I have been through the process of living in a post-career environment, and I know it can be unsettling. But in the course of my work, I don't rely only on my own experience or only on formal research reports.
I have also talked to literally hundreds of post-career Americans engaged in post-career work, such as:
- a part-time barista at Starbucks,
- entrepreneurs who have started new business ventures…some even exporting to overseas markets;
- a volunteer soccer coach for a girls' soccer team,
- paid consultants in a variety of jobs – from knowledge workers to blue collar workers,
- a part-timer who sacks groceries at a Safeway…and another who ferries Hertz rental cars to airports,
- a SCORE volunteer one day week,
- the chairman of the lay council of a local parish – a job that consumes about 15 hours a week; and others.
Nearly all described themselves as "retired" though not one had withdrawn, taken leave, or retreated from the action and passions of life.
Unfortunately, we do not yet have a language to describe people who continue to be fully engaged in life, including work, after they leave their careers…and words like "retirees," "oldsters," "elders" and the like don't work. This is amazing when you stop to consider that we have good studies based on reliable data to indicate that as many as two-thirds to three-fourths (66% to 75%) of later-life Americans want and expect to continue to work in their post-career years.
The Bonus Years Living blog is designed to show the cultural transformation that is taking place in America. This is a result of the remarkable determination of so many later-life Americans to remain engaged in work that will allow them to continue to use their gifts of time, treasure and talent to help others and repair the world.
We also invite those in the larger community to submit their own stories or to tell us about inspiring stories they have encountered in their family, neighborhood, or other venue where later-life Americans can be found fully engaged in the world of work. If you have ideas along these lines, please leave us a message: Contact Us.
Using the gift of time to promote economic literacy and civility
Unabridged from my Bonus Years column in the Lifestyle section of The Sunday Capital, Annapolis, Maryland Richard Bach, the American author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and other best-sellers, once said, “A great life is the sum total of the worthwhile things you’ve been doing one by one.” Everyone entering his or her bonus years should tack this quote…
A tip from a “long-standing” friend, not an “old” friend
Last week, I wrote about the many similarities between the very young and the very old – such as shared preference for soft foods, naps, battery-driven vehicles, and sometimes even diapers. Well, the roof caved in. I received 31 responses to my commentary after three days, and most of them were along the lines of…
Something old, something new makes a portfolio
Unabridged from my Bonus Years column in the Lifestyle section of The Sunday Capital, Annapolis, Maryland “On April 9, 1940, the very day that the Nazis invaded Norway, a young Swedish nurse received a life-changing letter. It contained an improbable wedding proposal from the man she loved – a Norwegian living more than three thousand miles away across…
The ‘fastest clipper in the East’ is not about to retire
Unabridged from my Bonus Years column in the Lifestyle section of The Sunday Capital, Annapolis, Maryland Shortly after moving to Annapolis in 1993, I learned about the city’s ethnic diversity and rich history of immigration. About a year later, I met one of those immigrants, an Annapolitan by the name of Savvas Yiannoulou (rhymes with “Honolulu”). Savvi, as…
The wee small hours of the morning bring joy, reflection
Unabridged from my Bonus Years column in the Lifestyle section of The Sunday Capital, Annapolis, Maryland It all began with a talent contest at Bentwaters Royal Air Force base in Ipswich, England in 1958. One of the competitors didn’t show up, and the organizers needed someone to fill the empty slot. Roland Leone, an enlisted airman in the…
Plan your bonus years like you plan your working years
An old business school riddle goes something like this: If there are five frogs on a log and one decides to jump off, how many are left? The answer: Five. The reason: Deciding to jump is not the same as jumping. The number of frogs on the log is reduced to four only by…
The gift of hospitality does not include retirement
Every so often you meet genuinely special people – people who make you say, “I would like to be like them.” Mary Sue and I met two people like this shortly after we moved to Annapolis in 1993. I’m referring to Graham and Libby Gutsche, who were married in 1948 and will soon celebrate their…
‘Work is a blessing:’ The gift of satisfying work in later life
Physician Alexis Carrel, recipient of the 1912 Nobel Prize in Medicine for pioneering work on vascular suturing, organ transplants and the aging of cells, famously said, “The aging man should neither stop working nor retire. Leisure is even more dangerous for the old than for the young.” That also applies to women, according to Mary…
Unexpected journeys can shape the bonus years
Unabridged from my Bonus Years column in the Lifestyle section of The Sunday Capital, Annapolis, Maryland It’s a dolls’ house. Not the kind your daughter received from Santa on her third Christmas. The dolls’ house I am taking about is in the historic district, near City Dock. It’s a house full of dolls. More than 500 dolls! Old…
A man on a mission has no time to retire
He was Indiana state swimming champ in the 100 yard butterfly. He graduated cum laude from Harvard with a degree in economics. He is now a cook in Annapolis. I’m talking about Craig Sewell, the owner-operator of A Cook’s Cafe – and a cook on a mission that does not include retirement. Though he passed his 60th birthday…