David Letterman says there’s a “human mechanism” that makes retirement “a myth”
Okay, the man doesn’t need to work. We can get that out of the way immediately; his net worth is reputedly around $400 million. But at 77, David Letterman has a show on Netflix, now in its fifth season. And in a GQ interview, the iconic comedian and late night TV host said something about it that caught our attention.
He said: “Retirement is nonsense. You won’t retire. The human mechanism will not allow you to retire.”
As our readers know, we refer to this whole topic as Work & Unretirement. And we regularly report on the balance of dynamics: on the one hand, financial need (a perfectly rational motive to keep working) or, on the other hand, the SuperAging attitude that simply wants to keep on being productive.
To Letterman, it seems the attitude part is built right into our nature — hence, “human mechanism.” He amplifies it this way: “As long as you are healthy, you still want to produce. And you will find ways to, once I stopped doing the show, it took me a couple of years to figure out that, oh, this is a completely different rhythm.”
This Moneywise article, based on the interview, adds some statistical validation to Letterman’s point. “The proportion of retirement-age workers in the Economy has quadrupled since the mid-1980s… As of 2023, 11 million Americans over the age of 65 were still actively working.”
It’s a trend that will already be very familiar to readers of SuperAging News. And it will only keep growing: “Several systemic factors have driven this trend. Labor economists cited by Pew suggest that older Americans are now more likely to be healthy because of medical advances, less likely to work in physically demanding roles and more likely to be well-educated. These factors make it easier for many seniors to continue working for as long as possible.”
All true. But if there’s also a built-in instinct—a “human mechanism,” to use David Letterman’s term—then the word “Retirement” in itself may become obsolete. Or certainly, obsolete as the default position. Which is exactly why we love discovering— and bringing to you—viewpoints like David Letterman’s.
More on work and unretirement:
World’s oldest practising doctor, 100, says, “Retirement is the enemy of longevity!”
“Retirement” isn’t only about money. If you don’t keep working, what else might you be risking?
Nearly half of US adults say retiring at 65 is “unrealistic”
Meet 10 entrepreneurs over 60: The trend is just getting started!
More Americans want to start a business than retire
1 in 4 US adults over 50 who aren’t retired expect to retire…never
Guess what’s the fastest-growing segment of the workforce (Hint: Not Gen Z)
