... But We Don't Need To Copy Them

I confess that I remained haunted by Hurricane Jackie’s (mom’s) retirement. Dad was seven years her senior, and when they retired to Florida, she was 63, my current age. For three decades, she spent her days in the Sunshine State walking, playing golf, aerobicizing and socializing.

Hurricane Jackie earned credentials in Florida as a substitute teacher, working part-time until she was 82, mostly with third graders who were often bigger than she was. (I think even the principals believed her when she said she went to school with Abe Lincoln.) 

But during those Florida years, whenever she expressed an interest in something she might want to try, she always stepped away, saying there “wasn’t enough time” to pursue it. Well, here we are, 33 years later and she’s not at all mentally diminished, although physically she’s slowed down. 

Mom, wasn’t 33 years enough time to take up something new and build it?

Don’t get me wrong, my parents had a lovely retirement and did everything they wanted to do. But the refrain of “not having enough time” to start something doesn’t sit right with me. I simply don’t buy it.  Her own mom, my Grandma Margie, lived to 97, and she even smoked for 35 years. So, Hurricane Jackie knew that with a little attention to her health, she had the genes to go the distance. And after hundreds of thousands of cups of coffee and innumerable newspapers spread on the table, she’s still here, winning football pools, reading biographies, and arguing government policy.

By contrast, not only is my retirement plan a “non-retirement” plan, so is my husband’s. We will recover our schedule, scale our commitments to suit our values, and build something new whenever we feel like it.

I want to explore that approach even though we are appropriately funded for a financially comfortable 30+ year retirement (or “non-retirement,” in our case). After all, data shows that meaningful work, community engagement and personal growth are all keys to maintaining our health as we age.  

Recently, I’ve been enjoying the podcasts and articles of Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, whose 4 Quarter Lives recognizes that our increasing longevity requires us to get a hobby, because we still have a sufficient amount of utility and meaning in reserve for the third and fourth quarters of our lives. That said, we should prepare for it; and employers should acknowledge it.

Avivah’s guests make compelling arguments for hiring older workers, designing for an aging population, and altering norms to accept the new truth: that we aren’t going anywhere.

Mom would say she hasn’t missed anything.  And she’s still having a lovely late retirement near me in Saratoga Springs, New York; although I expect she never wanted to see snow again. I can’t help but think that our generation will turn the page and approach slowing down differently.  For starters, we won’t actually slow down. But retirement for us will be more of a glidepath and less of an event.  I look forward to exploring why you have #MoreRunwayThanYouThink.

The information contained herein and shared by Madrina Molly™ constitutes education and not investment advice.