You call this retirement?
Today's retirees are defying the stereotypes about the golden years
Moen's research makes clear that "either paid or unpaid work promotes all kinds of indicators of well-being: life satisfaction, more energy, more physical health, less depression," the University of Minnesota sociologist says. "I had a high-level engineer who stopped doing that and was selling hot dogs at a ballgame--it got him out, and he enjoyed it."
Others embark on ambitious new careers. Inspired by several trips with Earthwatch Institute, which matches volunteers with scientists around the world, former ad agency owner Bruce Belcher in Boise, Idaho, became a wildlife photographer. He now travels around the world for half the year, photographing wildlife, and he has begun to sell some of his photographs online. A photo of a tiny dung beetle dragging a pellet of springbok dung in the Namib Desert was a finalist in National Wildlife magazine's photography contest.
There's also been a rise in volunteerism. "In general, this group of older folks is healthier, better educated, and has a higher socioeconomic status, and every generation from here on is going to be that," says Nancy Morrow-Howell, a professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis. "People over 70 have the biggest rise in involvement."
Foster Grandparents is one of the longest-standing groups to give new roles to older Americans. RV Care-A-Vanners is another. These owners of recreation vehicles drive from site to site around Canada and the United States, building homes with Habitat for Humanity. They are hooked up free, fed by local church groups, and work five days a week. Experience Corps, originally conceived as a domestic Peace Corps for older Americans, has 1,300 volunteers in 12 cities. Charles and Lois Corley, ages 67 and 69, respectively, give 15 hours a week to the group by mentoring third graders in literacy in Philadelphia. Charles Corley continues despite a stroke last year that left him with double vision. "The kids have grabbed my emotions," he says. "I found you can't just say, 'Let's read,' because many of the children have got problems."
Easy does it. A growing number of workers are turning to bridge jobs as they approach retirement. The senior assembly line at Bonne Bell cosmetics factory in Westlake, Ohio, is a good example. It has a waiting list. Its average age is 72. Workers start at $7.75 an hour, rising to $8.25 after the first year; after two years they will make $8.50. There are no benefits but two weeks of vacation and assorted personal days. Bonne Bell has two four-hour shifts a day, and workers can choose the one they prefer.
Josie Kothera, 75, works the blister machines that cover Bonne Bell's "Lip Smackers" in hard plastic cases to hang from drugstore displays. "I didn't want to sit around at home not doing anything," says Kothera, a widow. "This is a great place to work." Her coworkers are ages 55 to 84. Most are women, including retired school principals, teachers, and autoworkers. "These workers are conscientious," says manager Robert Wotsch. "So many people say a 70-year-old can't run a blister machine that they give a little more because they have something to prove. If they can't stand for the shift, we give them a stool."
Some companies are working hard to keep their employees after retirement. At CVS pharmacy, 16 percent of its employees are age 55 or older, compared with under 7 percent 12 years ago. Jeanne Penn, 81, sold the pharmacy she'd owned for 30 years to CVS when it moved into her hometown of Zanesville, Ohio, and now works for CVS. "I'm going to work as long as they want me to," she says.
Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati and Eli Lilly & Co. in Indianapolis came up with the idea of creating an independent company to hire its and others' retirees. YourEncore enrolls research-and-development experts and scientists for short-term projects. "We wanted to get new innovative DNA from other companies," explains Larry Huston, the P&G vice president who started the program.
"I think the most important thing is we are inventing a whole new stage of life," says Marc Freedman, "in between work and retirement."
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