Every seven seconds, someone is turning 50 years old. With 76
million American Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964, the
potential of this group is enormous. In fact, this market is
the largest, best-educated and wealthiest generation in U.S.
history.
What are they doing with the rest of their lives?
That's the question on the minds of Baby Boomers - a generation
that's approaching a time of life once called ‘retirement.’ Instead,
Boomers see this period as one that will open the door to a more
satisfying lifestyle, combining new career options, travel, and
education, fitness and community service.
In Canada, recent reports state that 72 percent of non-retired
Canadians expect to keep working when they retire. The number of
working people aged 60-64 has jumped more than 50 percent since
2002. More Canadians are working after retirement because they
want to enjoy the same standard of living. Or, as Gerri Pike, 54,
operator of the McNeil Loft - part fashion boutique, part school,
and part event-planning office in Kleinburg Ontario - puts it, “ I
really wanted to stay off the 9-5 treadmill. So I came up with
the idea of creating a private boutique for women my age, where
they can come with a few friends, have a glass of wine and go shopping.”
Everything old is new again
New research suggests that people are becoming more productive
after they retire, and strategists are predicting that Boomers
will be contributing more and more to the economy. They are anything
but dead wood.
Take Emma Schulman, for example. At 93, (Yes, that’s right)
she shows no signs of retiring. She is the head recruiting officer
for New York’s University Medical Center.
Many are also retiring and then taking on a second career when
they find retirement unfulfilling. Christa Hohs, who owns and
operates Senior Models, a company that represents models who start
at age 30 and go all the way up in age to 87, is one example. Siegel
began modeling when she was 50 and soon saw the opportunity for
an undeveloped market. There are now Senior Model offices in Germany,
and Spain and Italy are next on the agenda.
Just as they have dictated changes in perceptions and understandings
for many decades, Baby Boomers continue rewriting the book on retirement
and work.
Working: The new retirement
According to a recent survey by the JWT Mature Market Group in
the United States, the definition of fully ‘retired’ has
evolved to mean working in some capacity. Of the 42% who said they
plan to fully retire, 70% planned to work full-time or part-time.
The reason to work was not based on a need to pay bills, but rather
for personal fulfilment.
The top reasons stated for continuing to work are:
·
to stay mentally active,
·
be productive or useful,
·
stay physically active,
·
be around people
·
keep learning new things.
Some differences were noticeable by age and income, with single
women and low-income groups choosing to work to pay for living
expenses and health insurance/benefits.
Retirees choosing to continue to work tended to find their contributions
valued by their companies and their work proved to be meaningful
for their fulfilment. Fifty-eight percent of workers 65+ find that
their employers value their contributions.
When asked about their job situation, 44% of the respondents said
their job was personally rewarding, 30% said their job paid the
bills, and 26% said they have had their job for a long period of
time and it's what they do.
The job situation selections correlated to income and age with
higher income earners stating it is personally rewarding. Lower
income earners were more likely to say it pays the bills.
What it all means
Most Baby Boomers still plan to work in some capacity after retirement. This
is especially true for skilled workers with a higher education. Older workers
are more likely to be self-employed. They continue to work for personal fulfilment
with age and gender stereotypes applying even later in life.
Murray Morgenthau, co-founder of Canada’s Association of
Retired Persons (CARP) who is 83, agrees that society’s attitudes
of aging have changed: “ For starters, when you reach the
age of 50, you don’t feel as if you’re done.”
|
