Retirement never gets old

Two mock ads. Opposite points of view. Head-to-head. Which is better? That's The Pitch - part of Aussie TV show Gruen.

The ads are just for fun, but the topics are real. The latest episode focuses on retirement. Hiring more elderly workers versus compulsory retirement at 65.

Here's the ad in favour of retirement.

It features retired people making (pretend) regretful statements about work. None of which are in the least bit convincing - especially when said while the person is enjoying their post-work life.

"I wish I'd spent more time at work"
"I'd kill for a conference call."
"I miss my emails"
"What I'd give for one more rush hour"

The ad ends with the slogan "Retirement never gets old". While it's talking about retirement at 65, the same point could be made for 60, 55, 50, etc.

For many the only reason to continue as far as 65 is monetary. Basically, we spend too much money on questionable purchases along the way. As a result, we need to keep working in our older years to re-earn the wasted money.

Give ourselves a gift

While we might get some joy from our current-day purchases, it's worth asking if they are worth the pain that our 65-year-old self will go through in the future to earn back that lost money.

Perhaps it's better to discover today the joy of less.

Less, or smaller, purchases give us less clutter in the here-and-now, and give our future selves the gift of an earlier retirement - less email, conference calls and rush hour traffic.

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