Despite efforts to prevent age-discrimination in the workplace, there still remains an assumption in our culture that people “should” retire by a certain age.

There is a subtle but pervasive notion that something must be wrong if a person is still working past age 65. If we continue working, we may feel a sense of shame or perhaps disappointment that life did not work out as planned.

In reality, there is a new normal taking place.

Traditional views on retirement simply no longer make sense. In the “Big Shift — Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife,” Marc Freedman writes, “While we have been remarkably adept at extending lives, our imagination and innovation in remaking the shape of those longer lives have been struggling to keep pace.”

According to Freedman, in the year 1900, the average lifespan was 47 years. Today, living to the 100-year mark is becoming increasingly common.

What are we to do during those extra years of life? One can only play so much golf. More importantly, most retirement accounts cannot support 30 years of living without working.

As with all social movements and changes, we often need new language to begin