Why I Retired at 32

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyahH2o9AAk autoplay:0]

I am pleased to share my recent talk which was featured at TEDxIIT in Chicago, Illinois.

When I was 32, I took what I called "The First Retirement". Among the reasons I took this leave was my belief that modern retirement will be unrealistic and unattainable for most people in this country. While many people will achieve the financial means to secure their golden years of retirement, the majority will not. This is a major societal problem -- a problem that will impact all of us and needs to be addressed.

The ways in which we educate, work, and retire are increasingly becoming out-of-touch with our current reality. With rapid change continuing to take place all around us, education needs to become more adaptable and experiential and less standardized. Career paths need to become more flexible, less linear, and longer. As work-lives become longer and costs of living increase, many people will need to delay their final retirement. They will need to cycle between periods of work, reinvention, retraining, and leisure throughout their lifetimes. For many, retirement will not be a one-time event -- it will occur several times throughout their lives.

We have the ability to build better workplaces and secure stronger futures for our generation and the next. My hope is for us to be bold enough to take serious action and bring about serious change. I encourage you to share these contrarian ideas with your employers, elected officials, coworkers, and children -- challenge them to think differently and have conversations about the future of work and retirement.