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Along with retiring retirement, we decided it was time to retire our old look and integrate our new logo into a fresher, more energetic design. This will be rolled out to the full site in a few days. Click on the link www.2young2retire.com and tell us what you think. The contest generated an enormous response from newspapers around the country over the last weeks, and we have been answering an avalanche of email. Sorry we can't answer every one of them personally. But we do read them all. We welcome more than 200 new subscribers. We have close to 50 stories on the site now, and we know there are hundreds more out there. So here's an incentive to send us yours -- just a few paragraphs describing your transition, plus some contact information for a follow up. If we use your story, we will send you an all-cotton T-shirt with the new 2young2retire.com logo. It makes a great statement. Our Home-Based Business Like a lot of new dot-comers, we are working out of our home-based office. As you might suspect, it's not a pretty picture, but it seems to work well enough for the moment. We sit back to back at our computers -- a Gateway Pentium, with an overcrowded C drive, and a Gateway laptop with memory to spare -- and try not intrude into each other's territory, material or psychic.
We have something of a church/state division here. Marika does the editorial for 2young2retire; Howard is in charge of development, which means he is responsible for transforming our mom-and-pop into whatever it is going to be next. We remind ourselves that Steve Jobs launched the personal computer revolution in a garage. Whatever happened to Apple Computers later, no one can take that away from him. Like they say, ya gotta have a sensayuma. Seriously, working with one's spouse or partner in life does require some intentions and guidelines, so that the business end of your life doesn't overrun life itself. If you are considering such a partnership, we offer what is working for us. 1. Never discuss business in the bedroom. Bedrooms already double (triple?) as the reading corner, the TV room, even the crumbly snack-and-TV room. Set down a boundary on talking shop here. Trust us on this one. 2. Have a business plan, and prepare to make change in it as your enterprise grows and evolves. If nothing else, it helps clarify your vision, keeps you on track. Otherwise you run the risk of reacting to whatever comes along, instead of distinguishing between the opportunities that move you toward your goal and those which are distractions from it. With a small business, you can so easily lose sight of the forest for the trees. 3. Have clear division of responsibility according to the talents/interests/tendencies of each. It is helpful that we both recognize our very different personalities. Howard is the idea guy, the visionary. He is also an optimist, with a classic lemonade-from-lemons outlook, which makes him a natural salesman, gregarious, outgoing. Marika is the strategist. She likes learning things and solving problems, and needs lots of quiet to balance her life. So, Howard does the "outside" work of exploring partnerships, contacting the media. Marika writes, answers the email, does research, thinks about how to integrate new ideas and tools and, lately, tweaks the design. 4. Impose a structure on your work. It may sound absurd since we're around each other a lot of the time, but we set up meetings for specific purposes, yellow lined pads, coffee, the whole bit. A structure helps to avoid duplicating effort or letting tasks fall through the cracks. We decide who is going to follow up on what and schedule it out. We can see building a larger team on these principles. Living and working together can produce its own strains, so make time for yourself as an individual. For example, this week, Marika is going to a three-day yoga teacher conference. Howard volunteers with Future Possibilities, a program that coaches inner-city children, and recently joined a men's group. 5. Schedule time out where you don't discuss business at all. When the business itself is fun, or things are exciting, as ours has been lately, this takes real discipline. But it's worth it. We remind ourselves that there's a lot more at stake here than whether our business succeeds or fails. We also try to take breaks during the day to walk, stretch (a short yoga series is great), have a snack, do the crossword. 5. Agree to consult on and make all the big decisions together. Let the smaller decisions be made by the one chiefly responsible, then stand by that decision. Of course, this is rarely so cut and dried, but it helps to have the intention. 6. Above all, be flexible, have fun, laugh. If you're like us, you've done work in the past that you haven't always enjoyed. Now is the time to have the time of your life, in work that is meaningful and close to your heart. For more about us and our business, click on www.2young2retire.com/ourstory.htm MEDIA WATCH * You folks in the Philadelphia area, listen up. There's a great new show for the 50-plus audience currently in pilot and hoping to become weekly and national. It's called Been There/Done That and is produced by WHYY 91 FM, the local National Public Radio affiliate. Host Marty Goldensohn focused on retirement recently and mentioned 2young2retire and the Reggies. Check out their website, http://whyy.org for the show schedule. * The Retire the R Word contest continued to generate a "media shower" for 2young2retire. We were featured in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Rocky Mountain News (Denver). Thanks Amy Westfeldt of the Associated Press. * Our interview with WCBS-TV correspondent Annika Pergament gave Howard and Marika less than a minute of air time, but no complaints. She also interviewed two of our True Story profilees, Arthur Mark, the professor emeritus turned actor, and Ashley Carter, a scientist who heads up Drew University's Research Institute for Scientists Emeritii. The news segment "Redefining Retirement" drew on a recent study on the subject (more below) and was right on target for our money. The part that really made us smile was the promo that ran a number of times through the evening before the news show. It was of someone burning their AARP card. * According to new research from the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Rutgers University (New Jersey), "Most workers see their 'retirement' not as a time for leisure and travel, but as an opportunity to do fulfilling work, and fine avocation in what they do. Nearly 70% of workers agreed they would continue to work even if they had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives." Get the executive summary: http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/whatsnew/Executive_Summary.pdf * Looking for seasonal work? Here are some websites you might enjoy checking out: www.seasonalemployment.com and, if solitude and a great view are your cup of tea, www.lhkeeper.com. A resource for you RVers: www.workersonwheels.com * We weren't there, but we'd would love to hear from any of you who were at the one day conference on Redesigning Retirement at the University of California at Berkeley. If you're curious about it, click on http://thecenter.berkeley.edu/programs.html * Just for fun, check out: http://dmarie.com/timecap/ to discover what happened the day you were born.
POTPOURRI
* Voluntarism is alive and well in America. In 1999, volunteers devoted 19.9 billion Hours to communities throughout the U.S. People who found volunteer opportunities through VolunteerMatch contributed a total of 260,000 hours of service. Even at a $1 a hour, this would be a significant contribution. * If the Peace Corps appeals to you, you aren't alone among us 50-plus folks. Here are some interesting statistics at http://www.peacecorps.gov/about/facts/seniors.html * Livineasy (www.livineasy.com)is the Web site for seniors who are new to computers and the Internet. Livineasy offers free easy-to-understand computer and Internet training that is written for the user who has zero knowledge on computers. There is also over 400 Tips for first time users, the Livineasy Dictionary that has over 150 common term descriptions and free training on Microsoft Office basics. * From Ron and Bettye Ronning: We began the Cannon Valley Elder Collegium four years ago, an organization dedicated to life-long-learning. Our purpose? To provide a content-oriented studies experience for elder students with senior faculty. Want to know more? Check our Web site:http://www.cvec.org. Recommended reading that we have found rewarding: The Force of Character by James Hillman and America the Wise by Theodore Roszak. * Comments from our visitors -- and a few more replacements for the "R" word. New word for "Retirement" is "Fruition." Instead of "into retirement": "into fruition."
A & TJS, zip, 55426 I Just read your article in the local paper. In regards to an alternative name for retirement I would suggest that we call ourselves REDIRECTED. I am in my 70s.
JLC, zip 36360 Wonderful idea-badly needed. Tired of all hits on retirement being financially related. Looking forward to spending time at this site.
BC, zip 64468 I just wanted to chime in on your search for a word to replace retirement. I think your point is well taken and I was listening to a radio program a couple of weeks ago on that very issue and a request was made for a more accurately defining word. My choice of words - and I might add that I "coined" it- is redirectment. The choice is up to the individual as to how he/she redirects his/her own life. It's not really a reinvention of a life since one carries all of his/her long-cultivated values, skills, and experiences into the new endeavor.
MN, zip 17824 I am a school principal in my 30th year and could retire at the end of the school term...also have served in the United States Marine Corps...investigating all options...at age 51, I am financially secure but would like to think I could contribute in other areas...thanks
RA, zip 30629 Great site! Thank you. I am 58 years old, have already earned one "early retirement" and am now looking forward to age 62 and collecting my social security and doing something else possibly somewhere else. I certainly don't ever plan to "retire."
PC, 94080 I'm 71 and have no plans to retire. I'm having too much fun! I'm single, have a great job, with no age restrictions, good health, a computer (the latest model Gateway with all the"bell and whistles") and just having a great time in general!
DA, zip 44216 I was thrilled to find your site while reading an article in the Sunday newspaper. I'm approaching "retirement" after 30 years in civil service. I am now planning at least the next 30 years in post-employment. Your site will play an important part in planning how to best use my newfound free time. You are providing a great service to many in my position.
Don, 02863 Been looking for a website like this for two years. I retired, but find I am not a happy camper. Doing lunch is not my lifelong ambition. Looking for suggestions.
JM, zip 07644 Thank you for enlightenment on retirement. When Dale Brown (ex LSU basketball coach) retired, he said that retirement was like a launching pad, that is ,an opportunity to do something different.
GP, zip 70811
Until after the Subway series is over...all the best!
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