Image: Chanelle Nibbelink
Let’s Run the Damn Numbers (Before They Run You)
Melanie Cooper* thought she had her grand exit all planned out. At 65, the divorced mother of two packed up her New York life, kissed the dental office finance desk goodbye, and headed for sunny Delray Beach, FL. Her plan? Work part time until she hit her full Social Security age of 66 and a couple of months, then kick back and live her best beach life.
But just as she unpacked the last moving box, COVID hit—and suddenly “part-time gig” turned into “full-time stay-at-home.” With no paycheck coming in, Cooper survived on savings and a budget tighter than her old dental office’s appointment schedule.
By the time her Social Security checks started rolling in, they helped. But her retirement accounts? Let’s just say they weren’t the picture of abundance.
“I made dentists rich my whole life and have nothing to show for it,” she said. (And no, they don’t offer loyalty points.)
So in 2021, Cooper unretired. Since then, she’s worked everything from hourly side hustles to her current 25-hour-a-week receptionist spot at a real estate firm. She’d love to scale back, but the steady paycheck means dinners out, covering ever-climbing HOA fees, and even tossing a little into her 401(k).
Coopers’s not alone—she’s part of a fast-growing crowd waving the “I’m back” flag after retirement. From 2015 to 2024, the 65-and-up workforce in the U.S. surged over 33 percent.
Good News: You’re Living Longer. Bad News: You’ve Gotta Pay for it.
Back when FDR signed the Social Security Act in 1935, retirement benefits kicked in at 65 and most people didn’t live much past that. Today, a 65-year-old woman can expect to live to 87, with a 40 percent chance of making it to 90. That’s a lot more birthday candles—and a lot more years of bills.
Bottom line: The retirement you want will cost more than you think.
When Your Beach Chair Turns Back Into a Desk Chair
If you have sticker shock at the supermarket, you’re in good (if frustrated) company. And a lot of us are trading the beach chair for a desk chair just to keep up.
A January 2025 survey by Resume Templates found that 22 percent of Americans aged 65+ are already unretired, and another 6 percent may head back to work this year. The number one reason? Rising living costs. When your grocery bill feels like a mortgage payment and your insurance bill doubles overnight, clocking back in starts looking less like failure and more like survival.
And while money tops the list, plenty of folks also head back for the routine, the camaraderie, or simply to keep their brains from going to mush.
The Social Security Slice-and-Dice
If there’s one thing Boca Raton-based CFP Mari Adam wants you to tattoo on your financial brain, it’s this: Don’t take your Social Security payments too early.
Fun fact: For those born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67. If you take Social Security payments before that, you get smaller monthly payments, and after that, you get larger monthly payments.
That can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars over your lifetime. That’s not just numbers on paper—that’s a kitchen remodel, a year of cruises, or enough eggs to make you forget inflation ever happened.
If your early Social Security call has you facepalming, good news—you’ve got one shot at a reset. If you’ve reached full retirement age but aren’t yet 70, you can ask to suspend your Social Security payments. This pause lets your monthly benefit grow again.
Think Social Security is the only bite out of your paycheck? Buckle up—Medicare’s already got its fork in hand.
Medicare: The Surprise Cover Charge at the 65+ Club
Are you counting the days until you can sign up for Medicare? Same here. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if you unretire, that income may increase your Medicare premiums.
“Medicare premiums get tricky—they’re based on your modified adjusted gross income from two years prior,” said David Fritch, a CPA and attorney. “I had a client who went back to work in 2022, making $95,000, and his Medicare premiums jumped from $164 to $230 monthly in 2024 because he crossed the initial $97,000 threshold.”
Financial professionals may have some creative options to prevent that premium increase, or make it less brutal, said Fritch.
But just when you thought the bill was paid, here comes the taxman with his own special brand of sticker shock.
Taxes: The Stealth Shark in Your Retirement Pool
Because nothing says “wake-up call” like realizing your part-time income just nudged you into a higher tax bracket.
“One of the biggest mistakes I see in unretirement is people not planning for the ‘tax torpedo’ effect,” said Fritch. “When you combine wages with Social Security and retirement distributions, you can get slammed with marginal tax rates exceeding 40 percent even if you’re typically in the 22 percent bracket.”
Fritch recommends several tax strategies to minimize taxes in unretirement.
One is to split your return to work across tax years rather than taking a full-time position immediately. Additional timing strategies he recommends include contributing to traditional IRAs or HSAs, and Roth conversions in lower-income years before going back to work.
It’s Not All About the Benjamins
If your retirement plan is just “have money,” congratulations, you’ve planned for the world’s most expensive nap.
Yes, you absolutely need money when you retire. Unless your grand plan is to live off dreams and good vibes (hard pass), cash flow matters. Without it, you’ll be slurping ramen and splitting pills, and that’s not anyone’s vision of “golden years.”
But here’s the plot twist: If you think a fat bank account is your golden ticket to happiness, spoiler alert—it’s not. All the money in the world won’t save you from sitting in your paid-off house with nothing but Judge Judy and a lukewarm cup of tea for company. Research shows older adults who keep working tend to have sharper minds, better health, and a stronger sense of purpose than those who don’t. That’s not fluff—that’s science.
The retirees really killing it? They’ve nailed the money piece and invested in their health, friendships, and passions. So yes, get your finances right. But also build a life worth showing up for. Because retirement with money but no meaning? That’s just overpriced boredom, and nobody’s got time for that.
Cooper’s proof—she’s got her bills covered, her calendar full, and enough life in her days to “make it all worth it.”
* Melanie Cooper is a pseudonym to protect her privacy.
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So good to have found this newsletter. I’m finding it to be soothing for many issues as I approach 60. I was recently terminated from a job I thought would last until retirement. Now I am faced with looking for a job at age (soon to be) 59. I feel ageism in every turn. Any suggestions on recreating oneself at late 50’s?
Terresa, I’m so glad you found us — that’s exactly why we’re here. That kind of unexpected job loss can feel like the rug’s been pulled out, but it can also be the start of a real reinvention.
You might start by diving into our pieces on reinvention — we’ve covered women making pivots in their 50s and 60s, I also talk about this on instagram @provokedbysusan— everything from new careers to creative second acts. Broadening your LinkedIn presence can help too; sometimes it’s less about finding a job than about being seen in new ways.
And I’d love to know the specific topics you most want to hear about as you rethink your next chapter. The more we understand what women in your shoes are grappling with, the more we can serve it up.Thanks for being here. —susan
Making a blanket statement telling women not to take social security until 67 (or later) is not necessarily true across the board. I’ve done a good amount of research and the bottom line is, ‘it depends.’ There are calculators to show your ‘break even,’ if you take it earlier. Yes, your monthly check is less, but you are taking it for more years. It also makes a difference if you are alone or not. Medicare is complicated too.
I’m not saying that waiting isn’t correct for some, but to blatantly say to wait until 67+, may not be the correct advice for all. There are many resources and financial advisors who can help make the best decision based on an individual’s circumstances.
Hi Karin, You’re absolutely right—it’s never one-size-fits-all. Social Security is one of those decisions where the details of your life—health, marital status, savings, even how long your parents lived—matter a lot. Our piece leaned hard on the “don’t shortchange yourself” side because too many women rush to claim early without realizing the long-term impact, but the truth is exactly what you said: it depends. The smartest move is running your own numbers, using the calculators, and getting advice tailored to your situation. Thanks for underscoring that nuance—this is exactly the kind of conversation we want women to be having. —susan
Retirement is not an option for me, but that’s all right As long as my health allows, I’m happy to keep working. We live longer and enjoy better health, so having 67 as the magic retirement number is now an outdated concept.
Hi Naomi, Exactly—“67” feels like a number that belongs to another era. For so many women, work isn’t just a paycheck, it’s purpose and presence in the world. I just turned 65 and launched a media company and this magazine! Some of my friends think I am nuts – “Why do you want to work so hard?” is the question I get asked alot! The real question isn’t when you stop, but why you would. If health and energy are on your side, why buy into someone else’s expiration date?—susan