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Greetings on the 6th Annual Love Your Body Day, a National Organization for Women Foundation sponsored “day of action to speak out against ads and images of women that are offensive, harmful, dangerous and disrespectful.” Love your body, love yourself, we say. And we’re greatly in favor of getting vocal about negative images that infiltrate our consciousness and influence our lives in ways both subtle and lasting.
Let’s put this in the context of our on-going mission to end retirement as we’ve known it and restore a sense of purpose and meaning to life, irrespective of age. Just a couple of weeks ago, the AARP announced its most recent study of the plans of people 50 and older. Key finding: 80 percent “plan to work into their retirement years or never retire…nearly half expect to work into their 70s or beyond.” The new research essentially confirms two earlier studies by AARP in 1998 and 2002 except that the percentages of have increased dramatically. We see no evidence in advertising, print or broadcast, that these changes have made any impact on Madison Avenue. In fact, if you have any examples that show healthy, vital older adults on the job, will you please bring them to our attention (marika@2young2retire.com)?
Of late, we’ve been reading once again about the impending labor shortage, an odd rider to the current agitation about unemployment in the 6% range. We first encountered the notion of more work than workers at a New Jersey Foundation for Aging conference called “Solving Labor Force Shortages: Looking to Mature Workers as Untapped Resources in a Full Employment Economy.” about three years ago. The figures haven’t changed much, but a new sense of urgency is creeping into the dialogue. A projected shortage of 40 million workers by 2015 will result, says Jay Jamrog, executive director of the Human Resource Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., “a prolonged shortage of top talent in almost every profession.”
Writes Fred Brock, in his Seniority column (New York Times, 10/12/03), “The current level of unemployment, which has economists and politicians in a lather, is likely to be the real anomaly…There simply aren’t enough workers behind the boomers in the labor pipeline to fill their jobs. Employers will have to try to retain older workers in some capacity or lure retired workers back.”
Some already are. Take MITRE Corporation, a 5,000-employee company based in Bedford, Mass., and McLean, Va, offers older workers phased retirement, part-time work, sabbaticals and an innovative “Reserves at the Ready” program which allows employees with at least 10 years of company service to become part-time on-call employees for projects throughout the corporation. Average age of MITRE employees is 45. No surprise, MITRE is one of a growing group of maturity-friendly companies honored by AARP. Older workers, says Bill Albright, director of quality of work life and benefits, are “great contributors.”
What does this mean to you? Jobs, if you want them, probably on better terms that you might have thought possible in the recent past, and, perhaps even more importantly, a shift away from the 18-49 mindset in advertising (our chief image- and message-makers) toward something more inclusive, diverse and wise.
For more on Love Your Body, http://www.nowfoundation.org/issues/health/lybdkit/index.html
SCORE
A print shop we used to patronize had a banner in its window that read: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick Two.” SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), a group of experienced business people who offer counsel to would-be entrepreneurs, goes that one better: it’s good and fast and free. We speak from experience. This is one of the best-kept secrets in business development. SCORE counselors will coach you at whatever stage your dream happens to be – they may even talk you out of an idea if it seems too impractical. Nationwide. Check www.score.org for your local office.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
Couples’ Workshop Looking For A Home, click on or select/paste http://www.2young2retire.com/couples%20workshop.htm
POTPOURRI
* Our friend, Mel Goldstein writes: My observation is that we have all been so immersed in the youth oriented culture that we continue to view aging from the prospective of that culture. For myself, I am interested in creating a new (return to) culture in which elderhood is viewed as the fulfillment of life. The time when it all comes together and is "harvested" [see Rabbi Schacter-Shalomi]. Young people will view elderhood as the rewarding time when one achieves a kind of spiritual/emotional hiatus, relieved of the anxieties and stresses of "looking good," "will I make it" and "am I earning enough." Elders will be regarded as having become enlightened (and lightened) by life's experiences so that their needs are modest and contentment comes from an inner knowing, rather than material monuments and accumulated material wealth. The enlightened elders [sages] will have learned the art of contentment to such an extent that the young will crave their presence and calming influence as a cultural antidote for the high stress living that characterizes the "making it years."
With these ideas in mind, elders should learn to have their speaking informed from the vision of elderhood, not the language of the youth culture. Instead of resisting the reference to us (the over 50 group) as elders, we would feel complimented by such references. I believe that those who have learned to be at peace and in harmony with their over 50 bodies, values, lifestyles and knowledge are extremely attractive and appealing. This does not mean to rule out physical fitness or good grooming. It does imply that Sean Connery can still be one of the sexiest men on the planet at age 70; and that women over 50 are sexy by their knowing glow and other sexy aspects viewed from a mature perspective of human sexuality.
Youth is great and should be honored in its own time. But we should not become fixated with our culture in defining the ideal in Ken and Barbie terms. What is needed is a set of models or archetypes that epitomize each age and that allow us to honor each age in its time.
* Travel and teach. Teaching English as a Foreign Language is one of those opportunities second careerists with some wanderlust may want to check out. The American Language Institute at San Diego State University offers a 120-hour graduate-level TEFL courses http://www.americanlanguage.org/amtefl.html Also check out Dave’s ESL Caf*: http://www.eslcafe.com/search/
* Telemarketers making your dinner hour miserable? It’s not too late to get into the National “Do Not Call” Registry: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/donotcall/index.html Or you can let the answering machine pick up at mealtime and/or screen with caller ID. SPAM, of course, is another matter. You might check out http://spam.abuse.net/spam/ but Steve Rosenstein, our family guru on Web matters, says spam-busting software is still not sophisticated enough to eliminate only its intended target. Better to just grin and delete.
* New to us is Room to Read, a non-profit organization whose mission is “to provide under-privileged children with an opportunity to gain the lifelong gift of education.” It focuses efforts on Cambodia, India, Nepal and Vietnam. http://www.roomtoread.org/ The Presidio, P.O. Box 29127, San Francisco, CA 94129 • 415-561-3331 • Fax: 415-561-4428
* Empty-nest? Host an International Exchange Student! Forte International Exchange Association has opportunities for caring families to host well-mannered high school students for one semester beginning Jan 2004. The students are well-mannered and proficient in English, and we will arrange for them to attend your local high school. For more info, contact Orion (Regional Director), at orichardson@forteintl.com or 202-628-8226.
* www.Seniors4Hire.org is an online Career Center for employers and job seekers 50 years of age and over. It contains career resource information and a jobs database. Membership is free for job seekers.
* Our friend, coach Minx Boren, has a new volume of poetry out: Soul Notes Too, a follow up to her earlier book published three years ago. Personal soul-searching poetry, now available at pre-publication price of $10 (through end of October) plus $2 shipping and handling for 1-3 books. Check to Fourfold Path Inc., 13940 Le Havre Drive, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410. See also www.coachminx.com for her other programs.
* Court appointed special advocates for children in foster care. Click or select/paste http://www.nationalcasa.org/ for the national organization and find your way to one in your area. Worthy of your immediate attention.
* Thank you so much for your newsletter. I am a 34 year old CFP and do appreciate your thoughts. They keep me thinking outside the box about my own future (with my husband) and encourage me to do the same for my client base. They don't come to me to help them with money. They come for help in sorting out their dreams. I am so honored to be able to be of assistance and your newsletter keeps me raising the bar of expectation!
Thank YOU! Until next time,
Marika and Howard
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