How Has the Pandemic Changed Your Thoughts on Retirement (If At All)? – Corporette.com

Has the pandemic changed your thoughts on retirement, or retirement planning in general? If so, how?

I’ve seen a lot of reader comments noting how the pandemic has changed their thoughts on their career in general — lots of people are leaning out, prioritizing better work-life balance, and in general trying to find happiness through their jobs and careers.

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But I’m curious — have your thoughts on retirement changed because of the pandemic? If so, how? I could see this going in a few ways:

• The carpe diem approach – after all, we only live once, so why save for a retirement that may or may not happen (due to pandemic, illness, or other) when you can spend the money today and know you’ll enjoy it?
• The buckling down approach – you realize you won’t always have health and youth, and decide to buckle down to take care of Future You
• A pause to your regular approach – it’s been a few weird years! The stock market has been weird, the job market has been weird – so let’s take a brief pause and figure out what’s going on.

My own practices changed slightly because we were so Covid Cautious, for so long — so it felt like money we would have been spending on vacations or dining out could be redirected to (before tax) savings accounts. So this isn’t quite retirement thinking, but it is Future Me thinking.

What are your thoughts? Have you changed your approach to retirement savings at all in the past few years?

Stock photo via Stencil.

Further reading from Corporette on retirement: