After 46 years working, I’m not retiring — instead, I take a vacation every month. Is that a good life in your 70s?

Quentin Fottrell

Fri, February 27, 2026 at 12:08 AM GMT+9 6 min read

“I now consider myself to be working in my ‘retirement job,’ under the assumption that if you can retire but you’re still working, then it is your retirement job.” (Photo subject is a model.) - Getty Images/iStockphoto

Dear Quentin,

Today marks my 46th anniversary in the investment business.

I read the letter from the 71-year-old who earns $300,000 working for a Fortune 200 company and wonders whether he should keep working until he’s 75. I empathize because I’m in the exact same position, and I am also in my 70s or thereabouts.

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I’ve owned my own company for the last 15 years. It’s worth $8.5 million, with a portfolio of just under $5 million. More, more, more — and I’ve never cared less about that stuff. At the same time, I’ve never worked harder, and I’ve never had so much fun.

One of my associates, with whom I’ve become very close, has analyzed my situation. He told me that I could certainly retire. Thus, I now consider myself to be working in my “retirement job,” under the assumption that if you can retire but you’re still working, then it is your retirement job.

Taking Fridays off didn’t work. I also tried shortening my days to seven hours instead of 10. But since I come in between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., that didn’t work either, because people want to speak with me from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and later.

My wife suggested a “glide week” — taking one week off each month to go somewhere. I am anxiously awaiting my third one in March. I still take my computer (or iPad) everywhere and spend a couple of early hours watching the market and communicating with the office.

I recently read in the Wall Street Journal that a retiree was asked what he felt most surprised about. He replied, “The vacuum” — the gaping void where his career used to be. I’ve already used that line to describe to others what I fear about retirement. That answer really has an impact.

I enjoy reading your column every day. It reminds me how blessed my wife and I are, and that we should do more to help others in need.

A Reluctant Retiree

Related: ‘I feel the clock ticking’: My wife and I are in our 60s — and employ 48 people in a small town. Can we ever retire?

Working past retirement age in a physically demanding job is not always an option. - MarketWatch illustration

Dear Reluctant,

Blessed are those who enjoy their job.

For anyone reading this who is in their 20s or 30s, try to choose a career that you will enjoy. It might be the work itself, the chance to solve problems, the clients or customers who you help, the coworkers or, for those who are fortunate enough to work remotely, the flexibility.

Whatever your career, whether you’re playing the piano at Lincoln Center, working as a dental assistant or sitting in an office figuring out how to solve a problem, enjoying what you do makes it easier to keep going, if you want to or — like millions of people — you need to keep working past 65.

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But for people who have physically demanding jobs — in factories, retail stores or public transportation, for instance — the workplace camaraderie, the knowledge that they’re doing something worthwhile and the privilege of having a job is often not enough. Working past retirement age is not always an option.

Studies on America’s “unretirement” rates bear this out, at least for those who return to work. Some 7% of older Americans surveyed by AARP in late 2025 reported returning to the labor market within the past six months. The reasons included financial necessity (48% of those polled), boredom (15%) and a desire to help others (14%).

Meanwhile, the most common reasons for retiring, according to AARP, were financial stability (22%) and, unfortunately, a health problem or disability (21%). Financial readiness, including Social Security and pension benefits, is the reason behind roughly half of retirements (50%). Most retirees believe they retired at the right time (68%), while 28% say they retired too early.

Let me tell you a story. I recently had lunch with a friend in New York who is turning 80 this summer. He’s a therapist who works three days a week out of an office and also does some online sessions. He goes away every weekend of the summer, from Friday to Monday. He’s read “Ulysses” four times, but that’s beside the point.

What is a weekend?

While he appreciates his long weekends, he still loves his work for many reasons. It gets him out of bed and gives structure to his week. And over the 40 years he’s been a therapist, he has made a difference in many people’s lives. He has some clients who have been with him nearly all of that time. He has told them that when he decides to retire, he would give them a year’s notice.

So why is he finally retiring? For a few reasons. He wants to be able to travel more. He’s never been to Copenhagen, for example, or some other European cities. Having no work responsibilities will finally enable him to make those trips. And he does not want to leave his clients high and dry should he die unexpectedly. “That wouldn’t be fair,” he told me.

While he is retiring in part out of responsibility to his clients, this letter writer, a business owner like yourself, feels he must continue working out of duty to his 48 employees. I admire his sense of commitment, but he should not be held hostage by his success.

I love your wife’s “glide week” suggestion, and I equally love that you can’t wait for the next one. This may be how you continue for years to come, or it could become your first taste of full-time retirement, easing you out of a busier schedule and into a fulfilling, adventurous life — and not into the vacuum feared by that person interviewed in the Wall Street Journal.

Your clients are obviously very lucky to have an investment manager who not only wants to stay in touch and build the best possible portfolios for his clients, but also loves what he does. Customers and coworkers can sense whether you like your job, and they respond accordingly.

Your company is worth millions, so you have the luxury of choice, something you are acutely and, it seems, gratefully aware of. Everyone deserves to retire after 40-plus years of hard work — or, if they so desire, to continue to work because it gives them purpose and because they have built something they’re proud of and want to sustain.

Those who want the freedom to retire early, like this fortysomething, should start saving and investing at a young age.

Otherwise, you better like working.

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