A few months ago, The Conference Board reported that the large number of workers 55 and older who love their jobs is surprisingly high compared to younger generations.
Warren Buffett, 95, knows that sweet feeling of job satisfaction that many older workers experience and how hard it is to let go.
Buffett will step down from his duties as chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B, BRK-A) at the end of the year. In a letter to shareholders published Monday, he announced that he would no longer write an annual letter or speak at the company’s annual meeting. His successor, Greg Abel, 63, will take the reins of the company as CEO on January 1.
Buffett still plans to go to the office for now.
“I’m happy to say that I feel better in the second half of my life than I did in the first,” he wrote. “To my surprise, I generally feel good. Although I move slowly and read with increasing difficulty, I am in the office five days a week where I work with wonderful people. Every once in a while, I come up with a useful idea or I am approached with an offer that we would not have otherwise received.”
To put into perspective how long Buffett has been on the job: He’s been at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway since before Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg were born.
It’s worth reflecting on what keeps someone working well into their ninth decade of life. I reached out to a handful of longevity, retirement, and workplace experts to hear their take on why Buffett stayed in his job so long.
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“I thought Buffett’s letter was a historic display of wisdom, maturity and awareness,” said Ken Dychtwald, a psychologist and gerontologist, CEO of Age Wave and best-selling author.
“He is an extraordinary example of a human being who has been a leader and continues to demonstrate what a leader can be at 95 years old. Why did he work so long? I think he liked it.”
There are three key reasons to work according to Dychtwald. One is to earn a salary. The second is that it creates a purpose. The third is that it creates socialization between generations.
Buffett no longer needed the paycheck, but the other factors apply.
“Here we have a man who worked at his job for 64 years and was the most powerful and influential person in the world in financial services, but he continued to work because there was important work to be done,” Dychtwald said.
“I think he took a lot of pride in what he did. He liked being a role model not only for capitalism, but also for humanism and its contributions to so many things, and his designation of the importance of people who have wealth not to boast about it, but to contribute it to those less fortunate. Who would imagine that the leading capitalist of the last century would have such a gentle and open-hearted philosophy of life?”
FILE – Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, smiles as he plays bridge after Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, May 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File) ·ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Clearly, Buffett is in the twilight of his life, but his longevity offers lessons for the rest of us,” Chris Farrell, author of “Unretirement” and “Purpose and a Paycheck,” told Yahoo Finance.
“Firstly, don’t listen to academics, commentators and colleagues who say everything goes downhill in the second half of life. No, you now have experience to draw on and the knowledge to creatively connect the dots.”
To stay at work, your work must matter. “Work matters if it’s a way to satisfy curiosity, to learn new things, and offers bonds of collegiality – and even friendship – between colleagues and peers,” Farrell said, “if you’re not getting those rewards, then maybe it’s time to move on, maybe to retirement, maybe to a new career.”
For many people, work defines who they are and what they value, and that’s certainly the case for Buffett, he added.
“The same goes for many artists, professionals, entrepreneurs, and skilled workers like machinists and electricians. They’ve spent decades gaining experience: why stop when they’re still good at it? Well, at least until age finally catches up to them (and that’s clearly the case for Buffett now).
What’s intriguing about Buffett’s letter is how much time he spends with friends, colleagues, people he’s met over the years who have coached him to improve (many of them from his hometown of Omaha). Work can be an important part of social life, especially as people age and friends pass away or move away. “Work becomes a source of belonging and conversation.”
The lesson here is not to work until you can’t, Farrell said. “The lesson is to find and stick with what gives you meaning and connections to society at large.”
“It’s surprising that Buffett chose to work into his 90s, but it’s also an increasingly common story,” Ken Stern, a longevity and aging expert and founder of the Longevity Project, told me. “As Americans live longer, more people want to find purpose in the second half of life and also ensure they have strong social connections. (There are) many ways to do it, but work, for a growing number of people, provides meaning and connection.”
“Think of Jane Goodall, who worked until she was 90, or Mel Brooks, who at 99 just committed to producing and starring in ‘Spaceballs 2,'” Stern said.
He added: People ages 75 and older are the fastest-growing component of the American workforce, and the number of working seniors is expected to double by 2030.
“Part of that has to do with economics, of course, but for many people, like Buffett, it has more to do with meaning, connection and a fuller, healthier life,” Stern said.
Do you have any questions about retirement? Personal finances? Anything career related? Click here to send Kerry Hannon a note.
Now, my own opinion. Work is an identity for many people. It describes us, absorbs us intellectually, motivates us. For many of us, as we pass the traditional retirement age of 65, we know we still have energy to contribute. Our instinct tells us that our best work is not in the rearview mirror, but possibly in the future.
Additionally, having a sense of purpose and understanding how our work has meaning (not only to our lives but to the outside world) keeps us at work.
The ideal scenario is to leave work, or retire, whenever and however you want. Almost none of us can do it free of financial pressures like Buffett can. But we can all take advantage of this advice from his letter:
“It’s never too late to improve… Decide what you would like your obituary to say and live your life to deserve it.”
Kerry Hannon is a senior columnist for Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including “Retirement Bites: A Generation X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future,” “In control at 50+: how to succeed in the new world of work,” and “You’re never too old to get rich.” Follow her on blue sky.
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