60-year-old lawyer retired, only to launch a second career as a high school teacher. Why he’s spending the next 10 years in a classroom

Marty Bryce, now 60, is a retired litigator who used to spend his days representing financial institutions — a career he found unfulfilling. But he didn’t stay retired for long: He now has a second career as a high school teacher.

Bryce told The Wall Street Journal that, at his previous job, “I often felt like I was wasting my time” with clients that were only focused on money (1).

While he doesn’t mention how much his new gig pays, it’s fair to assume he's taken a substantial pay cut. But for this phase of his life, it’s a more fulfilling way to ensure his nest egg is secure.

When Bryce thought about what he wanted to do during the next chapter of his life, he remembered how much he enjoyed being a guest lecturer at law schools and colleges.

So, in September 2023, he retired from practicing law and, the same month, started a new job teaching at West Catholic Preparatory High School in Philadelphia. He expects to keep teaching until age 70, provided he stays in good health.

If you’re thinking of ‘unretiring’ or postponing your retirement, here are a few considerations.

Why traditional retirement doesn’t work for everyone

Not all retirees are content to spend their days playing pickleball or going on cruises. ‘Unretiring’ is becoming more commonplace — whether out of necessity or to find a sense of purpose or structure in retirement.

One in five seniors (21%) aged 65 to 74 worked in 2022, according to Statistics Canada. Of those, 9% were working out of necessity while 12% were working by choice (2).

For many, retiring at 60 is hard to do these days, due to the rising cost of living. BMO’s 15th annual Retirement Survey finds that more than three-quarters of Canadians (76%) are worried they won’t have enough money in retirement because of the cost of goods and services. On average, they believe they need just over $1.54 million to retire (3).

In 2023, the median net worth of Canadians aged 55 to 64 was $873,400, according to StatCan (4). That includes RRSPs, private pension plans, employer-sponsored pension plans and other financial assets (5).

It’s not surprising, then, that many retirees are ‘unretiring.’ There are other ways it can help boost your income, too.

The standard age to start drawing from your Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefit is 65. You can start as early as age 60 (which means smaller monthly payments) or as late as age 70, which means bigger monthly payments. The monthly increases are maxed out when you turn 70 (6).

So, the longer you work, the longer you could delay your CPP benefit, resulting in a larger monthly benefit when you eventually retire.

If you’re already receiving CPP but choose to go back to work, you’ll still continue to receive your monthly pension payments without it being reduced — and you could boost future payments through additional CPP contributions (7).

From age 65 to 70, making CPP contributions through work is optional. If you choose to keep contributing, those contributions go toward the CPP Post-Retirement Benefit (PRB), raising your future pension amount. After age 70, CPP contributions automatically stop and you can’t earn additional post-retirement benefits either (8).

Sponsored

Smart investing starts here

Build your own investment portfolio with CIBC Investor’s Edge online and mobile trading platform. Enjoy low commissions on trades and special pricing for active traders, students and young investors.

Get started today

How to find work when ‘unretiring’

While retirees may face barriers to re-entering the workforce, they could also choose to look for jobs in fields where there are shortages — like Bryce did.

“I knew there was a national shortage and demand for teachers,” he told The Wall Street Journal. He didn’t want to teach at a law school, and felt “I could have a greater impact at a high school level than I would at a college level.”

Retirees looking for meaningful work have several options, such as teaching, substitute teaching or tutoring. “Experience is a valuable asset and retirees have loads of it. If you were an engineer in a previous life, for example, and you have a knack for math, you may want to try teaching it,” according to Guideposts.com (9).

For example, if you’re a retired biologist, maybe you’d find it fulfilling to work in the garden department at Home Depot. If you’re a history buff, maybe you’d enjoy working at the local museum. And if you love being around kids, then maybe a school bus driver would be satisfying.

While men tend to return to technical, managerial or consulting roles, some women seek jobs that align with their passions, according to research from Empower, noting that: “Unretirement is reshaping industries such as healthcare, education and retail. These are popular sectors for older workers, offering part-time roles and opportunities to connect with others (10).”

While unretiring can bring in some extra cash, it could also have health benefits. An analysis of studies found that seniors who return to work often experience an improvement in physical and mental health, as well as a greater sense of purpose (though that does depend somewhat on the job) (11).

While Bryce has most certainly taken a pay cut, he’s getting something else out of his new role teaching teenagers: “While I haven’t discovered the fountain of youth, being around them makes me feel years younger,” he said.

“I get a great deal of satisfaction from seeing them grow intellectually.”

Article sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

The Wall Street Journal (1); Statistics Canada (2, 4); BMO (3); Fidelity (5); Government of Canada (6, 7, 8); Guide Posts (9); Empower (10); PsyPost (11)