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Put Retirement On Hold

(This article by Marika and Howard Stone first appeared in the December 2005 edition of The Motley Fool's Rule Your Retirement newsletter.  Click on the live link to subscribe to RYR.) 

Fifty or older, or expect to be some day? Here's a fact to take into account in planning your future. Work, rather than a leisure-based retirement, is a far better choice for the second half of your life, particularly if it is work that taps into what you're really good at and feels like its own reward.

If you have already absorbed this message, you're not alone. According to recent surveys of people 50 and older, better than 66 percent plan to postpone retirement indefinitely, or never retire. Given the vast resources of experience and talent in the 50+ workforce and the threat of a worldwide labor shortage, that's a change all of us -- politicians, the business community, the health care industry, and everyone who cares about the future of our planet -- should be celebrating.

Working in retirement sounds like an oxymoron. Truth is, a lot of folks in their 50s, 60s and older who call themselves 'retired' are anything but. Many have reinvented themselves with a passion and creativity once considered the domain of much younger folk. Some traded in the fast lane for vocations that reflect personal values, like Bob Griffiths who left Wall Street to become an author, motivational speaker and trainer. Others spread their wings as first time entrepreneurs: Paul and Sands Bellizzi, for instance, whose alpaca ranch is paying off handsomely. Yet others are drawn to community service, like retired naval officer, Rick Koca, whose award-winning non-profit organization, Stand Up For Kids, serves homeless children and runaways.

“Our jobs determine to a large extent what our lives are like,” says Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Drucker School of Management professor and best-selling author of Flow. No surprise then, the desire to do good work, make a contribution to the lives of others, feel proud of what we do, and know we are being compensated and treated fairly, doesn't diminish with age.

So take a sabbatical. All working people deserve at least one of these in a lifetime. Then, prepare to design your Act II with the energy and enthusiasm it deserves. Here are seven ideas to jump-start the process:

1. Who are you? What fired you up earlier in life -- favorite academic subjects, sports, hobbies, teachers, friends? Photo albums, school yearbooks and the like may provide clues.
2. Inventory your assets: natural talents, acquired skills, and so-called intangible qualities, like your optimism or sense of humor. Be bold. Include aspects of your personality that might not show up on a resume or application for a business loan. If modesty forbids, ask a friend to create the inventory for you. Post it in clear view.
3. Consider an apprenticeship or internship in a career or business that appeals to you. Many professionals, e.g. photographers, artists, chefs, can use an assistant in exchange for showing you the ropes. Former banker, Henry Coryat and his wife, Isabel, a gallery owner, spent a year as apprentices to learn the art of metal casting, then went on to launch a thriving foundry.
4. Got a free weekend? Consider giving your dream job a test drive with Vocation Vacations, www.vocationvacations.com For a longer, low-risk gig, try http://www.backdoorjobs.com/
5. Search through this excellent archive of career change articles from the Wall Street Journal's free career site: http://www.careerjournal.com/jobhunting/change/index.html
6. Fast Company's survey of hot jobs, based on the Bureau of Labor statistics, is another useful guide. http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2005/01/top-jobs-main.html
7. Consider offering your services as a volunteer in an area that appeals to you. It's a great way to gain experience, expand your network, and discover new talents, while making a contribution to society. Great places to look: www.volunteermatch.org and www.idealist.org.
   
   Why work in your later years? Because a paycheck helps calm those 'baglady' fears; because work provides a sense of community, an opportunity to continue to learn and grow; and because fulfilling work is one of the best strategies you can adopt to stay healthy in mind, body and spirit.