Retirement As You Want It

Does Social Networking Grab You?

Boomers and older are flocking to social networking sites in droves. Even "seniors" (over age 60) can find a host of sites created for their needs. See listing here of the 50 best social networking sites, compiled as of November 2008. These sites reportedly are more grounded and less superficial than Facebook and Twitter. They offer opportunities to connect with other like-minded people, for romance, or for matching people with their interests like hiking, travel, or bridge.

Since we know that social isolation is one of the biggest culprits leading to depression in single older people, it makes sense to incorporate computer literacy in programs for seniors. Once they get past any shyness about communicating with strangers and also master the basic requirements and social etiquette of networking online,the medium can offer lots of fulfillment.

Here are a sampling of the kinds of sites especially relevant to people over age 40:

• Maple and Leek for 50+ who want to meet adventurous and entrepreneurial people 
• Life Two, "Midlife Improved"  
• Senior Friend Finder, a dating site 
• Mango Tree, to find travel partners 
• Dogster for dog lovers 
• Patients Like Me for people who share similar health problems 

Write your experiences or those of your older relatives with social networking. Are they finding satisfaction with whom and what they find on these sites? Are they disappointed about the quality of people whom they meet? Are they subjected to hard sell advertising? What is the downside?

Artists are Role Models for Aging Well

Recently I interviewed Riva Berkovitz for my TV show, called Alivelihood: New Careers As We Age. Riva started a new "career" as a photographer 3 years ago at age 77. She discovered her love for taking pictures with a "macro" lens after gazing at a beautiful park near her house. Knowing that she couldn't draw it and do justice to the look of the early spring leaves of weeping willows, she decided to try photographing it with her digital camera. This led to her examination of minute sections of plants and flowers she bought from her florist and her experimentation with different lenses and with cropping the photos using an online program. Cropping captured her attention and she's never stopped shooting and cropping flowers, trees, and plants. She's having the time of her life.

The magazine Aging Well published an article called: "Retirement Redefined: Lessons From Aging Artists" based on a survey undertaken by Joan Jeffri, Director of the Research Center for Arts and Culture at Teachers College, Columbia University.

The author, Juliann Schaeffer, sees retirement as being a fluid process. She describes Jeffri's study of aging artists to see what accounts for their immense life satisfaction. "Artists don't retire... They see life full of possibility vs. seeing life coming to a close... They are often called 'see-ers' - people that see beyond what's there," said Gay Hanna, executive director of the National Center for Creative Aging.

Jeffri studies 146 educated professional artists and found that there was no disconnect with older age. They stay connected with their artistic community, they have a firm sense of self, the majority stated that their self esteem is good to excellent. They've adapted their life to fit their art; for example, when one woman could no longer manage working with safety pins because of her arthritis, she shifted her medium.

Hanna said, "Life's real happiness lies in finding some area of work that you can feel passionate about and then using it to stay connected with others and continue lifelong learning."

According to the researcher Jeffri, "The life of the aging artist is a microcosm of resilience and the artist's response to materials ... provides an extraordinarily special place..." See full article.

 

How to Show Employers That We Are the Next "Hot Commodity?"

Become This was the compelling question that the panelists on Dori Mintzer's"Boomers & Beyond" Special Interest Group tackled on the telecall recently. Carleen MacKay (described as "the voice of the mature workforce"), Gene Burnard (publisher of Workforce50), and Kit Hayes (of LifeWork Design) asked: how do we want to position ourselves to become the next hot commodity?

As Boomers, we are known for "wanting it all." We constitute 50% of the workforce in the US. We will probably outlive our income, at this rate of saving and investing. But, the US economy needs our expertise and work ethic to compete in the global marketplace. Despite this, most Boomers will struggle to be gainfully employed. Since the economic crash, there's been a 100% increase in unemployment for the over-55 demographic.

Boomers want to contribute to society in meaningful ways, be adequately remunerated, and have ea voice in our future as employee, entrepreneur, or in a traditional retirement. We want to make a difference.

MacKay talks about a "gap analysis" -- between what the market needs and where we are. How can we bridge that gap? "We have to learn from the future, not the past," says MacKay.

What steps can we take?

• Become active in at least 1 professional organization to build professional visibility

• Continue learning - never stop. Get out of comfort zone, especially in areas that your market requires

• Monitor business trends and market shifts - be alert and proactive

• Develop and maintain a vibrant network of contacts, on and offline, whether employed, an entrepreneur, or when looking for work

• Take this stance: "like a tennis player anticipating a serve from the opponent" be ready to go anywhere on the court."

You are a "hot commodity" to the extent you believe in yourself and do all the preparation you need to be there. Go for it!

Find Your Passions and Purpose to Fulfill Your Next 30 Years

Are you looking for what I refer to as your "True North," the place where you gravitate to experience the feeling of Flow, of being in the Zone? Do you want your next act, when you leave your mid-years' career, to be a time when you truly connect with your passions, your values, your mission? I've written in these posts for years now about how we have the opportunity to experience 30 or so bonus years, years our parents couldn't depend upon (even if they did live long lives, like my grandmother who lived until 101). Do you want to make those years as fulfilling as possible?

I read a book lately that is germane to this topic, even though it's written for an audience of organizational leaders.  The Purpose Linked Organization: How Passionate Leaders Inspire Winning Teams and Great Results, written by Alaina Love and Marc Cugnon, co-founders of Purpose Linked Consulting (www.thepurposelink.com).They wrote: “Purpose is the driver that propels us through life and gives meaning to our daily existence … Without purpose, and its outward expression through our passions, life becomes a series of unconnected activities that do not lead to a sense of fulfillment and joy so vital to our well-being.”

The book includes access to a tool called a Passion Profiler ^TM, which tells us our top 3 Passion Archetypes; mine are: Transformer, Teacher, and Healer. The Transformer, which is the way I see my passion and purpose as a Life and Career Coach, is described as someone who is a change agent, who identifies and embraces possibilities, and can see the full potential of what can be and will gravitate toward it. The Transformer is passionate about facilitating change. That’s me to a “T.”

 

These are the things I take from this compelling book:

1. Once we enter the path of finding one's purpose and passion, we are much more independent and capable of finding a way to express it in any domain of our lives. It's always there for us to access. We don't have to wait to find just the right combination of circumstances.

2. It is a process that takes mental, emotional, and spiritual energy and focus. Many of us don't have the discipline to do it on our own. Find a partner, coach, support or mastermind group.

3. If we really want our lives to be stupendous, we can create work or other experiences where our passion archetype is valued, where we are chosen because of it and the organization needs just exactly what we have to offer. Now, that is bliss.

 

See a longer version of this article and book review at my column on "Meaning and Purpose" at WorkForce50. And comment by clicking the button below to contribute to this topic: e.g., what do you imagine is your "Passion Archetype," what really drives and motivates you?

 

 

Should the Idea of Retirement Be Retired?

Have you noticed that "retirement" is not what it used to be? How many of you are postponing retirement because you don't have enough money to support you in the way you expected? How many of you have retired, but find you are not as excited about the 24/7 lack of structure and meaning as you anticipated? Or recognize that you want to create something to do that is meaningful and purposeful and also get paid for doing it?

You're not alone! Millions of Baby Boomers and Silent Gen people are finding that their parents' views of retirement are not working for them. Whether it's finances or purpose and meaning that are making you think twice about what your retirement is or will be, listen to what Helen Dennis, a nationally renowned specialist on aging, employment, and retirement, said when she spoke at a meeting of the Life Planning Network in the Boston area.

Dennis listed all the ways that the word "retirement" is being re-fashioned -- Rewirement, Too Young to Retire, Encore Careers, 2nd Half of Life, 3rd Age -- testimony to the questions we have about what is this period of life being or becoming. Whatever it is, she said, "Boomers will make it cool," as they have about all the new ventures Boomers have started.

The leadership guru, Warren Bennis, who wrote Geeks and Geezers, studied what makes for successful leaders, young and older, Dennis described. How are these relevant to what you want to carry over into this next act?

* Having conviction conveyed by a sense of purpose and passion

* Nurturing authentic relationships that involve trust

* Purveyors of hope and optimism; a "positive illusion of reality"

* Balance - identity and self-esteem is not wrapped up in 1 aspect of life

* Bias toward action - a sense of adventure and sensible risk-taking

Despite the financial crunch, recent studies conducted by the MetLife Foundation and Ken Dychtwald, author of With Purpose: Going from Success to Significance in Work and Life, find that people value purpose, meaning, and friendships even more than money. "Moving from success to significance" is a general theme of people entering the 3rd Age, Helen Dennis suggests, and many seek hybrid experiences of volunteering, giving back, caregiving, and income-producing activities.

Where are you on this journey? Contribute your story and I might feature you in an upcoming post.

Aging in Place Initiatives Gain Recognition With Small Grants

"Aging in Place" has become a recognizable term since the 1st Boomers reached age 60 in 2006 and will be 65 in 2011. That means there will be twice as many of us, 1 in every 5 Americans in 2030. Wow! There are a lot of us.

Whether you're a Boomer with aging parents who want to stay in their own "place," or you yourself recognize the merits of doing that, you might have an idea of how to make that more feasible. Perhaps you can get a small grant to make it happen in your community.

3 organizations have collaborated to award small grants to innovative projects around the country. MetLife Foundation (see photo), Partners for Livable Communities, and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging have recognized these creative projects:

 - San Diego's La Mesa Park & Rec Dept sponsor an all-age drumming project to underscore the benefits of rhythm and movement and a healthy lifestyle

 - Kansas City's TJ Brown Foundation recruited home repair and lawn maintenance pros to help older adults stay in their homes

 - Arizona's Pinal-Gila Council organized Chambers of Commerce to create age-appropriate jobs for older people

If you have a burning desire to implement some little project that you know will improve the well-being and "stayability" of your parents or yourself in their own homes, you might get in touch with the sponsoring organizations to see how you can partner with a community project in your neighborhood to get a "JumpStart the Conversation" grant in place.

What ideas do you have to make it feasible, comfortable, and safe for older people to stay in their homes?

 

Giving Back to Remain Engaged, Use Your Skills, or Prepare to Re-Enter Job Market

Are you a boomer who is downsizing from your mid-years' career and wants to use your exemplary skill set while providing service to a non-profit agency? Are you thinking that you need/ want to get back to being employed, but need up-to-date experience and references?

SOAR55 (Service Opportunities after Reaching 55), part of a nationwide network of 750 such organizations, serves volunteers who want to engage in purposeful work, not the old style volunteer who wants to serve cookies or stuff envelopes.

Boomers have a reputation for "wanting it all" and in their post-career years, that doesn't change. They want challenge, meaning, purpose, as well as the teamwork they've been accustomed to in their employed years. And they come with the energy, vitality, contacts, and expertise that many non-profits are going begging for in this strained economy.

Enter SOAR55, which happens to serve people and organizations west of Boston, but they exist in many parts of the US. What do SOAR participants do? Many perform direct service functions.

At a meeting I attended, volunteer Susan Ruder poignantly described her journey from educator to retiree to finding her niche at SOAR. After extensive training, she works joyfully with a team that goes into a women's prison and tutors inmates who want to get their college degree. After a few years on this assignment, she's ready for the next one and SOAR is equipped to match her with her next dream job.

See Nancy Bloom, another enthusiastic volunteer in the photo above (in peach) with Carol Fischman, another management consultant volunteer. Nancy is a social worker, former Director of Volunteer Management at a local human services agency and was on the faculty of the Hornstein Program at Brandeis University. She was trained as a SOAR 55 Management Consultant (the very first group) and has been part of several teams that have provided pro bono operational and management expertise to area nonprofits.

David Chosiad, another volunteer at SOAR55, comes from a business background and is an adjunct consultant who loves to go into a "messy startup" and clean it up, then start work with another. He worked with an aging in place organization, playing both strategic and practical roles and loves the daily variety of his tasks and personal associations.

SOAR55 also has a grant to reach out to unemployed and underployed over-55s.They provide workshops and volunteer experiences that are destined to give them experience in a (possibly) new field, upgrade their skills, and get current references to get back into employment.

Do you see the benefits of these service opportunites for you? Let me know how you want to become involved in your community to reap some of these goodies. Click the "comment" button below this post or contact me privately at Karma@LifeSpringCoaching.com

Have You Ventured Into Social Networking?

A couple of months ago I succumbed to my colleagues'  "Friend" requests and activated my Facebook account. Since then I've put up my new professionally done color photo, plus some shots of me in action riding my horse, Diamond, along with my profile - all the fun things I do like write this blog, hosting a TV show, called "Alivelihood: New Careers As We Age," finishing my 2nd book, called Women Riders Who Could ... And Did, writing for ezines like WorkForce50 and Boomerous, and shepharding wonderful boomer(and older) like you into the retirement they want. I've amassed 100+ friends and growing daily.

I take a look at my WAll a couple of times per week and say "what's on my mind" or commend on others' posts. I'm careful to post onlky such items that I think my Friends would find interesting and useful, not mundane things, like "I had a great meal today."

I watched a hilarious video called "25 Things I Hate About Facebook" and I resonated with many. But, it has intrigued me, especially the inter-generational nature of the network. My step-grandson, age 13, is my Friend, as is my niece. Most of my friends are colleagues or people I've met through networking, teleclasses, and some have found me who are from decades past.

According to "Online, a Reason to Keep on Going," by Stephanie Clifford in the NYTimes, social networking sites are invaluable for isolated elders. Joseph Coughlin of AgeLab at MIT, was quoted as saying: "The new future of old age is about staying in society, staying in the workplace and staying very connected... ANd technology is going to be a very big part ... It provides a way tomake new connections... and a new sense of purpose."

Although some younger generations fear that boomers and older are taking over their sites, some are pleased to have their parents and grandparents connected to them in a new way. Parents can check in and see photos and goings-on of their children while away and still feel connected though not intrusive. In "Are Baby Boomers Killing Facebook... " Robert Strohmeyer writes in PCWorld that Boomers are the fastest growing segment of social networking sites. Whether to join their kids, to feel young, out of curiosity, or out of a need to connect with others, social networking seems to be going strong for the likes of us.

What has your experience been like? Have you been invited by your kids to join? Are they leery and embarrassed about what you might say? Have you met people who've overstepped your boundaries -- childhood friends whom you no longer have anything in common with? Tell your story here by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of the post (on the web version). 

Sew Much For Retirement! Embroidery Passion Leads to Internet Entrepreneur

Jan Henning from rural Indiana always loved to sew and embroider. Her late daughter Marilyn urged her to make a video so she and her sister could follow their mother's instructions from afar. A retired office manager of a major oil distribution company, Jan was accustomed to using computers at work, but only knowledgeable about the programs she had to use to manage her job.

When her daughter suggested she make instructional videos in 2000, although she had been sewing on her Husqvarna Viking, using complicated software programs, she never imagined anyone but her daughters would want the videos.

Wrong! To date, she's sold 8500 copies of 16 videos to people all over the world, including France, Australia, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand.

How did she get to be an internet entrepreneur? Being remote from city centers, she had no one to instruct her about how to use the software she bought from her local Husqvarna dealer. Even the dealer had no idea how to use it and told her, "That's for professionals."

She decided to hunker down, read the manuals, and learn how to use them. She discovered she had a knack for it. She offered to give classes at her home and 21 people appeared and ALL of them bought the $450 program from the dealer, who was happy, indeed.

She and her husband bought a camcorder and she set it up right next to her, so she could give instructions for the software and the machines. People loved the videos. She became famous through Yahoo groups that dealt with sewing. Her daughter Janny said, "Well, Mom, so much for retirement," and thereby named her company - SewMuch4Retirement.com.

When the family sustained a tragedy and Jan's beloved daughter Marilyn died from an adverse reaction to a surgical procedure in 2004, her many followers sent money and flowers from every corner of the globe. See the poem Marilyn wrote about her mom's journey - "I may be older and have very white hair. But any days of boredom are extremely rare. So,what is retirement, this word for the 'old?' It's whatever you make happen, it's the dream that you hold."

What is your dream and how can you convert it to your next adventure?

The Iron-Nun Competes in Triathlons at Age 79

Sister Madonna Buder at age 79 has completed more than 320 triathlons - those grueling tripartite events including 40 Ironman ones, consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26 mile run spanning 17 hours. What got her going like this?

The sister hasn't always been a competitive athlete. Entering the convent at age 23, she didn't start competing until age 47, when a priest encouraged her to run for "spiritual enrichment." At 52 she started swimming and cycling.

Although some religious Catholics find her running in spandex a bit perplexing to their sensibilities, most people are attracted to her spunk. She sees no conflict between her athletic activities and her religiosity. "Who says I can't be in the church and doing God's work out wherever I go... There is no limit, no boundaries to when and where you can commune with God. It doesn't have to be in church all the time."

See "The Iron-Nun: Sister Madonna Buder Balances Her Love for Faith and Fitness" for the complete story and a news video of Sister Madonna on the road. See her receive an award from a runner's association 2 years ago.

 Neither age nor religion stops this woman. Yeah for age and continued fitness!