Growing beyond working age is definitely an issue to be addressed, especially in our case where our retirement savings largely disappeared during various economic crises both external (like the dot-com crisis) and within our family (various periods of underemployment).
We address it from an unusual angle for Americans. My wife is Japanese, and we lived in Japan for a time. We feel the typical Western concept of seniors quitting their useful work at 65 and going off by themselves to play in an RV or at a retirement community is not natural. In Asia still, the expectation is that the parents will live with their children when they get older. My wife's parents, for example, live with their oldest son and his wife, very harmoniously (although her father has since died). This can work very well if parents and children have good relationships with their children, which we do. It also means the time, money, and love spent raising kinds can make up for some of the money that didn't go into a retirement account.
My oldest son and his fiancee (who we have known for many years) like this idea (he grew up partially in Japan, and she is half-Japanese). My middle son also likes the idea, but of course we have no idea what any eventual spouse of his might think). Also from Asia comes the idea that looking after parents when they are older is a reciprocation of them looking after you when you were young, with the parents in turn taking some of the burden of raising their own kids off their back.
This setup has benefits for the children as well as for the parents. I intend to work at least part time as long as I can (a lot of my work is freelance brainwork) and that money plus our combined social security will help pay for a much nicer home for all, and also help pay the additional expenses we bring with us. We can help our kids in many other ways too. For example, we can help with housework and looking after their kids while they work, which makes the decision to have kids less burdensome for them than it was for us.
Also, both the grandkids and grandparents receive a lot of benefits from being together. Grandparents can offer a kind of unconditional love that balances the more strict affection parents need to give. Grandparents can also offer a lot of wisdom brought about through their years, plus a lot more time to be available to the young ones. Just like raising our kids, the focus in preparing for our older years is more on building relationships than on financial considerations.
Hopefully this will work out for us. If not, we'll probably just hole up in some cheap mobile home, and live off our social security and meager savings until we die. We'll read books and watch movies, look at the sunset together, and throw ourselves on the mercy of Medicare when we near the end.
We address it from an unusual angle for Americans. My wife is Japanese, and we lived in Japan for a time. We feel the typical Western concept of seniors quitting their useful work at 65 and going off by themselves to play in an RV or at a retirement community is not natural. In Asia still, the expectation is that the parents will live with their children when they get older. My wife's parents, for example, live with their oldest son and his wife, very harmoniously (although her father has since died). This can work very well if parents and children have good relationships with their children, which we do. It also means the time, money, and love spent raising kinds can make up for some of the money that didn't go into a retirement account.
My oldest son and his fiancee (who we have known for many years) like this idea (he grew up partially in Japan, and she is half-Japanese). My middle son also likes the idea, but of course we have no idea what any eventual spouse of his might think). Also from Asia comes the idea that looking after parents when they are older is a reciprocation of them looking after you when you were young, with the parents in turn taking some of the burden of raising their own kids off their back.
This setup has benefits for the children as well as for the parents. I intend to work at least part time as long as I can (a lot of my work is freelance brainwork) and that money plus our combined social security will help pay for a much nicer home for all, and also help pay the additional expenses we bring with us. We can help our kids in many other ways too. For example, we can help with housework and looking after their kids while they work, which makes the decision to have kids less burdensome for them than it was for us.
Also, both the grandkids and grandparents receive a lot of benefits from being together. Grandparents can offer a kind of unconditional love that balances the more strict affection parents need to give. Grandparents can also offer a lot of wisdom brought about through their years, plus a lot more time to be available to the young ones. Just like raising our kids, the focus in preparing for our older years is more on building relationships than on financial considerations.
Hopefully this will work out for us. If not, we'll probably just hole up in some cheap mobile home, and live off our social security and meager savings until we die. We'll read books and watch movies, look at the sunset together, and throw ourselves on the mercy of Medicare when we near the end.