Two weeks after his disastrous debate performance, President Joe Biden is facing a dilemma countless older workers have experienced: Outside pressure to retire. The calls for Biden to step aside and let a new nominee challenge former President Donald Trump in November’s general election reached a tipping point this week. On Wednesday, actor and Democratic donor George Clooney questioned Biden’s electability on account of his age in a widely shared New York Times opinion piece — just weeks after the actor had headlined a major fundraiser for Biden.He’s not the only voter discomforted by Biden as a nominee: Two in three adults say the president should step aside, including more than seven in 10 independent voters, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll. While Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have reiterated that “they’re with Joe,” a small but growing number of Democratic lawmakers have called for the 81-year-old to drop out or have otherwise voiced their reservations.Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ― a top name being floated as a potential Biden replacement ― said Wednesday that “it wouldn’t hurt” for Biden to take a cognitive test.The message, at least from those making full-throated pleas for Biden to step down, tends to go something like this: “You’ve done an enormous service to your country. Now is the time to help shepherd a new generation of leadership to take command.”(Similar pressure to retire was put to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Dianne Feinstein, as well as on Mitch McConnell, who has agreed to step down from Senate leadership in November.) “I’ve been a social worker for about as long as Biden has been in politics. It’s difficult to think about abandoning the part of your identity tied up in work.”- Kim Zukowski, 68Still, no one wants to feel forced out of the job. For Boomers who say they’re reluctant to retire, or those who can’t financially afford to — that’s two-thirds of them, according to a study this year ― hearing the calls for Biden to forfeit his post has hit home.(We should note: Technically, Biden is just a few years older than any Boomer ― at 81, he’s part of the Silent Generation. Trump, who also seems to be just as resistant to retirement, is an early Boomer, at age 78.)Kim Zukowski, a 68-year-old social worker, thinks Biden is struggling with the process of “letting go,” just like she is as she mulls retirement.“I’ve been a social worker for about as long as Biden has been in politics. It’s difficult to think about abandoning the part of your identity tied up in work,” she told HuffPost. Zukowski keeps accepting new assignment options at work, almost like a reflex.“I also feel left out when passed over by younger colleagues for activities that are interesting to me, even though I know it’s their time now,” she said.At some level, Zukowski thinks Biden has to know that it’s time for the next generation of decision-makers to have their chance. “I know because intellectually, I understand that at my own job,” she said. “But letting go and stepping beyond work is not easy ― and I say that as someone who never even liked work all that much!” Many younger people believe there are fewer opportunities to get ahead because Boomers are refusing to leave positions of power in the workplace. And there’s no denying that the workforce is older than ever. People under age 40 made up more than 60% of the workforce in 1984. Today, that number has fallen to 45%, the Washington Post reported in July, and workers over 60 have become twice as common.That argument from younger generations can get combative ― “OK, Boomer, when are you going to retire?”Some Boomers weighing their options find that kind of criticism off-putting, patronizing and entitled, especially when their work is still being valued by their bosses, said Jacob Brown, a 71-year-old psychotherapist in San Francisco.“I think for many, the argument that Boomers just need to get out of the way carries with it the implication that Boomers are useless,” he told HuffPost. “It comes across as, ‘They’re like the dinosaurs; they’ve outlived their time.’”“As a Boomer myself, I can tell you, Boomers don’t feel that way about themselves,” he said. “None of us want to feel that we don’t have value or don’t have more to contribute. Part of enjoying life is that feeling of being useful.” President Joe Biden confirmed he’s not dropping out earlier this week in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. Call from him to step down continue in the Democratic party. The stakes are obviously much higher for Biden than the average Joe retiring, but the idea that work and service is an essential part of a person’s identity rings true for many of us, whether you’re the president of the United States or a high school English teacher. It’s a blow to the ego when you hear that you can’t cut it anymore at your job, regardless of your title.“So many people dread the day when they are asked to move aside or are pushed to the side,” Brown said. “Because if I’m not a plumber, a lawyer, a doctor or a teacher, then who am I?”Biden himself has invoked the “service as identity” ethos a number of times on the campaign trail and during presidential speeches, usually alluding to a favorite expression of his father’s.“He would say, ’Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity,” Biden said at the Democratic National Convention in 2020. “It’s about respect. It’s about your place in your community.”Many Boomers have that messaging ingrained from their childhoods, said Erin Mason, a psychotherapist in Los Angeles who specializes in life transitions.“To fully understand where Boomers are coming from, you have to consider who their parents were,” she said. “They were raised by people who were impacted not only by WWII, but also by the Great Depression, a time marked by global scarcity and economic uncertainty.”To work was to survive, and Boomers may have vicariously (or directly) experienced their parents’ fears and determination to work, Mason said.As Gallup noted in a 2014 study of potential retirees, Boomers’ “notoriously hard-charging work ethic and drive to get ahead” can “make it difficult for them to envision downshifting into the slower pace of retired life.”Some research suggests it’s actually healthy and stabilizing for older adults to continue work if they still can.“If you look at research done on Blue Zones ― areas of the world in which people live exceptionally long lives ― you’ll see how working in some capacity well into your 80s and 90s can contribute to longevity,” said Kim Bielak, a therapist who specializes in life transitions in Pasadena, California. “People’s work continues to provide things like purpose, routine and ongoing physical and mental challenge,” the therapist said. That’s how Renee Miller, the founder and CEO of a creative agency and a Biden supporter, feels about her work. “I’m a Boomer that has led and owned my own creative agency since 1990, at a time when less than 1% of women ran branding and ad agencies,” she said. “I’m constantly learning new skills, adapting to AI, listening to my team, many of whom are in their mid ’20s.” Miller said she’ll consider retirement in about five years, but given how many barriers it took to get ahead as a woman in her field ― and how in-command she still is on the job ― retiring now feels a tad unfair.“And I’m not alone,” she said. “Think about people like Warren Buffett, who at 93, is still successfully running Berkshire Hathaway. Should he retire?”Andrew Harnik via Getty ImagesIn the immediate aftermath of the debate, vice president Kamala Harris voiced her support for Biden to CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “I’m not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes when I’ve been watching the last 3½ years of performance,” she said. Miller takes umbrage at Biden’s age being called into question. “I think it’s preposterous for people to ask Joe Biden to step down because of his age, when you take a look at the list of his accomplishments,” she said. Miller said she likes what Vice President Kamala Harris told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in the immediate aftermath of the debate: “I’m not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes when I’ve been watching the last 3 1/2 years of performance,” Harris said.Plus, Miller said, no one seems to be focused on Trump’s age. “Trump is four years younger than Biden. Is he too old to run?” she asked.Not all reluctant-to-retire Boomers are on board with Biden, though. Barry Maher, a 67-year-old writer and speaker, has financially been able to retire for years but hasn’t because he loves his job.“I can understand why Biden doesn’t want to give it up. He loves what he’s doing and it’s meaningful, important work,” he said. “Like me, he’s still got a lot he wants to accomplish.” Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images“As much as I love Joe and agree with his policies and hate his opponent with a passion, he needs to retire,” Jim Bellomo, a 71-year-old living in Redmond, Washington.There are plenty of seniors who still have the right stuff at their job. In Biden’s case, Maher thinks it’s less about his age and more to do with where his cognitive prowess and stamina will stand further down the line. “He may feel wonderful, but he can’t convince the world that he’s got what it takes to do the job for the next four years,” Maher said. “Because the debate showed what can happen to him, and four years is a long time in the life of an 81-year-old.”At the end of the day, Maher thinks Biden should step aside and throw his support behind someone who can convince voters that they’re likely to finish the next four years in the same shape they start in, save the standard presidential premature graying.“Biden can still have a useful productive future,” Maher said. “He can still fight for the things he believes in and he can still help the country and future generations; he just can’t do it as president. Because the electorate isn’t going to hire him to do that.”Jim Bellomo, a 71-year-old living in Redmond, Washington, agrees.“As much as I love Joe and agree with his policies and hate his opponent with a passion, he needs to retire,” he said.“My father was the same age when we took away his car keys,” Bellomo said. “It’s time for him to step aside. I believe he still thinks he is a viable candidate and is hearing that from his aides who want to keep their jobs but if he stays in the race, he will lose.” Bellomo retired from his full-time job three years ago, when he was 69. Though he’s tech savvy, he admits there was no way he could keep up with some of his younger coworkers.“I do think that we have way too many old people in jobs that need to be young people,” Bellomo said. “To face the problems of the future, you can’t be still living in the past. It’s OK to pass the baton.”