The Wall Street Journal Report on Living the New Retirement

On October 28th The WSJ published one of its Journal Reports called PLANNING & LIVING THE NEW RETIREMENT.  The section was delivered on Monday morning.  What a great way to start the week.  We couldn't put it down. It contained some of the most interesting articles about retirement such as In Search of a New Identity by Sydney Lagier and So-You-Think You're-Ready-for-Retirement QUIZ by Glenn Ruffenach.  The article about living to 120 was very thought provoking and the Living the Good Life column had an interesting article about The Best Job in Retirement or Not.

Too often we see articles about retirement featuring beach chairs, an umbrella and drinks with small parasols in them.  It leads people to the wrong assumption that retirement is one big vacation.  It isn't.  It is more likely a large block of time divided by ages and stages and it may very well include new work either volunteer or paid, going back to school, starting a new business, trying new things, traveling, and even continuous learning outside the classroom.   Some will be in retirement longer than they worked. It's called longevity and that is the bonus our generation has gotten.  Gerontologists predict that over 3 million Baby Boomers will live to be 100+.

Some Boomers will move out of the country, learn a new language and go on a journey of discovery. International Living magazine is filled with articles about the challenges and joys of living in a place that probably has a significantly lower cost of living.  Making retirement funds stretch is a new form of exercise. 

Reading about the possibilities that the future represents is stimulating, thought provoking, and eye opening.  It isn't scary.  What's scary is not reading about what the future may hold and planning for it.

REWIRE! with Music and Reduce Stress

Our readers often report that when they sit down to plan the future, either individually or with a partner or spouse, they find their anxiety level climb.  The future can be intimidating and appear uncertain even with calm, careful planning.  But nevertheless planning is a key ingredient that leads to self-actualizing a future that is fulfilling and sustaining. There is a secret to making planning less anxiety producing.  It is called MUSIC. 

That's right, listening to music while planning can reduce stress, improve focus, and make it a more enjoyable experience.  A recent article by reporter, Elizabeth Landau, CNN, highlights a study showed that patients who were to undergo surgery and listened to music reported being calmer than patients who were prescribed anti-anxiety drugs.  If other studies continue to confirm these findings, it will have a profound effect on how we medicate in the future.   A doctor's prescription for anxiety may eventually read: Beethoven 2X a day, or Jimmy Buffett, as needed. It may also mean a huge savings in prescription drug costs.

Whether it's chanting, Willy Nelson, Josh Groban, or Yo Yo Ma, you choose what's best for you.  Many of the people we have spoken with about music and anxiety report that Mozart is the best antidote.  Now listening is made even easier with Pandora.  You can set up your own favorites list and every time you sit down to plan, you can become calmer.  Now that's a symphony we can all REWIRE to!

Write Your Own Memoir and REWIRE!

Our book agent, Martha Jewett, has rewired. After a long and successful career in book publishing, she is now working in an area that comes naturally to her: memoir writing. Martha is an exceptionally talented person.  She was a great agent.  Now she is a great author, teacher and memoirist.  Martha’s interest in memoir was handed down in her family. “My grandmother and great-grandmother both wrote their memoirs,” she says. “I know that my great-great-grandmother sang around the house, something I do too.”

Martha now combines her natural interest in memoir writing with her expertise at showing first-time authors how to write books. On her website, www.writeyourmemoir.com, Martha shows non-writers how to write their memoirs. “Everyone has a story to tell. But few people know how to write their memoirs.” Writeyourmemoir.com explains and illustrates memoir-writing techniques and gives examples of family memoirs Martha writes.

 Martha has just published a new e-book, the only guide on the market on how to use storytelling techniques of fiction in memoir writing. How To Bring Your Memoir To Life: 53 Fiction-Writing Techniques from the Marshall Plan®, co-authored with Evan Marshall, includes examples from bestselling memoirs. “These are the same techniques professional writers use to write memoirs that are alive, clear, riveting, dramatic, full of feeling, fast-paced, and immersive,” says Martha.

Looking to pen a compelling memoir? Now you know where to start.     

Boomers Embrace Technology

Boomers have been Rewiring, figuratively and literally.  Since we wrote Don’t Retire, REWIRE! we have been urging Boomers to embrace technology and improve their lives. This is important for everyone. One of the key reasons our readers cite is that by using technology you get to stay in the workforce longer.  You won’t be classified as “yesterday’s worker.”  You get to stay connected to others on and off the job. You can continue to learn and improve your job skills more conveniently and less expensively, too.

You can have more fun….no, not just playing games online, but by opening up a world of adventure and travel.  You can plan better, more cost effective vacations, which translates to being able to have more of them.  The list of how technology can enhance your life goes on and on, and probably will long after future generations ask, “What was a Baby Boomer?”

Not too long ago,  AD Age Digital quoted Rob Sinclair, Microsoft’s director of Accessibility who stated that Boomers represent 25% of the population, yet purchase 40% of all technology.  So if you go on a job interview and you run into a condescending younger interviewer throw this tidbit out and at least get them thinking that “Gee, maybe I underestimated by parents generation.”

This trend isn’t confined to the U.S. either.  On every global trip we have taken in the last 5 years, we make a point to look to see who is using technology in the countries we visit.  It is not just the under 40 set.  It is just about everybody, particularly those of Boomer age.  Whether they are staying connected to work, sending photos to family, or reading their favorite author on their Ipad, they are using technology to their advantage.

Occasionally, we get reader comments on how disgusting it is that technology has separated us from others.  This is so far from the truth as to be ridiculous.  Our personal experience alone, shows that by using FaceBook, Linkedin, Reddit, and other social media sites, we have been so much more connected to a much larger group of friends and family.  It is so fantastic to find out what is going on in the lives of people we care about but don’t always see.  You can’t do this when you aren’t connected!

If you are getting overwhelmed by technology and want a break, simply turn off your phone, Kindle, computer, IPhone, IPad mini or whatever you use for a few hours.  Staying connected is a choice.  Choose to be connected, but manage your time so that the connections pay off for you.  How lucky we are to have the world at our fingertips.

Get Involved and Learn!

It's almost fall.  Labor Day signaled the last day of summer vacations.  School has begun and the yellow buses are packing the roads once again. But learning isn't just for kids.  One of the secrets we have discovered from people we have interviewed over the years is that learning is ageless, fun, and engaging.  Whether you are 50 or 90, continuing to learn improves vitality and increases energy.  Learning is a form of REWIRING.  It doesn't matter what you call it.  Continuous or life long learning mean the same thing.  The important point is that you do it.

 

One of America's wisest sons, Benjamin Franklin, was voracious in his desire to learn, to explore, to travel, and acquire new perspective.  He never stopped doing it and was the richer for it.  After a long life, he reflected on what and how he learned.  He said:

"Tell me and I forget.  Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."  These are words to live by.

We all learn differently. We do so by listening to others in a lecture, by visiting historical sites and talking and listening to guides, by doing hands on volunteering. The internet has opened vast amounts of knowledge for all of us to know.  If you have never watched a TED Talks, you are missing something very special.  Try it. We know you will like it.  You can also secure DVDs at your local library on just about anything.

One form we recommend above all the others, is putting yourself together with other seekers.  You will benefit from the collective questions, knowledge, and enthusiasm that groups provide.  Community colleges, museums, and traveling with others on a themed tour or vacation are just a few of the activities that can lead to knowledge, new friendships, and broadening your perspective.

Geography shouldn’t be a barrier.  You can learn locally, go to another state, or travel to another country, or never leave home. After all you can learn in a group on an interactive webcast.  You can learn regardless of your budget.  Now there are learning venues for everyone.

So as Ben said: Get Involved and Learn!

 

Reunions: Agony or Ecstasy?

A recent interview Jeri did with her sorority, Tri Delta, Living in 3D,  got us thinking about reunions.  We’ve heard from so many readers who have told us stories about reconnecting with old friends and making new ones via attending reunions of every kind imaginable: family, camp, high school, college, sorority, fraternity, with friends who served together in the military and former work associates.  Rick and I are Avon Products alumni (that’s where we met), and have reconnected with friends at Avon reunions.

When we started discussing reunions we went to Google to see what was being said about them.  Should people go or avoid them at all costs.  We found several prominent articles on all kinds of reunions that were both pro and con.  But what was telling were the themes of the articles, for example: 31 Reasons Why You Should Go to Your High School Reunion.  Another articled trumpeted 6 Reasons Why High School Reunions Shouldn’t Exist.  Some of the reasons in both articles were funny, sad, and even downright crazy.  But 31 trumps 6, so our advice is go to any and all reunions with an open mind and an open heart. 

Attending a reunion is a form of rewiring®.  Yet many people dismiss reunions as not necessary.  Some don’t want to revisit bad memories or avoid them at all costs because, “I look too old” or I’ve gained too much weight.”   Entrepreneurs clearly don’t see it that way.  They jump at the chance to go to reunions.  Why? Because entrepreneurs view it as a new learning experience that will improve their chances for success.  A conversation at a reunion may lead to a new idea, a new client, a new supplier, a new career opportunity or a whole new perspective. 

You don’t have to be an entrepreneur to get something positive from a reunion.  It may lead to new ideas where to travel, what classes to take, hobbies to begin, where to volunteer and give back.  You may even find someone to travel with, play a sport with, or just go have fun with.  Whether you continue to work, want to start a new business, or increase your leisure time enjoyment, you can benefit from what you find out at a reunion.

So go to your reunion. You may find some pleasant surprises and unexpected magic when you walk down memory lane.

 

The Boomer Organ Recital

Recently we were with a group of Boomer friends many of whom were complaining about aches and pains due to sports and other physical activities. It became a game of can you top my pain.  Fortunately one of the group yelled "Stop. I have had enough of this organ recital."  Rather than get angry the most vocal looked around, got very quiet and smiled sheepishly.  As researchers on Boomers, we asked ourselves what pains are in store for this huge cohort?  Not everyone is going to suffer extreme aches and pains and those that do will suffer in their own way.  However, there is one specific pain causing disease that is targeted to grow to epidemic proportions.  We all know it. It's called Arthritis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that today there are 50 million cases of arthritis in the U.S. By 2030 they project 67 million cases. But only old people get arthritis, right?  Wrong.  Chances are that as our bodies age we run the risk of becoming an arthritis statistic.  But all is not lost.

We recently saw an article in Arthritis Today magazine about Pearl White, a 96 year old woman, who is a role model for all of us.  A life long dancer, she was forced to give it up at age 80 when her arthritis became too painful for her to continue.  But she rewired and became a fitness instructor.  She didn't give up.  She found another way to channel her energy, continue to exercise, and remain socially engaged as a teacher.  Pearl asked herself, what else can I do?

Life is all about ages and stages.  If something you do becomes problematic, like exercise, playing golf, tennis, dancing, or anything else, you need to find new alternatives that keep you in the game.   Staying physically active and socially engaged is one sure way to have a better future.  It will benefit your body and your mind. So it happens to you, do what Pearl did and find something new!  You can REWIRE as many times as you can imagine or need to.  When one thing goes, try something new.