In academia the problem is convincing people to retire. At my university, if you agree to retire at 65, they will continue paying your salary (and retirement contributions) for five years, even though you are retired and have no responsibilities.

Most people don't take the deal. A few get a job at another university and collect two salaries. But hardly anyone actually retires until they get sick and unable to work sometime in their 70's.

It's making universities around the country very top-heavy.

If you retire in academia, they take away your office!

The longest I have worked in one place is 6 years. The longest I have ever lived in one place continually is also 6 years.

It's making universities around the country very top-heavy.

They could take a page out of the Unseen University playbook and allow job candidates to create their own openings.

Something I've been wondering: How difficult does the average person's workday get when they're 65? At what age does the average person find doing their job too difficult? At what age does the average person "feel like" retiring (regardless of whether they are financially able to or not)?

Obviously the type of job is a huge factor here, but I'm trying to get a general sense....

This is why the increases to the Social Security age are so pernicious. It's one thing for a prof or many white collar workers to cling to their desk for an extra five or seven years if they choose. It's a very different story in a lot of other jobs.

Yeah. Plus wealthy people tend to live a lot longer than poor people, so I assume they'd be better able to handle working longer too.

I agree with Brenda. It's no accident that the increases in SS age have been made by white collar legislators, not by laborers.

My stepfather was a dentist in private practice, and fully retired at about 75, when due to a neuropathy he stopped having the hand control to do the work of dentistry. Financially, he could have retired much sooner. My father (a doctor) retired as soon as he was financially able (kids graduated from college). He's 68 and could certainly still do the work. My in-laws are both 75 and were both accountants and are in fine health and could probably still do their last office jobs if they had to, but they were happy to retire when they did, at standard retirement age (65-67ish).

My mom retired at 64. She had broken her hip and they refused to give her work where she didn't have to be walking all day. She lost a lot of pension benefits because of that.

My dad continued to work until 70. Dairy farming is of course very hard work with long days. He retired when he was no longer able to do the work.

I have woken up in the morning and nearly burst into tears at the idea of going to work, but that was a function of the job. I'm currently still cool with the idea of coming to work at this point. I figure everyone dreams of being paid to stay at home and do just what you want.