Report: Research highlights the importance of planning for work, as well as finances and well-being

Findings from a Transamerica and MIT AgeLab survey provide Insights on workers’ views as they progress through their working lives

By Laura Aka

August 23, 2023

How people view longevity is impacting approaches to work, as well as the trajectory of planning for the future. New research from Transamerica and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) AgeLab suggests “people may need help navigating a life course that is very different today from what their parents and grandparents experienced.”

The purpose of Longevity as Opportunity – New Conversations on Work, Finances, and Well-Being is to better understand the needs, goals, and expectations across generations.

Phil Eckman, president of workplace solutions, Transamerica, says in a statement, “What our data shows, and what we are seeing in the marketplace across generations, is that the way we approach our lives and the way we work is changing. People want flexibility and choice in all parts of their life, both at work and home.”

Eckman continues, “Employees are eager to live their best lives. And employers have a powerful opportunity in this new world of work to establish values that focus on the whole person and invest in solutions that support employees’ mental, physical, and financial health.”

Views on Work

According to findings, the reasons people prioritize work change as they age – noting employers who understand workers’ motivations at different points in their lives may have more success recruiting and retaining top talent.

Younger adults (20 to 39) are “working more jobs, having more careers, and anticipating a complex, multi-part working life.”

Midlife workers (40 to 59) are “the most likely to prioritize the flexibility of being able to work from home (27.3%) and also most likely to prioritize earning a high salary (61.6%).

Older adults (60 to 79) – still in the workforce – say financial benefits are top priorities – followed by performing work for which they feel passionate about. Two-thirds of people in the older adult age group say retirement is very or extremely important.

However, 58% of retirees say their retirements came earlier than expected – suggesting unforeseen events like illness or changes in the workplace environment can prompt older adults to leave the workforce.

Finances and Well-Being

Saving enough money to afford retirement is at least a “somewhat” important priority for most people (92.1%), according to the white paper.

Regarding well-being, the research finds, “Across life stages, people understand the importance of making healthy choices to ensure both their present and future well-being. Many respondents believed that their current health, their lifestyle, and their exercise and nutrition habits would very much have an effect on how long they would live.”

“While Americans are generally optimistic about their future, they may not fully appreciate how much their financial needs, priorities, and life circumstances will change over time,” says Joseph Coughlin, Ph.D., director, MIT AgeLab, during the announcement of the survey results.

“More than ever, planning for longevity means understanding what matters most at each stage of adulthood, finding balance, and supporting priorities with the behaviors and actions that lead to a better future.”

The research concludes, “Financial professionals can strengthen relationships with clients by helping them to anticipate their life trajectories.”

The white paper findings are the result of feedback from a dozen focus groups and a national survey of 1,200 people – ranging in age from 20 to 79.

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Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.