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Reinventing Retirement Newsletter

If you’re thinking of moving 100 miles or more from where you currently reside, you are one of a growing number in our age group contemplating this dramatic life change. Relocation was the hot topic at the 2young2retire Couples Advance at Frost Valley, NY, in June, and we will be speaking on the subject in September at the 92nd St. Y/Makor-Steinhardt Center in New York City. The subject has particular resonance for us at the moment, as Howard and I will soon be leaving the state that we have called home for more than 30 years, and relocating geographically closer to our grandchildren. (2young2retire, of course, is everywhere, and our web addresses will remain the same!) We North Americans may be the most mobile people in modern times. The reasons are many, but one reason probably outweighs the rest: we move so frequently because we CAN. The sheer size of our continental landmass is for many an irresistible call to exploration and discovery. Picking up stakes and heading down the road is coupled with our appetite for reinvention, a belief that life can be better – somewhere else. What makes relocation different this time around is that it is likely to be motivated by reasons other than the demands of career. If the nest is empty, we may want to combine downsizing with a change of venue. We may be seeking a warmer climate (the siren song of the Sun Belt), a beach if we’ve been landlocked, the slower place of a small town and more house for the money if we’ve been lifelong urbanites, closer family ties (or perhaps not), and so on. This time, chances are the choice is ours to make. To put it another way, for perhaps the first time in our adult lives, we can carefully weigh the factors that are important to us: climate, culture, cost of living, crime rates, to name a few offered by www.bestplaces.net and other sites with assessment tools, and let the other pieces fall into place. Needless to say, unless you are as smitten by wanderlust as author and “female nomad,” Rita Golden Gelman, (see www.2young2retire.com/ritagoldengelman.htm), relocation is fraught with anxiety that no amount of cheerful ‘successful moves’ tips, to-do lists and moving count-downs can allay. The details of packing and scheduling and hauling and settling in are pretty straightforward -- there’s a huge industry dedicated to helping us master this, after all. (Just type the word ‘move’ into your browser and stand back.) So what makes relocation rank in the top 10 of life’s most stressful events? In a nutshell, it replaces a world we know for one about which we can only make an educated guess. Here are some suggestions that may help make the process smoother. (Drop an email to Marika@2young2retire.com if you have other suggestions. We have a second edition of Too Young to Retire: An Off-the-Road Map to the Rest of Your Life in the works, with a new chapter on relocation.) 1. Give yourself plenty of time to think about what you want in a location and prioritize your desires -- a year ahead or more is not too much. Have many discussions with your life partner so you can get on the same page, or as nearly as possible. Trade-offs are inevitable, so be sure you identify what is most important. Use head and heart. 2. Before you start researching your ideal location, make lists about what you like/dislike about where you live now. This is probably as important as anything else you can do. You may even decide not to move at all, or choose a nearby location that will enable you to maintain your friendships and other connections. 3. Consider taking up temporary residence in a location you are considering. One way you can do this through home exchange, a favorite of independent travelers that enables you to live in another’s home while they occupy yours. There are several organizations that set this up. Popular www.digsville.com offers membership at a nominal fee and a property ratings system (like Zagat’s for home exchangers). Another option is care-taking, a form of house-sitting or property management in exchange for lodgings. See www.caretaker.org. Of course, short-term rentals are a good way to try on a new location for size. Check out www.craigslist.com, the San Francisco area resource now in major cities, will give you a feel for local housing costs. www.realtor.com is excellent for this also. 4. Rent or borrow an RV and sample a lot of places over a period of time, if you have it. Jim and Kendra Golden went about this in an even more radical way. They quit their jobs, sold their house and put their possessions into storage before they hit the road. Read more their adventure, www.2young2retire.com/jimkendra.html. More about the RV lifestyle: www.rvclub.com, www.escapees.com. 5. Don’t leave your current home for another without appreciating what it has meant to you. Farewell parties are great, but you also need some time to feel and process the loss. After the de-cluttering and the garage sales are over, plan some kind of closure ceremony. Howard and I made lists of what we most liked about our home in California, including memories of favorite events. Then we burned the lists. Make up your own ritual. 6. Finally, remind yourself that – as in the title of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s classic book – wherever you go, there you are. Your environment may be different, but you remain the same. Do your homework as best you can, then make peace with yourself about the decision. You’re likely to feel at home in your new place that much sooner. BOOK BRIEFS As fewer children are born and the life span increases, Europe’s retirement-loving elders may strain the economies of their countries, according to a report The New York Times (An Aging Europe May Find Itself on the Sidelines, 6/29/03). Here’s one stat from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that shocked us: “Across Europe, only 39 percent of men age 55 to 65 still work.” Impending Crisis: Too Many Jobs, Too Few People, by Roger E. Herman, Tom Olivo and Joyce Gioia, consultants and “strategic business futurists,” addresses a similar issue. “The labor shortage will be much more severe than most people realize,” say the authors. “By 2010, we'll be 10,033,000 people short in the United States. Bottom line: corporate leaders must begin now to change the way they do business. This issue is not only strategic, but highly competitive, as well. Competition for competent workers will drive competition for customers and capital.” To order, (800) 227-3566 or www.herman.net. Gotta blow our own horn a bit. Too Young to Retire: An Off-the-Road Map to the Rest of Your Life is getting reviewed by Fred Brock, “Seniority” columnist of The New York Times, August 11. Look out for it. We also picked up another five stars from Top Ten Amazon Reviewer, Rebecca Johnson (see her site at www.TheRebeccaReview.com) “I've always thought the idea of retiring to be a strange concept. Why would you just give up your entire life? Even if you gave up your job should there not be other interests you would pursue, perhaps even more aggressively than your previous job … After you read this book, you will wonder if retirement really represents the ‘good life’ …This book is about living in the moment and seeing your new freedom as an excuse to do exactly what you love. Creative and Wise!” We’ve got some book signings coming up, starting this week (August 6) at Barnes and Noble, Clifton Commons, Clifton, NJ. If you’d like to meet us in person in your neighborhood and your copy signed, drop us an email (Howard@2young2retire.com) and let us know the location of your Barnes and Noble, Borders or independent store. We’ll also be at selected libraries in the fall. POTPOURRI Affordable health insurance? A contradiction in terms you might think. Well, here’s what one independent thinker is doing about it. John O. Anderson on “What We Do for Health,” a very provocative read: http://www.unconventionalideas.com/healinsu.html. Wander around this site for other “unconventional ideas” that could change your life. If you live in or around New York City and are a free agent, Working Today is making available health coverage through its new Freelancers Union. See if you qualify, and/or join their advocacy effort to expand. Click http://www.workingtoday.org/productsservices/healthdental.php. Find out what people just like you are doing to improve the world for others…or find a job with an organization dedicated to the same. Idealist/Action Without Borders is still our top pick: http://www.idealist.org/ As a measure of the growth of this important trend, the Cohousing Network is not The Cohousing Association of the United States (Coho/US for short). Cohousing, if you’re new to the concept, “balances the traditional advantages of home ownership with the benefits of shared common facilities and ongoing connections with your neighbors. These cooperative neighborhoods are one of the most promising solutions to many of today's most challenging social and environmental concerns.” Seminar with Katie McCamant, one of the movement’s founders, in Sacramento, CA, October 3-5, www.cohousing.org/news/seminar/html The Spiritual Eldering® Institute is a multi-faith organization dedicated to the spiritual dimensions of aging and conscious living, to affirming the importance of the elder years, and to teaching individuals how to harvest their life's wisdom and transform it into a legacy for future generations. http://www.spiritualeldering.org/ A couple of career sites worthy of your attention. www.quintcareers.com/ -- excellent articles, everything from career assessments to resume writing and interviewing. See also www.workoptions.com/ -- advice for working mothers, that translates well for our age group. Overscheduled, stressed-out, feeling like you're on a treadmill? Maybe you should check out "Take Back Your Time Day," a nationwide initiative of the Simplicity Forum to promote a more balanced, less stressful life. The folks at Take Back Your Time Day feel that overwork, over-scheduling and time pressure have powerful negative impacts on our health, marriages and family life, community participation and citizenship, safety and security, employment, social justice and the environment. They are promoting a day (October 24, 2003) when thousands or even millions of Americans will join in activities to initiate a much-needed national conversation about work/life balance and how we can reclaim it. To find out about the launch of Take Back Your Time Day, visit: www.timeday.org/ A child should have a childhood and a safe, permanent home. According to CASA, www.nationalcasa.org/, in the United States over one half million children are in foster care because they cannot safely live with their families. Nearly 70,000 National CASA volunteers serve approximately 280,000 of those abused or neglected children every year. Contact CASA and see how you can make a difference. The more things change, the more they stay the same…Here’s John Updike in a short story, “The Walk With Elizanne,” in The New Yorker July 7, 2003: “The two of them were together, embarked, David imagined, upon a well-earned sunset career of determined foreign travel, of grandchild-sitting and health-club attendance, or hardworking American leisure modeled on the handsome aging couples in commercials for Viagra and iron supplements.” Don’t even go there! Marika and Howard Stone

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