Anti-Aging     

Columbus, Ohio    6-17-05

When Social Security started, most Americans did not live long enough to collect it. The dream was to have a few years for travel and recreational. Now American life expectancy is 77 and a lot has changed. Age 65 is still a symbol of independence. But the meaning of that independence is changing.

I was at a conference on nursing home services a few years ago and the speakers talked about “empowering the patients.” (Of course calling them “patients” is not very empowering.) During the break a nurse told me, “They don’t get it. When I ask my patients to exercise or do something for themselves, they say, ‘I worked hard all my life and I want to relax and be taken care of.’” Independence used to mean kicking back and taking it easy.

The Heldrich Center surveyed American workers about retirement. It wasn’t surprising that most said they would like to retire at age 65–or younger. What was surprising, however, was that only 10% of the 1,000 workers surveyed said they just wanted to pursue leisure and recreation. The other 90% said they wanted to start a new career, start their own business, go to school, work full-time, work part-time, or do volunteer work. They wanted to continue contributing after “retirement age.”

The American Association of Retired Persons changed its name to AARP. Why? Because when AARP tried to recruit the Baby Boomers, Boomers didn’t like the “R word.” A 1999 AARP survey found that 61% of retirees and 70% of non-retirees said retirement is “a time to begin a new chapter by being active and involved, starting new activities and setting new goals.”

Boomers pushed to make age discrimination illegal. In 2000 Congress repealed the Social Security earnings penalty for workers aged 65-70. Our society has geared up to give seniors the freedom to choose to work.

The line between working and retirement is blurring. Increasingly, seniors weave in and out of retirement. They may travel, help family and friends, or take some courses. Then some get a hankering to do some work again—whether paid, unpaid, consulting, or self-employment.

There is an increased awareness that work is often important to giving us a sense of identity, connection, and purpose. Ideally, work should be something that we love to do. As Chicago Bears football coach George Halas said when he was coaching in his 80s, “It’s only work if there’s someplace else you’d rather be.”

Retirement is the ultimate independence. We can choose to work or not to work. How American.

Dr. Michael Brickey is President of the Ageless Lifestyles Institute and author of the Oprah-featured book, Defy Aging and just released 52 baby steps to Grow Young. To learn about more about the psychology of being youthful at every age, contact Dr. Brickey at 614-237-4556 or DrBrickey@DrBrickey.com. Also see www.DrBrickey.com

###