The Age of Retirement

Health care for post-pandemic and self-employed workers reaching delayed retirement age requires new protocols.

Challenges to Retirement

Self-employed sole proprietors defy retirement. With the need to wear many figurative hats, they often pick up many health problems along the way. This includes:

Lower back pain from sitting or lifting,
Poor eyesight from much computer use,
Stomach ulcers from stressful eating/drinking,
Depression from financial worries,
Arthritis in overused joints.

When others approach 20 or 30 years in their respective industries, the entrepreneur works hard to tie up a few more loose ends. As the years pass, fifty seems like a good age. Soon, sixty creeps up. Then he wonders, can sights be set for seventy?

Despite advancing age, the self-employed strive to work like athletes in their prime. When health issues arise, they ask their doctors to patch them up so they can get back in the game. The physician might wonder why doesn’t the patient retire and take it easy.

Minimal Nest Egg

Many sole proprietors have little money set aside for retirement. Most of their earnings go back into the business. During the pandemic, they remortgage homes, empty their checking accounts, and savings accounts, and overextend credit limits. Instead of having a comfortable monthly retirement check, they may have unending bills to pay.

Retirement for many self-employed workers after the pandemic looks like possible bankruptcy. They may even sell their business for pennies on the dollar. Some must start over by working in another sector.

Geriatric Health Care

So when this elite group of patients comes in for health care, doctors need extra compassion. Patients do not have the luxury of taking many days off from work or paying out-of-pocket for expensive therapies. Physicians should work efficiently to present the best solutions expeditiously.

The geriatric entrepreneur may not be able to stop working and sail the world. Focus on rejuvenating spa days, short stay-cations, date nights, and personal phone calls with family and friends.