ARTICLES  &  REVIEWS

Staying in the Game
Part 2 of Retirement Planning

London Free Press

 

Last week we looked at Retirement 101; this week we are going to look at moving your life at that transition stage of retirement, from a life of success that is about "you", to a life of significance that can be about "others."

 

Medical technology means that we may live longer then we expect. If you have reasonably good health habits by the time you celebrate your 60th birthday, instead of being on the down slope of old age you may have three decades of productive adult life ahead of you. If you are not aware of this trend, you may make decisions that essentially foreshorten your own opportunities. You could reach age 50 or 60 and think that your most creative or productive years are behind you. But they aren’t.

 

Betty Friedan learned something that most people who work in nursing homes have known for years; being old is not the same as acting old. Her landmark book "The Fountain of AGE", is a fascinating account of her research into the aging process. Among other things, Betty concluded that the mind plays an important role in how we age, the way we view ourselves and the way we allow others to view us. She suggests the mind determines whether we are growing old, or vitally aging.

 

Her studies showed that a majority of young and middle-aged respondents, viewed those over 65 as having very serious problems, and described them as lonely, unhealthy, poor, and fearful. In the same study, respondents over 65 also thought at least half of their peers had very serious problems in those areas. As Freidan observed, myth has replaced reality. Those "vitally aging" are obviously not 27 years old, but a lot of people "vitally aging" act more like 25, than 65. These are people who run marathons in their sixties, they read "Wired" magazine instead of "Modern Retirement", and they refuse to see themselves as "senior citizens".

 

There is no single bulletproof technique or method for changing your age paradigm, but there are some things you can consciously try that will help you make the transition from aging to vitally aging:

 

First—"down age". Down age yourself by thinking 10 years younger than you are. You don’t need to force these things because of better health habits and increasing longevity. Today’s 65-year-old generally feels, looks, and does the same as yesterday’s 55-year-old.

Second—emulate older models rather than younger ones. Even as you are thinking 10 years younger than you are, look for vitally aging people 25 years your senior. Get to know them. Peter Drucker, a well-known independent management consultant, has always had a fabulous effect on business people. Sean Connery and Barbara Walters should have a fabulous effect on people.

 

Third—think of retirement as a new chapter in your life. Banish "old" from your thinking. Retirement is a new phenomenon; it is a modern invention that was created out of bureaucracy in the 1940’s. Today’s retirement with longer life expectancy may mean a new career or you may start a new charitable endeavor.

 

Fourth—quit thinking of anyone past 50 as over-the-hill. Again, if you allow yourself to think of the second half of your life as being in a decline, well you may decline.

 

Fifth—listen to and watch those who are young. It is important to stay in touch with trends; it keeps you on the edge. Most media is targeted to certain demographics and a good way to maintain an adventurous, youthful outlook is to regularly read magazines, listen to music, and watch movies that are aimed at the generation behind you.

 

In the first half of life we identify ourselves by our work, our possessions, our business, and our children. For the second half of your life, seek out to identify your life by your character, your values, your beliefs, your contributions, and your mission. The second half of our life is about substance, so it stands to reason we need not only to lighten up the load of our material possessions, but we should slow down as well so we can hear our lives speaking to us again. People who don’t have time to reflect often get derailed. Your incentive to change in your second half of your life is to create a whole new second adulthood, a clean slate, a change to break out of the traditional boundaries of age, identity and time.

 

"If you didn’t know how old you were, how old would you be?"