Put simply, Freedman's book looks at a developing trend that takes a different approach to the second half of life. Hey, considering the title of this blog, of course I'm going to like that "second half" part of it all. Anyway, the trend is a move away from what we've traditionally regarded as retirement, going golfing every day or spending the days fishing or whatever other leisure activity you can find. This concept of retirement really only came into being around the 50's and 60's, but a key factor in all of this is that since that time, the number of years one might spend in retirement has grown tremendously. Another key factor is that people are finding that retirement just doesn't work any more, often a sense of boredom and anxiety sets in, and people are finding they want to go back to work.
Rather than saving up to not work, the book suggests saving up to be able to do the kind of work you want to do. He highlights a number of people moving into teaching or non profit work, jobs that maybe could not pay what they needed or wanted to make in their earlier years, but with family grown, while that retirement account may not provide what a person needs to live on for another 30 years, that retirement could instead supplement working a lower paying but fulfilling position where one can make a difference somewhere.
Okay, this is getting dangerously close to a review. What I wanted to write about is how a lot of this hits home to me personally.
I remember several years ago first hearing about a different perspective on age. I don't remember where I heard it, maybe it was from Dan Miller or Dave Ramsey, or maybe a totally different source altogether. The idea was that we tend to look at something like turning 40 to be moving past the half way point of our lives, when instead maybe we should look at where we are in our adult years. I think whoever I picked it up from said we've got probably 50 productive years in our lives. When you look at it that way it's almost like looking at 40 as being 20, and there's a much greater percentage of our productive years ahead of us.
The reality is that people are healthier and more active at age 70, 80 and even 90 today than ever before, and it's a trend that continues to grow. The Census Bureau is expecting that by 2046 there will be 800,000 people in America 100 years old or older. That's pretty astounding.
I think I mentioned this earlier (I've only done a small handful of posts, you'd think I'd remember what I posted already?) but I went through a period of trying to figure out what it was I wanted to do when I grew up -- a period that took place in my mid 40's. It's got me to where I'm ready to move back into ministry, something that I bailed out of nearly 20 years ago, but something more focused. I enjoy the telecommunications work I do now, but in the end, helping people with their business telephones doesn't exactly leave a sense of fulfillment. This thing that I see in myself is why Freedman's book is making sense, why the trend is starting to take place. People bust their butts for years providing for their families, climbing the corporate ladder or just getting by and they get to a point where they don't really want to sit down and rest, at least not for 30 years of retirement, but what they do want to do is make a difference.
It's an interesting dynamic, getting at this stage of life. I found myself thinking just this morning about my current job and how it fits into what I want to do. Is it something where one day I'll make a move to a new career in ministry and quit my job? Or, considering that churches are so far behind the curve and there are not exactly a lot of job openings doing what I want to do, is it something where my work will become the resource that will allow me to gradually move into this, starting out part time or even a volunteer and maybe moving into something full time down the road?
Dang, I wish I were more talented in sales. A guy could work 10 hours a week raking in a good enough commission to support working 30-40 hours in something he enjoys doing. Of course if that were the case, it's easy to be drawn in by the temptation of realizing that if I'm doing that well at 10 hours a week, how much could I make doing the sales full time. Then I'd be back at that whole place where, yeah, the career's good and it pays well, but is it what I really want to be doing?
I usually put a link to my posts on Facebook, and obviously the bulk of my friends are right around my age. I wonder how many are starting to think about what they want to be doing? Granted, a lot of them are people I knew from Bible College and many are still in ministry positions, for a lot of them I know they're still dedicated to it because they're making a difference. They didn't need to wait until this stage of life to start thinking about 'what can I do now that is more fulfilling?' but have been doing it for awhile. But if any of you are reading this that are at that stage, I'm wondering where you are now, is the idea of the book mentioned above and moving into a later life career that has meaning something that appeals to you?
Okay, I do have to say, with how new this blog is and how few people are probably reading this, right now the sound of crickets comes to mind after I ask a question like that. But if anyone is reading, you can still comment...
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