Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2014. The Merrill Lynch survey figures on retirees who keep working are from 2014. Irving Kahn is described as 109 years old and still watching the markets every day, which was true then; he died in February 2015.
Contrary to popular belief, there is a high probability that millionaires keep working past retirement age, unlike the rest of the population, who tend to dream of retiring young and rich.
According to a survey by Merrill Lynch, reported by CNBC, a third of wealthy “retirees” with between $1 million and $5 million in investable assets are still working, compared with only 15% of retirees with less than $250,000.
But why do they keep working if they don’t need to?
The answer is simple: millionaires keep working because they enjoy it, because they want to and because they feel they need to.
The typical wealthy retiree is a hard-working, passionate person, so lying on the beach or playing pétanque may be fun at first, for a few days.
“Everybody needs a game to play, even when you have already won.”
Wealthy retirees say they need to stay mentally active. According to the survey, this is the most common answer to the question of why they keep working. They also say that work helps them stay younger, fit and mentally sharp.
Irving Kahn is the oldest investor in history. He is now 109 years old, and every day he is up and keeping a close eye on the financial markets. He will die buying and selling shares. He can’t picture himself retired from his work.
But there are other reasons why they keep working.
Most millionaire retirees work for themselves and own their own businesses, so they set their own hours (even if they end up working harder than anyone else in the company). And at the end of the day, they are not up on scaffolding, canning food in a factory or shut away in a windowless cubicle answering to ten different bosses.
(Read: 12 things millionaires know)
Their definitions of work are much more flexible. According to the survey, half of these retirees took a break from work when they first retired. Merrill Lynch calls this a “career intermission”. It is a chance to recharge, relax and think about what you want to do from now on.
Most of them can’t last even 30 days off. Some go back to running their companies behind the scenes, others stay on as advisers, and others choose a new career that could be called a diversification of the previous one: more flexible, more fun and more meaningful.
Some business owners become angel investors, others turn to humanitarian work to do something for the world, while others enjoy teaching new talent the skills they have developed over a lifetime.
Anything but retiring to do nothing. And that mindset is probably what made them successful people and true millionaires in the first place.
Further reading
- 10 ways the rich think differently from everyone else
- The young man who planned to retire rich at 27
Featured image: Qypchak, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
