Here's a great take on this subject from today's (Sunday March 6) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05065/466636.stm
An excerpt:
"Retirement is an idea whose time came, flared for two generations and is now dying rapidly. Rising in its place is an ancient idea. It's called living."
And:
"And before we mourn the demise of retirement, we need to remember that for most of the history of Western culture, and for about two-thirds of American history, nearly everyone worked until just before they died."
Just a great perspective on this whole subject.
my husband and I belong to a volunteer organization that has a ton of older people in it....
we LONG for the day when we can be available for every project that we are missing now.....
who says that just because you "retire" that you quit doing something....
a retirement to me means you have your basic finacial floor to build on.....it doesn't represent all of you money but it represents the CONCRETE money that your own personal savings can add to.....