'Retirement' a dirty word for many older workers




Home \| Elder Rights \| Health \| Pension Watch \| Rural Aging \| Armed Conflict \| Aging Watch at the UN

	SEARCH	SUBSCRIBE
			Mission \| Contact Us \| Internships \| Donate Now!

back

'Retirement' a dirty word for many older workers
Older workers are finding meaning after ending their careers

By Davis Bushnell, the Boston Globe
October 26, 2003

Years ago, people reaching age 65 typically received a gold watch from employers and then golfed their way into retirement.

Not anymore. A number of older workers are heading into their golden years determined to find meaningful part-time work after leaving the corporate or professional world.

''Retirement'' has become a dirty word for some members of this group, which includes the oldest of the nation's baby boom generation born between 1946 and 1964.

''Retirement no longer connotes going away and hiding under a rock,'' said Cecile J. Klavens, a Brookline consultant on career strategies.

Attitudes toward retirement are undergoing a sea change, shaped in part by the economic cycles that mature workers have experienced during their careers, say specialists. Some, for example, have found themselves working past age 65 to make up for savings depleted during the recent slowdown. Others - many of them boomers - have opted to take early retirement packages offered by employers seeking to streamline staff during hard times.

All want to remain vital in their senior years. These so-called ''third agers,'' a group encompassing people between 55 and 75, are interested in pursuing worthwhile projects such as advising fledgling businesses as well as donating hours to pursue personal passions or charity.

They are people like Fred Mandell, 61, of Needham . Mandell retired two years ago as head of American Express's investment company.

''I'm reluctant to say I'm retired, but, rather, that I am doing meaningful projects that keep me learning and growing,'' he said.

When he takes a time out from working on two-dimensional sculptures, Mandell coaches more than a half-dozen clients who are corporate executives, salespeople, and entrepreneurs. He said he sees his role as helping clients resolve issues they have, whether it be job performance or ''a need to be rejuvenated'' for managerial tasks. His advice, he said, is based on his experiences as a senior corporate executive.

Of the benefits he gets from his work, he said, ''I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing clients experiment and take their business and personal lives to the next level. I also learn from my clients: It's really a learning partnership.''

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 4.4 million individuals age 65 or older working full or part time in the US work force. A recent survey of workers between 50 and 70 years of age revealed that 53 percent of the respondents defined retirement as ''working for enjoyment, not money,'' according to AARP, an advocacy group for older Americans.

A new breed of personal coaches is also emerging to take advantage of this trend, helping clients chart part-time work courses based on their interests and skills.

There's no doubt that for coaches, ''demographics support retiring baby boomers as a growing niche,'' said Cheryl Dolan, co-president of the 300-member New England chapter of the International Coach Federation. AARP reports that 76 million boomers - the oldest of that group - are nearing retirement age.

''Coaches can be highly effective in helping this population redefine their identities, their core values, and their visions for the future,'' Dolan said. Monthly coaching fees charged by members of her organization are, for the most part, in the $300 to $1,500 range, she noted.

Marc Freedman, author of ''Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America,'' said: ''A lot of coaches are waking up and realizing that there's a big market out there.'' Boomers who have retired, or are about to, ''are looking for meaning and purpose in'' their new lives, he said.

Laurie Geary, of Cambridge , who counseled executives for six years, has just hung out her retirement coaching shingle. She is now preparing workshops, she said, for people 55 years of age and older that will cover topics ranging from fulfilling work options to financial planning and fitness training.

''I want clients to realize that they can create, with planning, a whole new life,'' Geary said. ''Too many people reach retirement age and say, 'Oops, what am I going to do now?' ''

These individuals ''are in a different ballgame,'' said Margaret Newhouse of Weston, a life coach since 2001 and a former assistant career services director at Harvard.

''They are living longer, on average, and will have many more years of making worthwhile contributions to their own lives as well as to others'.'' And many of those contributions, she added, will be made in a part-time work setting.

Jean Proulx Dibner ended a 19-year high-tech career in 1999, accepting an early retirement package from Avid Technology, where she had been a senior vice president. Prior to that, she had been a vice president at IBM Corp. and Digital Equipment Corp. and a manager at Apple Computer Inc.

After leaving Avid, the 61-year-old Dibner sought counseling from New Directions, a Boston outplacement firm. She was immediately drawn to the firm's Life Portfolio Program, designed to help individuals in transition come up with activities based on their skills and desires.

The portfolio program has ''made my life even more richer and varied,'' Dibner said, adding that she has become involved with the Executive Service Corp. in Boston and Lincoln 's DeCordova Museum as an overseer. She is also a coach to start-up companies.

''You could say that I'm in the experimental stage of my life, and that everything is going well,'' she said. The Newton resident said she is also pursuing her passion for sculpting.

''I'm letting out the soft, creative side of me, which is very important and very invigorating,'' said Dibner, a founder and owner of West Concord 's Sculpture Collaborative, which specializes in figurative sculpture.

''Sculpture has always been an interest, but until fairly recently, I did it in a corner of my life.''

In Newton , a ''Discovering What's Next'' initiative is also coaching older adults on how to go about leading their new lives.

''People want to first validate what they've done, and then delve into interesting things'' that they probably didn't have time for previously, said Carol A. Greenfield, founder of the community collaborative.

Segueing into another, very different stage of life is never easy. But it is a little easier when individuals are encouraged to follow through on their belief that ''they can make a difference in what they do, often through new work, rather than golfing all day,'' said George Zeller, a senior employment specialist with the Jewish Vocational Service.