was it was a different work style.

**Stacey Vanek Smith** (3:10)
Haleh Nazeri is the head of the Longevity Economy Initiative at the World Economic Forum.

**Haleh Nazeri** (3:15)
People are living longer lives than ever before. However, our retirement systems, our pension systems didn't really change to catch up with that.

**Stacey Vanek Smith** (3:25)
We still have that mid-60s retirement standard. Even though when it was established back in 1800s Germany, the average German only lived until about 40
And when the US established its social security system in the 1930s, the average lifespan was about 60 Today, American life expectancy is nearly 80

**Haleh Nazeri** (3:44)
People are living so much longer that they could work longer. Now, we're not saying people should work longer. But what we have found is some people need to work longer because they just didn't save enough. And between their savings and social security, it's not enough to live off of.
Some people want to work longer because that is where they find their purpose and their community, and they're not quite ready to let that go. And when you're talking about retirement going from five years to 25 years, that's a long time to try to find something to keep yourself busy and happy.

**Stacey Vanek Smith** (4:20)
And that has led to the rise of so-called un-retirement, basically returning to the workforce after you retire.

**Haleh Nazeri** (4:27)
So there are two main reasons why people un-retire.
One is definitely financial. They retire and they realize they don't have enough money saved up to live the kind of life that they want to live.