I have reached the age where reporters constantly ask me why I am still working after a long tenure as a serial tech entrepreneur, including founding and running The RealReal for 11 years. It’s an odd question, and yet each time I find it newly funny how people expect others to fit into their perception of what people should be doing in their lives—and when.
Aging may be one of the least understood—and most misrepresented—frontiers of life. I guess I could be playing a round of golf every day, then heading to my club for ’tini time to discuss the game with my pals, and then maybe going out to dinner in some fine dining establishment, and then waking up and repeating. Or I could plan a cruise or learn how to dance the cha-cha or write a book…well, I have written a book (it will be out next year).
Reasons for not retiring
But other typical retirement activities just feel foreign to me. They are reminiscent of my parents’ generation, not mine.
Here’s the thing: I don’t understand retirement as a concept. It seems unhealthy to be slowing down, doing less each day, and removing challenges. It doesn’t make sense to me—and I’m not alone. Bill Gates, a fellow boomer, recently said that retirement “sounds awful.”
So, I asked ChatGPT what the negative effects of retirement are. Here are its topline points:
- Mental health. Retirement can lead to a 6-9% decline in mental health over six years, resulting in anxiety, depression, and boredom.
- Physical health. Retirement can lead to a 5-16% increase in difficulties with mobility and a 5-6% increase in illness conditions.
- Social. Retirees may feel lonely because they are no longer around coworkers.
- Financial. Retirees may feel anxious about money.
Taken as a whole, retirement seems like an avoidable affliction.
Here is what ChatGPT has to say about the benefits of creating (which in my case is a business):
- Increases the ability to problem solve.
- Can help process and express emotions in a productive way.
- Can reduce stress.
- Can release dopamine which can help combat depression and boost self-esteem.
- Can increase engagement with life.
- Can help people impart their knowledge and form a community.
I have never even considered retiring, not once. It simply isn’t in my decision set. I am in excellent health; I have a lot of energy, and I am in a very good position financially. (The RealReal has a market cap of about $325 million.) But most importantly, I love working. It is an amazing creative exercise. I have always found it fun.
Long-term health
Here is where I have been spending my time lately: I started a new company last year, Ahara.com and Ahara Med. We focus on helping people learn how to eat for their body’s unique nutrition needs to improve their health long term. Recently, we introduced a weight-loss track to round out the nutrition offering. We partnered with a medical group and now offer weight-loss medication coupled with nutritional counseling from registered dietitians.
Obesity is the top health issue in the U.S. About 40% of Americans are considered obese, according to the latest NIH data, with 7.7% considered morbidly obese.
The health consequences of obesity are significant and debilitating, including Type 2 diabetes, neuropathy, and metabolic disorders. Interestingly, malnutrition is common in people who are obese.
Having watched my father die from complications of obesity, I can tell you firsthand it is a terrible death. He gained nearly 100 pounds after he had a heart attack in his 70s. The last 10 years of his life could have been so different if he had not gained that extra weight. He lost the ability to drive due to his diabetic/obesity-induced neuropathy. His mobility was severely limited. He was constantly fatigued. And he fought depression.
While death is inevitable, obesity is now a treatable condition. The new class of GLP-1 drugs are changing people’s lives. However, when people go off the drugs, it is common for them to gain the weight back. Combining GLP-1 medication with support from a registered dietitian to change eating habits has proven to be the most effective way to keep the lost weight off long term. That is the mission of Ahara.com and Ahara Med.
Valuable experience
Beyond Ahara, I work on other projects, including a podcast where I and a few others of “the retirement age” give advice to entrepreneurs. This will launch next year.
The beauty of entering your 60s with your health and financial stability is you have many opportunities to contribute to your community and society across a multitude of organizations and initiatives in need of guidance, expertise, and of course financial support. Your experience is valuable whether you use it to further your financial success or to help others. The benefits of continuing to contribute to the world in a meaningful way for as long as possible reaps rewards on both sides.
For me personally, it’s both fulfilling and fun. I think we can all agree that maintaining health is paramount. Science is moving at such a pace that some diseases are now treatable, and therefore avoidable long term, like obesity—and some are avoidable altogether, like retirement!
Read more:
- I’m nearing 65 and am better than ever at my job. With more boomers opting not to retire, I’m not alone
- Fellow Gen Xers: That retirement crisis you’re losing sleep over is a ‘rewirement’ opportunity
- I’m a CEO and 12 of my employees are in ‘flextirement.’ With boomers opting not to retire, the arrangement will become more common
- The new retirement is no retirement: Baby boomers are keeping jobs well into their sixties and seventies because they ‘like going to work’
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
