“What we’ve done with these longer lives is to basically make them fit into our existing life-course ideas, so 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐞.”
That’s a quote from Laura Carstensen in a recent Q&A in The Wall Street Journal that brilliantly captures the present situation for older adults.
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Unfortunately, many older adults about to hit retirement are woefully unprepared in at least one category - physically, financially, or mentally.
But for those of us who prepared, it’s going to be awesome. It’s never too late to start preparing for extreme old age!
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vongehr
#3
“physically, financially, or mentally.”
If prepared physically and mentally, why retire from contributing in financially rewarding ways?
For most, retirement is the beginning of the end, it has that mental effect, while those who go on because they like what they do,…
1 Like
Uma
#4
Well idk that I agree with her, that sounds like some sort of pithy epigram, perhaps she did not mean it that way. I think we need to redefine “old age” or maybe even do away with the concept. I am just a person living my life who has accumulated past experience, whose body is no longer in the “youthful” state, who is content to keep working and contributing and doing my own thing. I decline to be put into some category called “old age” because I have achieved someone else’s preconceived notion of what makes a person old. My 97 year old stepmom still does line dancing 3x a week, is that “old age”? No, it is living your life with some accumulated years behind you and some wrinkles.
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scta123
#5
One can contribute in numerous ways beyond just financially.
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vongehr
#6
no no, I meant just financially!
I’ve “retied” twice, first time I was 43 (1999), second time I was 63 (2019). Didn’t like it either time.
The second time I had been working (4 years) for an interesting company and it was not working out. So I started looking for other work. After sending out over 300 resumes and doing 8 interviews, I found that no one was interested in hiring a 60+ year old for anything interesting.
Sure I could get a school bus driver job, cross walk person, Walmart greeter, etc but I have zero interest in that 
My only option was to start another business and employ myself, yet again…
As someone who has done a fair bit of hiring and firing, hiring people close to or in “retirement” is very risky for an employer. Especially if it’s a critical position that requires continuity over a 5 to 10 year period.
I have done this bad thing myself and put resumes of older people in the C pile. I do 3 piles, A, B and C, C is the circular file holder.
People over 60 are seen as a hire risk for most interesting jobs. Low level “who cares” type jobs are easier to get for people in that age bracket.
Although I do have 2 “part time” jobs on top of the business but only because it’s with a friend of over 30 years who needed someone with specific expertise and I just happened to be available
Long story short, for older people with high skill levels, your network of friends and associates is one of the best sources for meaningful work as we age or… start a business
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vongehr
#8
That is what I mean by being mentally prepared! I have never send out a single resume ever, and I surely will not start now as I am old. You prepare mentally, and then do what needs be done, knocking at the necessary doors. Sending out hundreds of resumes means not having prepared mentally.
