A lot of things are likely to change over the next few decades, so I wouldn't bank on retiring in the same way that people have done in recent history. The whole notion of retirement is actually quite a modern concept, which really only arose within the last century (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement). There's going to be more automation which will mean that people can work for longer, and I suspect that the whole notion of what it means to "work" will change.
> There's going to be more automation which will mean that people can work for longer, and I suspect that the whole notion of what it means to "work" will change.
why doesn't automation eliminate the need for work?
Automation has greatly reduced the amount of agricultural work, and jobs today which we regard as central to the economy are also likely to be eventually automated. Probably what constitutes "work" will change, and things we regard as recreational today may become "work".
