Table of Contents

1. Harvesting Your Experience: Ethical Wills
2. The Greening of Us
3. Freedom to Work

This “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” (Keats' “To Autumn”) is a good time to consider harvesting our experience for future generations. We've written a lot in these pages about the value of the mature experience to the workplace, the economy and society. What we invite you to consider here is a different kind of harvest, one that includes your life's experiences, the lessons you've learned, the values you hold, stories about your family, what you consider your life's mission, in short, all that you hold dear, and offer it as a gift to your family, friends and community. We are speaking here of the Ethical Will, and many of you are no doubt familiar with it.

The tradition of the ethical will is at least as old as Genesis, although the concept has appeared in many traditions, according to experts. It can be combined with a last will and testament and/or personal directive, but its purpose and form are typically different. A will (you do have one, don't you?) is a legal document that contains your instructions on how you wish your property and personal effects – including your remains – managed upon your death. The ethical will is not a legal document. It's power lies elsewhere. For the writer, it is an opportunity to conduct a life review in narrative form – although poetry is not out of the question -- that may provide “a moral compass” for those that follow, suggest Phyllis Goldberg and Rosemary Lichtman, two Ph. D. psychotherapists and co-authors of a forthcoming book for the “sandwich generation” on family relationships. For receivers, it is priceless.

Many ethical wills are motivatred by turning points in a life. Others are composed for the pure pleasure of getting one's story down, leaving one's mark – preoccupations of many of us at midlife and beyond. Passages of autobiography, lists of accomplishments, instructions, favorite books or authors, wishes for the future, a record of family history or traditions, even challenges to children, have all appeared in ethical wills. We all wish to be remembered. The ethical will is one way. If you'd like to pursue this project, here are some resources to get your started.

http://www.ethicalwill.com/

http://www.science-spirit.org/article_detail.php?article_id=535

http://www.acfnewsource.org/religion/ethical_wills.html

The Greening of Us

Finally, we have consensus in the scientific community. Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth has it right on global warming. If you haven't seen this film, that would be a good place to start educating yourself on this urgent issue. At the end of the film, Gore mentioned one promising technology we are likely to be hearing a lot more about: CO2 Capture Technology: http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/38487/story.htm

The truth is, we older citizens need to show leadership in this matter. We all need to do our part to reduce our contribution to greenhouse emissions. When gas prices soared recently, there was a mini-boom in bicycle sales, so people do know how to respond quickly. Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point) knows a thing or two about big change happening with small shifts in behavior, and that certainly makes me feel better about recycling. See: http://www.toprankblog.com/2006/04/malcolm-gladwell-pubcon-boston-keynote/

If you can't afford a hybrid car, and biking isn't your cup of tea, there are still a few other things you can do right now. (More on hybrids: http://www.hybridcenter.org/owners/bill-nye.html)

1 Use compact flourescent lightbulbs. If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR, we would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars. http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls

2. Turn off lights and appliances when not it use. That's obvious, but it pays to unplug them, too, to avoid phantom power loss. http://www.onedayvancouver.ca/ask_archive.php?type=1

3. Buy energy efficient appliances. See Energy Star ratings.

4. Try to consolidate trips in your car, not to mention passengers. Isn't amazing how many single driver cars there still are despite the 2-car rule in HOV lanes in most major cities? Ride-sharing just makes good sense.

5. Set air conditioner settings a few degrees higher and heater settings a few degrees lower. Another no brainer. For an energy audit: http://hes.lbl.gov/

6. Properly insulate your home. According to a new book called Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning by George Monbiot (Penguin 2006), heating and cooling our homes are major causes of wasted energy and greenhouse gas emissions. Retrofitting existing housing stock isn't cheap or easy, except when you consider the alternatives.

7.Buy more locally produced food and products which don't require as much transportation. Let's not keep on trucking. Look for a CSA farm near you. Community Sponsored Agriculture: http://www.walnutgrovefarms.net/Walnut%20Grove%20Farms%20CSA.pdf

8. Turn down the temperature of your water heater. Better yet, investigate an on-demand type of heater. Until you can replace your old model, wrap it up so your hot water stays hot longer. See: http://www.gotankless.com/

Sources: http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/default.asp and http://www.planetark.com/

Quick Takes

• Freedom to Work. As you probably know, between age 65 and 69, you can continue to receive Social Security benefits even if you are working, thanks to the Senior Citizen's Freedom to Work Act of 2000 signed by President Clinton. If you need a refresher course on the pros and cons of Social Security benefits – whether to take them at 62 or wait until your 70^th birthday – here's a good one. The Elder Law report: http://www.elderlawanswers.com/resources/article.asp?id=5730&section=4&state=
  For the Freedom to Work Act: http://www.sva.com/downloads/soc_sec_changes.pdf

• Quotable. Former Governor of Delaware, Russ Peterson: "I've had about 15 careers. To my way of thinking, retiring is not the end of a career, it's just the opportunity to start another career." Peterson, 90, was speaking at the opening of a new Jewish Family Services program aimed at people 50 and older, called GEM for Growth, Education and Mental Fitness, see:

  http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061002/NEWS/610020335/-1/NEWS01

• We get a charge out of passing along useful, web-based tools. Here are two more 2young2retire picks.

Seeking business ideas? The hottest franchise opportunities could be an indication. http://yahoo.fransol.com/index.cfm/fa/ypss

Resume writing is an art form that requires you to put your best foot forward without an unseemly overstating of your accomplishments. All of us could use some help in striking the right balance, and this site does a pretty good job: http://www.nextsteps.org/resume/resquiz.html

• Altruism is alive and well in the Boomer population. One-third are volunteers, according to this report: http://www.getinvolved.gov/pdf/boomer_vol.pdf

More Signs of the Times:

• According to ACNielsen International Research, more than 1.3 million people worldwide are making a primary or secondary income on eBay. Low barrier to entry is probably one reason. For those of us who don't want to open a store, virtual or otherwise, to dispose of our stuff, there are Ebay Trading Assistants who do the work and take a cut of the proceeds.

• “A diesel engine will run on just about any fluid you give it," Steve Adler told the NBC TV station in Providence, after he bought a used RV and had its diesel engine converted to run on waste vegetable oils. "I happen to like vegetable oil because it's free and it smells good." Source: RV Travel Newsletter, http://rvtravel.com/publish/newsletter/issue245.shtml

• Richard Branson, Virgin Group ceo and mega-philanthropist captures the essence of social entrepreneurship: “Sustainable social change through economic development.”

• Howard is on the move this fall. Catch up with him on:

Thursday, October 19, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, and Thursday, October 26, University of Rhode Island, Providence, RI, 2young2retire Workshops for URI alumni. For details contact: kristal@uri.edu or annec@uri.edu.

2young2retire Certified Facilitator Training. Six weekly 1-hour teleclass sessions beginning Wednesday, January 10, 2007. Choose your time slot: 12 noon or 5 PM Eastern time. Registration deadline is January 4, 2007. For a testimonial, see Success Story, http://www.2young2retire.com/2y2rCourseSuccesses.htm To register, http://www.2young2retire.com/facilitatorform.html

Stay well, make it new, make it better.

Marika and Howard Stone
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