Longevity Rules: Editor: Stuart Greenbaum; Publisher: Eskaton 2010

THE G R EAT R ET IRE M E NT D IV I DE>---__ Richard Adler __ ---<

uring the next decade or so, millions of Boomers will reachtheir mid -60s, the traditional age of retirement. What will they

do? According to multiple surveys, a large majority of Boom-ers - by some reports as many as 70 or 80 percent - say that theydon't want to retire at 65, but intend to continue working to age 70 or

beyond. Many say that "they never want to retire:'But what will actually happen with Boomers and retirement?

Will they stay in their current jobs - if they can - or shift to newjobs, or quit working altogether? The answer to this question hasbig implications for our economy, for employers and, of course,for Boomers themselves. As I've watched my own friends and

acquaintances reach their mid-60s and deal with the question ofretiring, I'm seeing a pattern that suggests what may happen on a

larger scale.First, almost everyone who has had a job that provided them

with decent, secure pensions and other benefits has tended totake a traditional retirement. This category includes public sector

employees (teachers, military personnel, government workers) alongwith a steadily decreasing number of people who have had entirecareers with a single, large company that offered good benefits. Theirpensions, along with Social Security and their own savings, have been

),

RichardAdler is principal of People & Technology, a research and consulting firm in SiliconValley. He is also a research affiliate at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California,where he co-leads a project on "Baby Boomers: The Next 20 Years."

Longevity Rules: Editor: Stuart Greenbaum; Publisher: Eskaton 2010

50 RICHARD ADLER

sufficient to allow them to retire in relative comfort. In addition, their

employers often have policies that actively encourage employees to

opt for retirement at a certain age.A second, smaller group consists of people who, either as a result

of hard work or good luck (or, often, a combination of both) havestruck it rich, or at least rich enough to not need to work to maintain

themselves and their families.Some individuals in these two fortunate groups have chosen to

pursue personal interests like travel or a hobby or spending moretime with family after retirement. (One admirable friend, after asuccessful career in high tech, went back to school to earn a doctoraldegree in English literature in order to pursue his passion for 18thcentury poetry.) Others have explored new work opportunities. Butin all cases, people in these categories have had the luxury to choosewhat they want to do with their later years, which mayor may not

involve working for money.Then there is everyone else. In this much larger group are those

of us who have worked for multiple employers or for employers

who have not offered a package of "defined benefits" that includeda guaranteed pension; or who have worked for themselves for all ora good part of their lives. People in this group are largely dependent

on their savings if they want to stop working. We know that Boomersas a group have been notoriously poor savers, and only a fractionhave been able to accumulate enough resources to finance a secureretirement. And the recent recession has dealt a severe blow even to

those who believed that they had saved enough to provide them withfinancial independence. (A blogger for the Canadian Financial Post,who has published "The Wealthy Boomer" for more than 10 years,

recently suggested, not entirely facetiously, that he was changing thename of his blog to "The Formerly Wealthy Boomer:')

THE GREAT RETIREMENT DIVIDE 51

MEDIAN NET WORTH OF BOOMER HOUSEHOLDS

Thousands of Dollars

600

500 t !II Fifth quintile

400 t III Thirdquintile

• First quintile

300

200

100

01989 1995 2001

Source: AARP, "The Distribution of Financial Wealth Among Boomers," 2004

For many, if not most Boomers, traditional retirement is becom-ing a relatively meaningless concept. Working past the age of 65 is be-coming more of an expectation than an exception. What form workin later life will take remains an unanswered question. Some may

wish to keep working just as they have been for as long as possible.But age matters, both physically and psychologically, and it is com-mon for people as they move through their 60s to shift their priorities

in terms of the kind ofwork they want to do and how much time theyspend doing it. After decades of "earning a living;' it is not uncom-

mon for people to become more interested in the significance of theirwork and in achieving a better work/life balance. Some have becomeinterested in finding "good work" - jobs in the nonprofit sector that

generate income and have high social value. Others have chosen to

keep working in the same field, but on a part-time basis.Unfortunately, there remains a paucity ofresources to help people

keep working in later life in ways that are satisfying to them and

economically productive. It is noteworthy that high school seniorsare able to get help from college counselors in finding places to go

52Longevity Rules: Editor: Stuart Greenbaum; Publisher: Eskaton 2010

RICHARD ADLER

after they graduate, and college seniors have access to placementoffices that help them find work after they graduate. But, as of yet,there are few institutions to help older adults navigate the terrain

beyond "retirement:'One promising model is the "Next Chapter" initiative, sponsored

by the San Francisco-based Civic Ventures. This initiative helps

older adults explore their options for the next phase of their lives byproviding access to support resources and by connecting them to

opportunities for paid work as well as volunteering. Several dozenprototype projects have been launched in recent years. (A directoryof Next Chapter projects in 10 states around the country is online atwww.civicventures.org.)

Another useful resource for older workers is an online course,developed jointly by AARP's Kentucky state office and "edzgo," a

provider of online educational programs. "Making Age an Asset inYour Job Search" (www.ed2go.com/workafter50) helps older workersunderstand the challenges they face, gives an overview of the currentjob market, and provides practical guidance with tasks like creating

an effective resume and preparing for a job interview.And one of my favorite examples of a "new way to work" is

"Yourlincore," a company set up by alumni of Procter & Gambleand Eli Lilly that recruits technical professionals who have retiredfrom full-time employment and markets them to companies asconsultants to address specific problems. Companies that use theservices of YourEncore gain access to highly talented experts ona short-term, focused basis, while the participants get to work oninteresting projects and earn money, but on their own schedules.The motto of YourEncore is "People don't retire anymore; they just

go on to do other things:'

THE GREAT RETIREMENT DIVIDE 53

It is unlikely the old model of ret!rement will disappear entirely.The ever-shrinking number of those who have the means to do somay well choose to follow the traditional path. But this model will be

neither appealing nor practical for the great majority of those who

move into their 60s and beyond in the next several decades. Newresources and new policies will be needed to accommodate them.The initiatives described here are just small steps that respond to the

massive need among aging Boomers to remain productive past thetraditional age of retirement - both for their own sake and the sakeof our society.

But more change is coming. As Sarah Harper with the OxfordUniversity Institute on Aging has said, "By2030 we will look back andrealize that the end of the 20th century [when] people were retiringat 60 was a blip - people will simply have to work longer. There isnothing to suggest that at the age of 70 you perform tasks less well

than at 20. The idea of falling off the perch at 65 is rubbish. Rn