Many older adults don’t recognize the depth and breadth of their own potential. Regardless of age, this can take some time, and experimen-tation with new life roles, to figure out.
The “Young-Old”
Benjamin Franklin was 70 years old when he was appointed to the committee that wrote the Declaration of Independence. When he was
72, he got France to recognize the United States. And, at 82, he worked with Congress to help ratify the Constitution.
Thomas Jefferson was 76 when he founded the University of Virginia.
At 67, George C. Marshall received the Nobel Prize for designing the European Recovery program after World War II.
Jessica Tandy was 79 when she won an Oscar for her portrayal of Daisy Werthan in Driving Miss Daisy. She was two years older when she was nominated again for her role as Ninny Threadgood in Fried Green Tomatoes, where she taught a much-younger Kathy Bates how to find joy in life.
Perhaps it’s just an accident of fate or some extraordinary talent that led these go-getters to produce such memorable late-life accomplish-ments. However, it’s hard not to note the myriad ways in which their attitudes toward life and aging inspired them to achieve. Instead of believing that there’s some biological watershed when everything starts to deteriorate and go downhill, these productive adults worked in ways that kept them actively involved participants in the business of life. Each of these high achievers fit a category sociologist Bernice Neugarten called the “young-old.” Rather than cave into some chronological divide, they parlayed their wisdom and experience into meaningful achievements that added years and dimensions to their lives. What they all had in common was a vision or a dream—an unwillingness to be held back by preconceptions, misconceptions, or fears.
At 45 years old, boxer George Foreman was more afraid of “not hav-ing a dream” than he was of climbhav-ing into the rhav-ing again with a much-younger opponent. The result was boxing history when he knocked out 26-year-old Michael Moorer in 1994 to regain the title he’d lost 20 years before and become the oldest heavyweight champion ever.
No Limits, No Finish Line
A former project engineer for a satellite communications company in New York City offered to help a widowed friend with her floundering
restaurant. He thought he’d just be pitching in with salad-chopping or pancake-making (duties he had little experience with). However, his contribution turned out to be much bigger than that. Once he got a hands-on feel for the restaurant business, he found, to his surprise, that he knew how to do things he’d never realized he could. Before long, for example, he was helping improve the restaurant’s layout, determine food requirements, and even plan the menu. All it took was applying the project-management skills and experience he’d already acquired in a different environment.
So, too, for Frank Mackey, whose entrepreneurial spirit and “tough hide” of self-confidence enabled him to break into the extremely com-petitive arena of commercial acting. While his younger colleagues lament the dearth of work, the 63-year-old Mackey religiously (and some would say relentlessly) makes his rounds to talent agents. In his very first six months of operation, Mackey has the beginnings of a portfolio that might make for a truly successful late-life career.
Already, he’s garnered projects with prestigious companies such as Sears, Roebuck and Company and Leo Burnett.
Some think he’s crazy to have given up a lucrative legal career for the tough world of acting, where money and projects can be scarce and the focus is on youth and glamour. But, like the late Oscar Wilde, the upbeat Mackey believes, “The only thing you never regret in old age are your mistakes.” He’s looking forward to the future, not rehashing the errors of the past.
As a mature adult, it’s time to start gauging for yourself what is and isn’t “realistic” for you. Before caving into societal or peer pressure to accept a diminished (and unnecessarily unsatisfying) role in life, try approaching your life choices more creatively.
In The Fifth Discipline (1994, Doubleday), author Peter Senge ques-tions whether we’ve become prisoners of “the system” or of our own limited way of thinking. He believes that a spirit of mastery (which goes beyond actual skill and competence) is the key to a creative and productive life. People with a high level of personal
mastery live in a continual learning mode and consider the experience its own reward.
My colleague Steve Garrett, an independent outplacement consultant in Chicago, has a poster hanging on his living room wall that reads,
“There is no finish line.” At his annual holiday party, he caught me contemplating the poster with amusement.
“It’s a reminder to enjoy the journey,” he laughed. A moment of understanding passed between us. As outplacement professionals, we have seen too many people who are trying desperately to wait out their time until retirement. Collecting pension plans and retirement monies was once a feasible (and quite practical) workplace reality, but times have changed. Before you agree to turn your remaining work years into decades of drudgery, consider the importance of rich per-sonal experience for lifelong happiness.
After 1,846 days and nights on the road—which included photo safaris in Kenya and Tanzania, voyages to Antarctica, cruises in the Baltic, and hiking in Ireland—Jack Schnedler, part-time travel editor for the Chicago Sun-Times, decided to give up his globetrotting life for a more settled existence as the managing editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. But he recognized the value of the memories he had built en route. “I can live comfortably on the interest I’ll be draw-ing from these 12 years of indelibly banked travel editor’s memories,”
he wrote in his last Sun-Times column.
The truth is, there is no finish line because there is no race. The only agenda that matters starts at birth and ends at death. As an act of self-empowerment, try abandoning the whole concept of retirement.
Doing so can bring undreamed-of opportunities for growth and achievement. Too many people seem to accept the idea that work is automatically drudgery and leisure is more fulfilling. Yet many peo-ple’s lives are enriched, rather than diminished, by their work. Viewing work as a way to meet your needs and enrich your life can be an emo-tionally rewarding experience.
“That’s the beauty of it,” says Anita Lands. “There is no right or wrong answer. It’s all up to you.”
Tips for Saving for Early Retirement
Savings are usually the key to an early retirement, even if you have a generous pension. If your savings fall short, there are three ways you can still get on track for an early out.
Step 1: Save smart. Take full advantage of any 401(k) or 403(b) or other employer-sponsored tax-deferred retirement plans. No other investment vehicles can give you the triple whammy of regular sav-ings, tax-deferred compounding, and employer-matched funding. If you contribute as much as your plan allows and invest wisely, you could end up with a higher benefit in retirement than someone with a traditional pension plan. At the very least, contribute enough to earn the full employer match. Then stretch your budget so that you can save as much as the plan allows.
Step 2: Make saving painless. If you change jobs, arrange for your employer to transfer your retirement-plan balance directly to your new employer’s plan or a rollover IRA. When you get a raise, increase your 401(k) salary-deferral rate if possible, or have automatic monthly deposits made into a separate savings fund.
Step 3: Be aggressive. Make your money work as hard as you do.
Diversify your investments. Most people play it too safe with their retirement savings, especially in the early years of a long-term invest-ment.
Source: Adapted from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.
Oh No, 50!: Midlife Career Transitions Thought-Starter Worksheet 1. How old are you now?
2. How much longer do you plan to work?
3. Are you looking forward to retirement? Or do you dread it?
4. Do you know what you want to do after you retire?
5. Do you plan/need to work after retirement?
6. If you plan to work, do you know what you want to do?
7. Is there anything you need to do now to make sure you can do what you want after retirement?
8. What is your stereotype of an “old person”?
(continues) 9. How do you plan to combat that reality?
10. How healthy are you?
11. Is there anything you can do now to take better care of your health?
12. Are you open to learning new things? Why or why not?
13. When was the last time you tried something totally different?
How did it feel?
14. How well do you function in an unstructured environment?
(continued)
15. How do you plan to structure your time after retirement?
16. Do you have friends who plan to retire when you do?
17. If you don’t have friends retiring with you, where do you expect to find community?
18. Is it important to you to feel like a productive, contributing member of society? How do you plan to fulfill that need after retirement?
19. Have you ever participated in any volunteer or community activities? What was that experience like?
20. Do you have a formal retirement plan?
(continues) 21. Have you considered working with a retirement-planning
coun-selor to create one? If not, why?
22. Do you have any creative instincts? If so, how do you plan to fulfill them?
23. Will you need extra income after retirement?
24. Are there any skills or experience you should be getting now to ensure your marketability later?
25. Is there anyone over age 65 whom you really admire?
26. Why do you admire this person?
(continued)
27. Is there anything in this person’s attitude or behavior that you can work to emulate?
28. How long do you plan to live?
29. How are you going to make your later years fulfilling?