WORK, AND WHERE TO LOOK FOR IT LATER IN LIFE

Okay, so you need to keep working either to support yourself adequately, or to supplement your income to make it possible to live the kind of life that you want to have, or because you just want something to do that is interesting. When thinking about what you could do for job at this point in your life, start by considering how much time you realistically can spend at work on a daily or weekly basis.

Do you have health and energy conditions that necessitate a particular kind of daily routine? If you must eat at a particular time each day, or take medications at specific times, or nap, exercise, or go to physical therapy at certain times, what kind of work schedule would best accommodate your needs? Can you fit these routines into a day that includes going to a job full time or part time?

When you think about what kind of work you want to do consider the work you have already done in your life. Is there anything in your work experience that you would now wish to pursue further, or to develop in some way? If you could be a part time worker doing a job you previously had full time, would you like to do that? Can you think of a job type that is related to a field about which you are knowledgeable that might interest you? Or maybe you can think of one that you once thought would be helpful to a position you once held?

Would you want to work doing something that engages skills you already have, or would you like to learn new skills? Have you engaged in learning new skills lately, and how are you at doing so? Is there a part of you that would enjoy doing something different or entirely out of character for you, maybe something that engages you emotionally rather than intellectually?

Have you tried doing some volunteering that you felt was both worthwhile and enriching, and might you now pursue employment in this arena? Perhaps you have managed, or done hands on care, for a relative with a health condition, and think you might do so for others? Maybe you would enjoy being employed by a family with two working parents that require help with childcare? Or possibly you could do bookkeeping part time for a family, or organizing and event planning for a non profit?

Obviously this is a time in which it helps to think creatively, and then to use any connections you might have to realize your goals, or whatever good ideas you come up with. You may have to start kind of slowly to develop something new but if you can do so it may well turn out to be a most exciting endeavor.

CAN I EVER RETIRE?

The first question posed in the last posting was,"when could you reasonably retire?" You’ve had plenty of time to think this over, and I’m guessing that many of you have already come up with the obvious answers, one of which is not soon, if ever.
Very many of the baby boom generation have lived their lives spending all the money they have on hand at any one time, and that involves living from one paycheck to another. And frankly, for most it has been a pretty good life! Unfortunately, this lifestyle has not included saving for the proverbial rainy day or investing for future income. So now what?
As the hints mount up that a person will not usually be able to work on until the day they die, this requires some serious thinking about what else you can do once you cannot continue to work. The first place a person usually looks to for income when they can no longer work is to their social security payments. If you can wait and work until age 70, you get bigger payments from social security, but you probably also collect for a shorter period of time. Whatever, most people find it impossible to live only on income from social security payments. You definitely need some additional source of income besides social security, as the social security program was never meant to be a sole income source.
If you do not have savings or investments to supplement your social security income, and are still healthy enough to work, at least part time, what do you do? Well of course, either you try to continue working part time at a job which you already know how to do, or you look into training for new work. Such training is available in various places, but you need to realize that many programs are aimed at the young who will seek full time jobs or professions. This impacts your ability to participate in the class in the first place, as well as having a learning environment that is appropriate for your purposes.
One way to experiment with possible part time employment is to do some volunteering in the field that interests you. There are tons of volunteer programs available, and your computer can help you find one that fits your needs. You should also consider talking to those who are still working who are a bit older than you are, to find out just how they hooked up with part time work. Here too, your computer will be helpful, as there are blogs and chat rooms and all kinds of sites where this very topic is being discussed. One thing you want to be conscious about in all this is making sure you do not take on jobs that require more than you can or want to do at this point in your life.

So, does all this mean you cannot ever retire?  And the answer is probably not comfortably, unless you win the lottery, or figure out some other way to add to your social security income.  We will be thinking about all that in the next posts. 

                                                      

LET'S TALK RETIRING!

One of the adventures in aging that some of us look forward to, and some of us dread, is retiring. Wait a minute, you say to yourself, when will I seriously have to think about retiring? Surely not yet! I can’t afford to retire anytime soon, and when I do I’m just going to travel and have a bunch of fun, and then worry about problems when they occur. Sounds like a realistic plan, right? Sure, but commonsense tells you that if you had at least a general idea of what most people experience during this stage of life it could help you out. In fact, the average person is best served when they review the available information about post retirement years before they retire, and make some plans based on what they have learned. Oh, I know you’re not average, and that likely you will live independently for a very long time, just like your Uncle Harry who died at 98 while sawing wood. But just in case you aren’t, and you don’t, maybe you should gather a bit of information about what happens to most folks. At least you could then be knowledge about what others will have to experience. And wouldn't it be better, and more fair to the people you care about, to do so before you’re faced with problems created by not thinking ahead?

Okay, so lots of people's first thought on the retirement subject nowadays may well be: I can't afford to retire! And after encountering that depressing thought, it all seems too hard to think about, and we just give up. However, it is extremely valuable to find out just what is possible or likely in this stage of life, even though it could be tough stuff to think about. No, everyone doesn't always retire, but most people do, sooner or later, for one reason or another. So let's start our thinking about retiring by asking ourselves some pertinent questions:

1. When, if ever, can I retire with enough monthly income, or savings, to support myself ?

2. What kind of part time job could I get after I retire?

3. What will happen to me if health problems interfere with my ability to work later in life?

4. Will my family be able to help support or care for me if I need them to do so?

After you think about these questions a bit on your own, then we will discuss some of the thoughts we have come up with and go on from there.

                                                                                                      

                                                        

REVIEWING PATTERNS IN YOUR LIFE

I've noticed both in my own life, as well as in countless numbers of life stories that I've had the privilege to hear, that your life experience to date is a good place to start looking for hints about what will likely come next. It's not that life experiences literally repeat themselves, but that general patterns or themes seem to pop up more often than could be called coincidental.  I think you will agree that it is helpful to see these patterns, and what they mean for each of us, before the next round occurs.

So what kind of patterns are we going to look for, you say?  Well there are those we create for ourselves and those we inherit from our families:  An example of a pattern created by the self could be making statements that alienate other people and end relationships, or counting on other people to actually support us. An example of an inherited pattern could be something like marrying people with serious addiction problems of one kind or another,  or finding that you tend to hook up with people whose handicaps position them to look to you for support. Whatever you find when you start this search be sure you consciously note it, record it, and think about it, and consider what it means for whatever will come next for you. 
                                                        

                                                               

You will find that some really interesting information about yourself can result from answering these questions:

1.  What themes or patterns can you see in your life experiences?

2.  If you had to describe your life's story in just one sentence, what would  it be? 

ASK YOURSELF

Yes, probably old age will be somewhat different for you when you get there than it was when your ideas about it formed, but it is necessary to realize that, and acknowledge the beliefs you currently have about aging. You know about the mind/body connection I'm sure, so think about how important it is to check out just what you believe about aging. 

Our beliefs about aging are heavily influenced by what we've witnessed happening to grandparents and parents and older friends. So let's begin by trying to recall what our parents seemed to believe about getting old,  and what happened to them as they aged.

My Pops lived 20 years longer than my mother, and he lived alone in his own home. I did  ask him what he thought about aging and he said it's good to keep busy, take frequent naps, and enjoy whatever you're doing.  And when the time came that he needed help, he was forthright and honest about it and very appreciative of the help he received. He'd also admit that there were some pretty tough things about the last part of life in terms of physical pain and living with the knowledge that it needed to be over sooner than later.   Everyone agreed he was a sweet and kind person, and definitely a manly man.

Here are a couple of things to ask yourself as you examine your beliefs about aging:

 1.  What things about being old did your parents seem to believe?
 2.  What have all the older people you've known taught you about aging?

HOW ABOUT NOW?

As we go about creating a map for our adventures in aging, we are beginning by taking a look at wherever you are at this point in your life.  In the last post we queried ourselves about what gives purpose and meaning to our lives, and now we need to scan our minds about some of the current challenges we face:

In order of their importance, please create a list of the challenges you face in your life right now?

The challenges you face may be physical, mental, emotional, or situational. As an example of the latter, many of us are are currently trying to figure out how to support ourselves in this time of economic turmoil? Or we find ourselves questioning just how long we can continue to work, even though what we will live on when we stop working is going to be a major problem.  These are serious problems for a whole lot of people, and ones which will have to be addressed by the society as a whole as well as by individuals stuggling to find answers for themselves. 

Be sure you keep your list up to date as things can change in a heartbeat, and believe it or not it helps to refer to this list when things seem kind of overwhelming. Plus we will be working with issues that relate to things based on what you are experiencing at this time and how they will impact your future situation.
 

MAKING CHANGES

As we gear up to create a map for our personal Adventure in Aging, let us do a bit of reviewing of the things we've had to change as we've meandered along through life. And yes, some of the changes we've had to make were done so only after several tries at going on without making the necessary change we were facing.  If we survived this period then we must count ourselves lucky, and be grateful for living long enough to actually accomplish what we needed to do.

You may begin by remembering changes as "simple" as having to exercise every day to keep your sore back from creating havoc in your life, or as difficult as giving up your cherished running program because your knees developed severe problems. Whatever the changes are that you remember, be they life changing or just needed at the time, you want to note that as these various challenges came up, you just eventually did what you had to do.  When it comes right down to it, we've all weathered changes of many kinds, and come out the other side doing the best we could with it all.

 It may help you to ask yourself these questions to prime your memory about changes you've made:

1. What is your usual response to making changes in your life?

2. What kind of changes have proved the most challenging for you?

I'm also going to suggest that you make a list of the changes you've accomplished, and save it! You will find that consulting this list will be of help in shoring up your confidence in yourself when you are facing yet another change that is necessary, but perhaps unwelcome and difficult to imagine surviving.

JOIN US AS WE CREATE A MAP FOR OUR AVENTURES IN AGING

 Join us as we do some questing in search of crucial information that will help us to make good decisions about how to get where we want to go in our adventures in aging. Formulating a mental map that will help us see the terrain of this next stage of life can be an exciting and creative undertaking, and one I hope you will find can be accomplished with the format I'll be presenting in this blog and in my book Adventures in Aging.

 Gaining an appreciation of where you been and what you've done in your life is a good foundation for creating a map of the years that are ahead of you. Let's start putting together a review of our life experiences with a question about where you are right now:

 What do you do in your life at this time that brings you a real sense of meaning and purpose?

You want to answer the question with both whatever pops into your mind first, and then give it some real thought. You may want to write or record your answer as it will be important to look back at it from time to time.

I will be adding pictures to my blogs of some of the collage work I do. I'll be trying to pair the pictures with the feelings that the particular question addressed in the blog evokes for me. I suggest that as you answer the questions for yourself you look for images that do the same for you.