这篇文章考察了在全职工作退休后继续工作的“未真正退休”的专业人士，并将退休划分为三条数字化路径。第一条路线“keepin’ on keepin’ on”意味着组合多项有偿和志愿承诺，通常带来较低但仍相当可观的收入流。第二条路线“clean break”则用可预测的养老金和投资提款取代工资收入。第三条路线“long goodbye”则是有意识地管理逐步递减的收入，而不是经历突然的收入断崖。
在“long-goodbye”模型中，为原雇主的非全职工作持续几年，然后被自由职业工作取代，最后随着有偿工作减少而通过更大额度的储蓄提取来补充收入。作者将最终退休收入定位在原全职税前工资的50%，并将其视为实现舒适生活方式的现实基准。选择“clean break”的退休者依赖按服务年限计算的固定收益养老金、固定缴费账户中的累积资产，以及此后到来的国家养老金。
退休后的角色呈现出显著的报酬集中度。英国上市公司非执行董事每年只工作15-25天，却能获得40,000至80,000英镑报酬，这意味着其日薪大致在数千英镑的低区间。与此同时，专业服务公司中只有五分之一的资深合伙人预计在离职后每年收入能达到或超过200,000英镑，这表明有80%的人预期退休后收入会更低。文章强调的趋势是，将数量有限的高费用项目与无偿的受托人职务以及相对温和的咨询工作相结合。
The piece examines “unretired” professionals who keep working after retiring from full-time roles, framing three numerical paths through retirement. Route one, “keepin’ on keepin’ on”, involves assembling multiple paid and voluntary commitments, typically yielding a lower but still meaningful income stream. Route two, the “clean break”, swaps earnings for predictable pension and investment drawdown. Route three, the “long goodbye”, explicitly manages a gradual earnings taper rather than an abrupt income cliff.
In the long-goodbye model, part-time work for the former employer lasts a couple of years, then is replaced by freelance gigs, and finally by larger withdrawals from savings as paid work falls away. The author pegs final retirement income at 50 per cent of gross full-time pay, presented as a realistic benchmark for a comfortable lifestyle. Clean-break retirees depend on defined benefit pensions based on years of service, defined contribution pots, and, later, state pensions.
Post-retirement roles show striking pay concentration. UK non-executive directors at listed companies earn £40,000-£80,000 for just 15-25 working days a year, implying day rates roughly in the low-thousands of pounds. Yet only a fifth of older partners at professional services firms expect to earn £200,000 or more annually after leaving, indicating that 80 per cent foresee lower post-retirement incomes. The article highlights a trend toward mixing limited high-fee gigs with unpaid trusteeships and modest consultancy work.