Retirement: A modern-day conundrum

It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone — Andy Rooney

Arun Kumar

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Natural selection has gifted us with certain psychological traits that do not always benefit the majority of the aging population in the present era. Indeed, there are a few extraordinary individuals, such as Fauja Singh who completed a marathon at 100, who age remarkably well. However, they are not the norm. As I grapple with my own physical discomforts, like an aching knee, or with financial concerns, like a dwindling net worth reflected in my monthly bank statement, I find myself caught between inspiration and disheartenment when I hear or read about these exceptional cases.

However, this narrative isn’t about envying centenarian marvels. Rather, it’s about how the rapid pace of human development over the last 10,000 years, since the advent of agrarian societies, has left us unprepared in certain aspects of modern life, particularly, the average person now lives well beyond their reproductive years and is ill-equipped to handle the challenges and hardships of old age.

An inherent aspect of life is its need for energy. Every living entity is in a constant state of needing sustenance. A continuous intake of energy is necessary to maintain the structure of living beings against the relentless force of entropy, which persistently attempts to scatter their constituent atoms back into the cosmos. In this sense, living beings are akin to vehicles needing a pit stop for refueling or smartphones requiring a power source for recharging. Anything that ‘operates’ requires regular replenishment of energy.

For humans, the acquisition of energy was once achieved through hunting and gathering, with energy being the fruit of our labor. Those days are now in the past. In the present era, we need money to procure energy. Supermarket aisles are now a proxy for forests, and instead of wielding a spear or a bow and arrow, we must ensure we don’t venture out into the wilds of the supermarket without our credit cards. With our money, we now hunt in the aisles of the supermarket. But make no mistake, like the effort required for hunting and gathering, having money is still our time and labor. Being part of the work force is a prerequisite for procuring money.

In our later years, when our cognitive or physical abilities may be declining, or when we can no longer compete with the younger generation, or when our skill set becomes obsolete (like being proficient in FORTRAN, which might draw blank looks today), it is time to retire from the workforce. Retirement halts the steady inflow of money. However, to meet our ongoing energy needs, it’s crucial to have a reserve of funds saved up that we can gradually draw from to sustain our energy requirements and ourselves.

On a side note, in the present era it is not only food, but we now need accessories to service our living bodies and the money required for them could be larger than the need for food. The place to buy food may be miles away so we need money for public transport or to have a car. We need a home, clothing, and since now there is leisure time at hand, we need a TV, an internet connection. The list goes on and on — the things we need start to need their own things, like home and car require insurance or a smartphone with a plethora of accessories.

The point is that after we leave the work force (let us call it retirement), and a steady stream of cash flow dries up, we need to have enough saved up to meet myriad of resource requirements for the years we are going to live.

If you are lucky enough to live in a country with a good safety net, or if you have a steady pension from your working days then good for you. Even if those options are there, it is still good to plan ahead and save for retirement years. There is plenty of advice out there to start saving early, let the compounding do its magic and see the savings grow. In trying to do that, however, some of the psychological traits that natural selection has gifted us are no longer helpful.

Two big impediments in saving for retirement are our tendency to discount the future and predilection for choosing the path of least resistance. Both these psychological tendencies were a beneficial trait in the past and gave us an edge in either securing or conserving resources.

Consider the concept of discounting the future. Natural selection operates within the confines of the present environment. It lacks the foresight to select traits that could potentially be beneficial in future scenarios. When faced with the decision to utilize available resources now or conserve them for later, the general tendency is to opt for immediate use. After all, the future is unpredictable. This survival strategy, particularly in an uncertain environment, aligns with the adage, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” It underscores the logic of prioritizing immediate, guaranteed resources over uncertain, future ones.

In the context of the present era, another psychological impediment that natural selection has bestowed upon us is our inclination to choose the path of least resistance. Given that energy is a valuable resource, in the past, one often had to risk their life to obtain it, efficiency and conservation in its use is a beneficial trait to have.

The traits of discounting the future and choosing the path of least resistance may have been advantageous in a different environment, however, it is no longer the case. In the present era, where we often live well beyond our reproductive years and need to accumulate sufficient savings, these traits may not be as beneficial. They could even pose challenges on our journey towards financial stability and longevity.

Indeed, discounting the future can make it challenging to save money for future use. With a plethora of enticing gadgets available and constant marketing efforts promoting the latest and greatest products, the desire to keep up with the Joneses can be overwhelming. These propositions can be too attractive to resist. Saving for years in retirement takes a back seat.

Similarly, preference to opt for the path of least resistance can lead to less healthy lifestyle and other detrimental choices in today’s world. For example, why put in the effort to exercise at the gym when it’s much more comfortable to indulge in leisure? Resisting immediate gratification is a challenging task. Such choices make for a shorter health span when old.

These examples highlight the challenges of some deeply ingrained psychological traits that were once advantageous in a different environmental context with drastically different living conditions. These are elephants in the room that need to be tamed. How, and is it going to happen?

It is possible that 10,000 years since the advent of agrarian society to now is not enough time to get over these detrimental psychological traits. After all, natural selection, and evolution, traditionally, operate on much longer time scales. So perhaps, given enough time we would leave these traits behind and be better planners.

It is also possible that such a change will never happen. Exploitation by marketing geniuses, presence of dopamine or serotonin receptors will always keep the flame of instant gratification burning. If that happens then the adverse psychological traits are here to stay and need to be socially managed.

Whatever the future may be, for now we are caught in the cycle of living longer, requiring energy as a resource do that, and needing money to continuously procure that resource. If we want to live our old days in comfort, we had better heed the advice and start saving early.

Ciao.