The Leisure Fallacy

Current research strongly condemns equating retirement with leisure. Marika and Howard Stone say that since many of us can expect to live another 20 or 30 healthy years, we are “Too Young to Retire” (the name of their bestselling book):

Mary Catherine Bateson (“Composing a Further Life”) is more blunt: Extended lifespans contain “far too many years to spend on golf, television and bridge.”

I see their point. All play and no work doesn’t produce income (which most retirees will need), doesn’t pass the purpose test and produces diminishing returns (my infrequent hikes in Colorado and New Mexico are a pleasure partly because they are infrequent).

But there is a fallacy here. A life of some or much leisure is not the same as one of complete leisure.

And, I’m convinced, more and better leisure is a perk of retirement. Tomorrow’s blog.