Retired, But Still Clocking In — Why?

Retirement doesn’t always mean walking away from work for good. For some people, continuing to clock in provides purpose, structure, connection, or simply a little extra confidence about what comes next. In this episode, Taylor explores why people often keep working beyond the traditional retirement age and how a well-built retirement plan can help separate the things you want to do from the things you feel you have to do.

Here’s what we discuss in today’s show:

👥 Work can provide connection, routine, and a sense of purpose 

😟 Money worries can make working longer feel like the safer choice 

🏠 Retirement can create a major adjustment in your home life 

🧩 Income, taxes, healthcare, and Social Security all work together 

✅ A strong plan can help make work optional instead of necessary

Resources:

Website:  https://www.demarsfinancial.com/

Phone: (509) 536-9556

Schedule an introduction call with Taylor: https://bit.ly/demarspodcast

Check out Taylor's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorMadeRetirement

Taylor's Newsletter: https://demars-financial-group.kit.com/827c64fe0e

Disclaimer: Since we don't know your specific situation, none of this information should be construed as tax, legal, financial, insurance, financial advice, or other advice and may be outdated or inaccurate. It is your responsibility to verify all information yourself. This content is prepared for entertainment purposes only. If you need advice, please contact a qualified CPA, attorney, insurance agent, financial advisor, or the appropriate professional for the subject you would like help with. Demars Financial Group, LLC or its members cannot be held liable for any use or misuse of this content. Advisory services offered through Demars Financial Group LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor. Demars Financial Group is not affiliated with LPL Financial.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:02

More people in their 60s and 70s are staying on the job than ever before. And it's not always about the money. So today we're unpacking the real reasons we see retirees keep showing up to work.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Welcome to Tailor Made Retirement, where we explore what it takes to build a retirement that works for your money and your life. With third generation certified financial planner Taylor DeMars.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

Hey everybody, welcome into the podcast. Thanks for hanging out with us here on Taylor Made Retirement with Taylor DeMars, CFP certified financial planner. And uh, you know, here to answer my questions as I am the uh the guy who lobs them at him. So thanks for joining us on the the podcast as we talk about these various things. And yeah, to topic this week, Taylor is you know retired but still clocking in. You know, why right? True. So we've got some top tips or top things, I guess not tips, but top things as to what is kind of seen uh in the industry as well, you know, just in general, and then I want to get you to chime in on those and what you guys are seeing in your practice and you know just kind of what you're coming across when some of this stuff pops up. So I got a few. Yeah, I got a few want to break down. Let's I I guess we can start with the money, but that seems like the easy one. So let's start with like social connections or just you know, humans in general are you know, whether whether we feel anti-social at the world at times, for the most part, we are social beings, and sometimes people just want to keep working in their golden years because it gives them somebody to talk to and people to hang out with and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

It's true, it's true. The social connections in the workplace are are not to be overrated or underrated, I should say, because even if you don't love your coworkers, I've it's funny, I've heard some people say, I can't wait to be out of the office and no longer be around Jim. And suddenly a year or two later, they say, you know, I kind of missed Jim's pastor, you know. Yeah, you know, Jim wasn't so bad, you know, it's just uh the hindsight kind of glosses over the worst parts. But you know, depending on you know one's work environment, if they're working in person or especially if you're working remotely, primarily these days, you know, spending 40 hours rubbing shoulders with the same people for for years leaves an impression, right? Yeah, sure. And and I see that among clients where it's you know, they they have a few buddies that they enjoy from work, and it it it's actually pretty rare that people continue those relationships after they retire. I'm not saying it it doesn't happen, but people just kind of live their lives with the least amount of opposition and if they are showing up with the same water cooler, you know, they they don't talk to them as well.

SPEAKER_03 2:30

It's the proximity effect. Uh, you know, in in in audio, something that you know we do here, like with the microphone, right? If I get really close to it, my voice gets a little basier, right? If I get further away. And I think people have that a little bit with their work family, if you will. There's that proximity effect. When you're around, you see them to the to your point a second ago. Ah, Jim's not so bad after all, right? But then if you're out of work and you're not seeing these people, whether you were actually you know more friendly or not, you tend to lose the connection because life just kind of gets in the way, right? Family or whatever, day-to-day activities. So I think that social connected connection is a big piece of why people keep going back.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

It's true. Yeah, it's true. Yeah, I I feel conviction around the saying keep moving to keep moving, right? Yeah, yeah. And I think that deals with ideally to keep you know retirees happy, it deals with both not just their physical self, but their mental self and their emotional self. And I would say emotional is tied into relationships because you know, keeping keeping yourself physically active is how people tend to be physically active longer and and mentally sharp keeps them mentally sharp for longer, but also keeping up on relationships, I think, is a key thing. And and and yes, you can do things such as uh check into a book club or going golfing on occasion, but those aren't necessarily daily things. So often I find clients who really are filling a gap from the social connections they had in the workplace versus being retired, is trying to find ways to be involved in your community. Maybe you can get volunteered, maybe you can mentor. I have often clients who prioritize a paycheck, uh, excuse me, prioritize a passion over a paycheck. And so maybe they still are working, but it's for a completely different purpose than trying to save up for retirement. I've had a client in California, uh, an IT director who said, Hey, I can't wait to retire and be a lifeguard on the beach. Uh, I talked to a client who lives in New York and she she's stressed out at her financial services job, and she says, You know what? I I I've been entertaining being uh a manager at the local uh opera. She loves the opera. Uh oh, that sounds cool.

SPEAKER_03 4:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

Yeah, just different, different challenge, different way to be connected socially, as we're talking about here.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

Yeah, and I think, you know, sometimes the comfort level of, well, I'll just stay working in the workplace because yeah, I don't like Bob, uh, but I like, you know, the six other people or whatever the case is. So there's that low-hanging fruit sometimes where I'm good at this, I know the routine, I'll just keep on. So that's one way, uh, you know, why still clocking in in retirement or right at retirement's door? Um, and and okay, fine, let's circle back around now and talk about the money worries, you know, Taylor, because it certainly is there. But I think even if you have a strategy and a plan in place, sometimes the part-time thing pops up and maybe it disguises itself as money worries, but it's maybe a little bit of some of these other things combined, and you just use the money worry as a as the uh scapegoat, and you go, Well, I'll work part-time.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Right. Right. It's understandable because when you're staring down retirement, for many, it could be a once-in-a-lifetime transition. I was in a career for 30 years, and now I'm looking at not working for 30 years potentially. And it there's just so many unknowns on the other side of that fence that the only safe or even prudent thing sometimes feels like, why don't I just work a bit more? Because it chips away at the years that I'm withdrawing from my portfolio and it adds maybe a little more slush fun to the to the savings as well. And that seems fair, but I think people gravitate towards that because they need to feel like they're in control and they haven't built any sort of plan to give them that certainty. And so they just it feels like a mini insurance policy is I'll just I'll just work a bit more, I'll work a bit more.

SPEAKER_03 5:51

That's a good point. And if you do pull the trigger on going into retirement early and then decide to do the part-time thing, make sure that you're talking with your advisor and make sure you understand the rules around some of that too, Taylor, right? So the income limitations and things of that nature, if you if you've turned on Social Security, I mean. Um just bear that in mind, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Yeah, I like to think that you know, retirement planning is a Rubik's Cube. You can't pretend to turn on one income source without ignoring how it affects your your uh your your healthcare subsidy plan or your tax plan and and and the list goes on.

SPEAKER_03 6:20

Very true. Okay, so that's two reasons. Let's go to uh a very common one. If you are married out there and you're listening, this will certainly resonate because that's what it is. It's the other person, right? And yeah, I mean, I talk to advisors all across the country all the time for years, Taylor, and and it's always there's always tons of stories that each one has about one spouse or the other saying, get them out of my house during the day. Right. They I love them. I I would jump in front of a bus for them, but I'm going to kill them if they're around me underfoot all day long, right? So that's something to bear in mind.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Yep, yeah. It can be a wake-up call when they're home for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And uh and everything in between. Yeah, and everything in between. And this is kind of funny, hopefully it's not off topic, but uh my dad, you know, who's been in this industry since the mid-90s, he likes to share this story when on the same subject where you know they had he had one regular client review with a great longtime couple client who were retired, actually relatively newly retired, and they had several goals, and one of them was to build a shop, right? And they were just kind of one of those someday goals. And but one particular day, as my dad was walking them out the door after the meeting, she the wife kind of pulled him aside and kind of whispered, like, can we please accelerate the plan to withdraw money for the shop? Because he is driving me crazy. Yeah. And and uh and it's the exact same thing we're talking about here, right? Is is needing to get out of the house. And she he said that she said that he was just hovering over her and waiting on her, and because he just had that gap, right? He had during the day he had things to do, and he was but during that day and time at the home, he didn't know what to do. So it was kind of like he was a like a child again and waiting on her and such. And anyway, long story short, they they took out the money, built a shop, and their marriage was much better because of it. And and that comes in different you know flavors for different couples, right? For sure. It doesn't necessarily mean a shop, and maybe it's but it's the retiring to something, right?

SPEAKER_03 8:16

Exactly. Yeah, not just you know, and look, I mean, you know, try putting a silver lining on an unfortunate time, think about the pandemic. How many people that maybe were even close to retirement suddenly had to stick, you know, they're around each other 24-7, right? With lockdowns or things. It was all it was kind of an interesting dry run in that regard where you could kind of go, Oh yeah. I mean, I talked to friends and stuff, they're like, Yeah, we're gonna have to have a plan for retirement because this isn't gonna work, you know, being around each other. And my wife and I are the same way. We we were work, we both worked from home prior to the pandemic situation. Um, but I'm in a separate building. So I I built my studio uh, you know, down the hill from the house. So just for that reason, yeah, like you know, foresight there to think about hey, she's in the house, I'm down here, we're kind of going to work, right? Yeah, and when the kid moved out, she moved upstairs, she's put her office upstairs. So if I come in, I've got the you know, I've got the first floor to myself kind of thing, and she's still upstairs working. So that's something to keep in mind, too.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

That's true. Yeah, keep the keep the division, keep the piece.

SPEAKER_03 9:18

Yeah, so changes in the home is another reason people may, or maybe you know, just to avoid changes in the home may be your reason why. And ultimately, Taylor, you know, whatever your reason might be, any of these three we mentioned, or some other ones, a lot of times for many people, we'll wrap it up with this one is just no plan or doubt in their plan, right? Okay, I got one put together, or I've got a collection of stuff, or I did it myself. Uh, but when the push comes to shove, they're like, ah, I don't trust it, I don't feel good about it, right? So having a good solid structure and really understanding how it works, and I'm sure you've got plenty of examples of this where you know you're going through the process, you're onboarding, you're building things, people are a little skeptical, and it's not till it's all done and in black and white, or they've even seen like the the money start to roll in in retirement, something where it finally clicks, right? And they're like, Oh, I don't have that doubt anymore. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

That's true. I mean, this kind of goes back to the money worries a bit, but it's actually the the broader plan, which is people the money is yes, central, but having a plan to for not just making sure that the money can come out sustainably from the paycheck, but being ready for the what-ifs.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

Yeah, understanding it, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the what-ifs can come from things both in our control and out of our control. And many times those things out of our control could be can be health scares, health instances, changes in legislation, the economy, right? Yep. And and and a good plan needs to not just try and pred no plan can predict the future, but the best plans are prepared for a range of futures. And I think it's because of that uncertainty people feel is what causes them to go back and and try and make more money or just kick the can down the road because it just feels safer to wait until 65 to retire, because at least they know that the health they have the healthcare uh question answered, because that's when Medicare starts. Because any time any sooner than that, they just don't know if they can afford healthcare on the marketplace, and that's understandable.

SPEAKER_03 11:05

Yeah, and I think seeing that in stress testing different scenarios, even obvious obviously you can't predict you know out of the left field kind of things, but certainly stress testing it. What happens if one one retires early? What happens if one goes, you know, maybe has long-term care, like some of those different things that also becomes that kind of eye-opening, you know, maybe aha moment for folks as well. Um, and therefore that kind of helps alleviate some of that doubt.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Agreed. Agreed. All right, and that's anything I missed? No, I think you got it. And and I I I I would just like to say that people continue to work is not a universally bad thing, of course. I think one of the biggest blessings is people continue to work because they enjoy it and they're good at it. But at some point, you're you we only have so much time in a day, we only have so much time that we're healthy. And I think for that reason is what we're passionate about helping people determine when they are able to uh have a work optional lifestyle that we call retirement.

SPEAKER_03 11:56

There you go. There you go. That was the phrase I was looking for earlier. I could not think of it. You know, the work optional, right? It's like, hey, look, if you want to go and work, you know, in retirement, cool. Is it because you have to? That's the different thing. If you have to for the money, and there's nothing wrong with that either, but if you have to because of the money situation, that's one thing. But if you just want to, um, and there's sometimes there's whatever this little mental hurdle might be or whatever, get that stuff addressed with a strategy and a plan, Taylor, and that way then it becomes optional. Well, I feel like it. Now I now I know that I'm going to work just because I actually do enjoy it, or whatever the case might be, versus I'm a little worried that I'm not gonna have enough or that we're gonna spend too much and run out, or you know, the standard worries. And that's what that's what the roadmap's all about, right? So agreed. Yeah, agreed. Get that retirement readiness roadmap. That's a tongue twister.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

It is. Yeah, I try to make it hard on you. Sorry about that. The triple R.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

Get the triple R.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

We call it the triple R internally.

SPEAKER_03 12:50

Oh, there you go.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Saves us time. But no, the the triple R retirement readiness roadmap is built to do just that, is that is is create clarity, alleviate those concerns, and and help build confidence for being able to pull that trigger and enjoy retirement.

SPEAKER_03 13:04

There you go. And if you guys need one of those or you need to get started, or you have questions about how it might work for you, uh find out if they're a good fit for you at demarsfinancial.com. Click on the could we be a fit button at demarsfinancial.com, D E M A R Sfinancial.com. We'll have links in the show descriptions for you to check out. And don't forget also to check out Taylor's YouTube channel as well. It's got a lot of good content on there. So go check that out. And you can find all that information at the website there, the main website, a lot of good tools, tips, and resources, and of course, scheduling some time to chat. And with that, we'll say thank you so much for your time here on the podcast. As always, we appreciate it. Uh, don't forget to like and subscribe on whatever again platform you enjoy using so you catch new content when it comes out. And we will see you next time here on Taylor Made Retirement with Taylor DeMaris. Thanks, Taylor.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

My pleasure. Thank you, Mark.