FREE NEWSLETTER
DURING THE PANDEMIC, I’ve taken to reading the obituaries. I especially enjoy the stories about people who lived a long time. What I’ve found is that many of them volunteered in some fashion or continued to work until late in life. Most didn’t do it because of the money. They did it because it gave them a sense of purpose.
I’ve come to believe that doing work that we love and have a passion for—that’s meaningful to us—serves as our own personal “fountain of youth.”
Ask yourself: Why do rich people, like Charlie Munger at age 97 and Warren Buffett at age 91, continue to work when they have more money than they’ll ever need? My hunch: They work because it makes them feel useful and gives them a sense of purpose. They love what they do. It excites them and makes them want to get out of bed in the morning. Their work keeps them youthful and energized. Sitting on a couch watching TV doesn’t do that for them—or for many other people, I suspect.
In fact, a recent poll found that 93% of the retirees surveyed believed it’s important to feel useful in retirement and 87% agreed that “being useful helps them to feel youthful.” As I’ve argued before, purpose is something that we all need until our dying days—and having great wealth doesn’t change that.
I think it is important to note that there are many non-work ways of finding purpose in our lives. The recent mass resignations highlight the fact that many people do not find their jobs meaningful beyond the financial benefits they provide. However, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t living meaningful and fulfilling lives. The same applies to those of us who are retired and find rewarding ways to spend our days that don’t involve paid or unpaid work.
I totally agree. Life needs purpose and we all want to be useful whether in job for pay or volunteer work. I think this is missed by a lot of the FIRE people. We need to have something useful to do after breakfast.