Retirement is a source of anxiety for many Americans, with older employees worried about being forced out of work before they are ready and younger generations less than convinced they will be able to afford to retire at all. But many college-educated baby boomers are flipping the script and redefining how and when they retire on their own terms, a trend that could have significant effects on the workplace for years to come.
Of course, there’s no single approach to work and retirement in the U.S.—while some are able to exit the workforce at 65 to travel and pursue hobbies without worrying about their finances, many others are never able to fully retire at all. Others who want or need to continue working are pushed out by employers, while some are set on leaving the traditional work world as soon as possible, with the goal to quit in their 50s, or even earlier.
Phased retirement is different still, and, according to some reports, could be a growing trend. Rather than a hard-stop retirement—here for 40 years, gone tomorrow—workers are given the option to gradually pare back hours and reduce stress while still earning income and maintaining connections. Proponents say it not only helps employees with the transition to retirement, both mentally and financially, but that it also benefits employers.
“Businesses are all struggling with recruiting and retaining talent, so you have to keep the talent you have—that’s a lot more effective, efficient, and productive,” Chris Littlefield, president of retirement and income solutions at Principal, previously told Fortune. “It’s a mega-trend in the workforce. It will be a very significant lever for them over the next decade.”
How does that work in practice? Here’s what three baby boomers approaching or past the traditional retirement age told Fortune about their ideal phased exit.
‘How much can you lay on the beach?’
Courtesy of George Cavedon
Name: George Cavedon
Age: 73
Location: New Hampshire
After a decades-long career working in retail, George Cavedon retired in his fifties after his company was sold, a dream for many workers. But Cavedon soon found the early retirement life wasn’t for him; he missed having somewhere to go during the day that wasn’t a golf course, and Eventually, he joined the ranks of the unretired, and found a new job working at a small marketing firm. He’s been there for 18 years, with no intention of slowing down anytime soon.
“I’m trying to cut back. Being 73, my energy isn’t what it used to be,” Cavedon says. “But I enjoy what I do, I enjoy coming in and working with people. I’m a social kind of guy.”
For Cavedon, his current working arrangement is ideal. He gets out of the house but has some flexibility with his hours—something he was never allowed in his first career in retail. Because he works in sales and meets with clients in person, his mind stays sharp, he says, and talking with younger coworkers keeps him up-to-date on trends and perspectives he’d otherwise miss.
Cavedon recognizes his approach to work isn’t for everyone. He has plenty of friends who have retired and moved to states like Florida with warmer weather and more leisure activities. But for better or worse, he says part of his identity is tied up in his work. Eventually he’ll scale back to working three days a week rather than five, but not yet. And the money doesn’t hurt, either.
“Retirement to me is a scary thing. How much can you lay on the beach?” he says. “For my own personal mental health and well-being, I like being active and working.”
‘I’ll be in full control’
Courtesy of Renee Stanton
Name: Renee Stanton
Age: 61
Location: New Jersey
Phased retirement is the goal for Renee Stanton, who has worked in IT-adjacent roles her entire career. She has no desire to leave the workforce completely but would appreciate the flexibility to go skiing and sailing—her lifelong passions—during the on-seasons, and to spend more time with her adult children and aging parents. A self-described “frustrated artist,” Stanton also foresees wiling away more afternoons in her dad’s art studio.
“It’s not a problem for me to fill my time—the problem for me is to find the time for all the things I want to do,” says Stanton, 61. “They say you have to have retirement goals. My retirement goal is…they have front-row parking for skiers 80 and above. My goal is to be parking there.”
Though she has enough money—and passions—to retire now, Stanton says she learned a lesson when her father, a cabinetmaker, retired in his sixties. Now 87 and going strong, he believes he left the workforce too early and could have benefitted financially from staying employed longer. With potentially decades ahead of her, she is being “extra cautious” with her finances.
She plans to reduce her hours significantly and move to a contractor role, so she can work when she wants to and take time off on her own terms. “I’ll be in full control,” she says. That will allow her pensions and Social Security payments to continue to grow, and because she still has a few years until Medicare coverage kicks in, she’ll need to earn enough to pay for her health insurance—and her ski passes.
“It’s time for me to take a step back and plan more time for fun,” says Stanton. “I still want to work and bring some money in. I saved for retirement, but not ski-addiction retirement.”
‘I won’t just drop out 100% one day’
Name: Joy W.
Age: 66
Location: New York
At 50, Joy W., who asked that her last name be withheld to freely discuss her career plans, completed a master’s degree in psychology. A long-time human resources worker, Joy, now 66, decided to pursue a second act that better aligned with her desire to help people. That first degree lit a match, and a few years later, she also completed a master’s in social work. She now works as a full-time psychotherapist in rural Connecticut, with clients ranging in age from 25 to 95, but many who are post-retirement.
Through her work, Joy has realized she has no desire to stop working completely, though she and her husband are financially secure and she’s past the traditional retirement age. But she is beginning to scale back, working four days a week instead of five.
“When I think about ending my career, I imagine I’ll be doing some sort of volunteer work that takes advantage of my skills,” says Joy. “I won’t just drop out 100% one day. I’ll be doing something. It’s interesting, it’s stimulating for me, and there’s a huge need for it.”
Her clients also have influenced her choice to keep working. Many of them have some form of regret about retiring, she says, and it’s usually because they did so too soon. Talking with them validates her “zigging-zagging path toward phased retirement.”
“They weren’t ready for how they felt the day they woke up after retirement,” she says. “They didn’t know how to do retirement, and that took them by surprise.”
Many family members, including her father and some siblings, were “retired” by their companies, which also informs her approach to work. She wants to make the choice for herself, and one benefit of switching careers when she did, Joy says, is that she’s “been in the driver’s seat since the beginning.” Her current employer knew from the jump that she didn’t plan to work full time for long. They’re just happy to have her while they do.
“That felt really liberating,” she says. “It really lowered the anxiety level, at least mine, and probably theirs too. We each knew where the other stood.”
What is your retirement budget? Fortune is writing about what Americans at different income levels are spending in retirement. To share your story, email senior writer Alicia Adamczyk at alicia.adamczyk@fortune.com.
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