World's 2nd-Richest Man Wants a 3-Day Work Week

People are working too many days but not enough years, according to the world's second-richest man. Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim says it is time for a "radical overhaul" that would result in people working just three days a week but postponing retirement until their 70s, reports the Financial Times. "With three work days a week, we would have more time to relax; for quality of life," he told a recent business conference in Paraguay. "Having four days [off] would be very important to generate new entertainment activities and other ways of being occupied."

Slim, who has a fortune estimated at $80 billion but was overtaken as world's richest man by Bill Gates last year, says current retirement ages were introduced when life expectancies were lower and should rise to 70 or 75. At his Telmex phone company, workers who joined the firm in their teens can retire by the time they hit 50, but a new contract offers them the chance to keep working beyond retirement age for full pay with a workload of four days a week, the Guardian reports. The tycoon himself is 74 years old and shows no signs of planning to retire. (More Carlos Slim stories.)