The Retirement Decisions of Two-Career Couples

Marilyn Gardner, a staff writer for The Christian Science Monitor presented a new angle on employee retirement decisions: what should dual career couples do? Overall, from a financial viewpoint, she writes that experts suggest that a staggered retirement works best. This works from the financial perspective, where leaving the workforce at different times may give one spouse time to earn more and serves as a hedge against uncertain financial markets or provide health insurance for a retired partner who is not yet 65 and thus eligible for Medicare. However, finances are not the whole story:

Couples stagger retirements for other reasons as well. "Typically the wife is a little younger and took time out for raising children," says Ronald Manheimer, executive director of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement in Asheville. "She came back into the workforce and is short of achieving full pension capability or is enjoying her level of accomplishment. She's not willing to give it up yet."

Source: Christian Science Monitor "Dual-career couples: Who retires when?" (September 9, 2007)