3 Things Middle-Class Americans Are Planning To Do When They Retire

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You’ve spent the past few decades saving up enough money to enjoy your retirement. You’ve gotten yourself in a position to do what you want and do it on your own terms. But what does retirement look like for you? Are you planning to travel? Do you want to spend more time doing a hobby? Are you going to work?

A recent Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies report analyzed what middle-class retirees are planning to do in retirement. Here are three of the top things middle-class Americans are planning to do when they retire.

Travel

The Transamerica report found that 67% of middle-class Americans are planning to spend time traveling during retirement. For some, travel has always been a passion. However, for others, they could feel they have lost time to catch up on.

According to Sorbet, a fintech lending firm, 62% of workers with paid time off didn’t use all their days in 2023. What’s even more surprising is that 5.5% reported not taking a single day off. Most people fear falling behind at work, and for them, the vacation isn’t worth it.

However, in retirement, they could want to enjoy the things they never took the time to do while they were working.

“My wife and kids would travel occasionally, but not as much as I would have liked,” said Austin R., a recent retiree from the Chicago area. “For the past 20 years, I’ve worked in a pretty demanding job and found that it was difficult for me to get away for long periods of time. While we traveled a little, we’re going to use these years to do much more.”

Spend Time With Friends and Family 

During your working years, you’re constantly interacting with your co-workers. You’re talking about what’s going on at work and home. And these conversations have been proven to be beneficial for your health.

However, once you retire, it’s not uncommon for your socialization to decline. Maybe you sleep in a little later or binge-watch a little too much Netflix. Whatever the cause, you’re no longer having as many of those meaningful conversations.

This could be why so many people plan to spend more time with their friends and family in retirement. According to Transamerica, 58% of the middle class reports wanting to spend more time with friends and family in retirement.

Instead of letting the days pass by, they want to enjoy the company of the people closest to them. It could be something as simple as grabbing lunch with an adult child or spending the afternoon playing golf with a friend. 

Volunteer or Work

Some people don’t like the idea of being at home in retirement. They enjoy going to work each day because it gives them a purpose. Because of this, many retirees choose to volunteer or find a different job. Usually, this is less on where their skills lie and more on what they enjoy. 

Per the report, 23% of middle-class retirees want to volunteer in retirement, while 25% plan to do paid work. Working or volunteering is a way to stay active and keep your brain healthy.

“I recently picked up a job working at Home Depot,” Austin said. “I’ve spent the past 40 years of my life going to my job and working toward a common goal. After the first several months of retirement, I quickly missed this. However, without the need for income, I wanted to do something I enjoy and that gave me flexibility.”

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