Guest Post from Dr Ann Villers:

‘Don’t get to your grave with your song unsung’. So said American speaker Cavett Robert. It’s my favourite saying. Why? Because it challenges me to think about the big questions in life. Why am I here? What do I want to achieve while I’m walking this planet?

I’m a baby boomer and I’m keenly aware that there is now more life behind me than potentially ahead. So I find myself pondering what’s important to me, what would I still like to do. And I’m not alone in this. Plenty of people, not just baby boomers, wonder about what their song is and whether they are singing it.

We don’t just have one song in life. We could be singing multiple songs at different stages of life. The songs you sing as an unattached, free-ranging 20 something will differ from young parents juggling jobs and bills. Stacks of songs are possible for baby boomers, depending on whether you’re an empty nester, need to care for elderly relatives, have an interesting job, are in good health, operate a business or have a mortgage. What I find though, is at some point people start thinking: Is this all there is? They have a sense that at some deep, personal level, something is missing. Of all the songs they’ve been singing, ‘their song’ has yet to be sung. Retirement provides an opportunity to sing it.

While you’re busy juggling many demands, you may not have given much, if any, thought to that period of life called ‘retirement’. Why would you? You’re still working and there seems no pressing need to consider the next stage of life into your sixties and early seventies. And certainly there’s no time to think about it, let alone plan. Yet planning doesn’t have to take a lot of time, nor be completed in one sitting. But it does need to be done.

Retirement is a process

Retirement has traditionally been regarded as an event, marking a distinct phase of life, when full-time work stopped, and people moved into a life of leisure and relaxation. This model of retirement, with its cold turkey exit from the workforce, may still apply to some, but with the line between working full-time and not working blurring, baby boomers need to consider their options.

Retirement is now more a process than an event. Without some planning, the risk is that people retire from what they are doing, without having a clear idea of how they will retire and what they are retiring to.

How do you find your song?

Planning for retirement is just as complex and important a process as deciding what occupation or profession to embark on in the first place. We place much emphasis on asking the young ‘What would you like to do when you grow up?’ This is not a once-only question. It’s also a question that can have different answers each time it is asked. Pre-retirees also need to ask themselves, What do I want to do now? What is my song now and for the next couple of decades?

I suggest baby boomers become ‘career activists’. These are people who take charge of their life, thinking through what retirement means, how they want to live it and creating their own path to find it.

Why become a career activist?

Three reasons come to mind as to why baby boomers should take charge of their careers:

Firstly, each of us needs to work out for ourselves what retirement means. What comes to mind when you ponder retirement? Is it positive or negative? Whose retirements have you observed? What would you like to emulate or do differently than these retirements?

Secondly, retirement is a major life change. Our roles, relationships, daily routines all evolve. Retirement involves a transition between two significantly different stages of our lives. Drifting into retirement with no clear plan, hoping it will evolve on its own, is a poor recipe. Career activists have the skills to handle this change so as to obtain the best possible outcome.

Thirdly, this transition is stressful. Three areas cause stress in retirement. People underestimate the emotional impact. Do you understand what you are leaving behind? Will you miss your job title and all those problems you face at work? Stress also comes from a lack of fulfilling activities. Have you thought about the loss of structure to your day? Will playing golf be enough? Yet another source of stress is the change in family dynamics. How much time do you really want to spend with your spouse or partner? In short, can you imagine rising each day with the same anticipation you experience during your working career?

There’s much to think about for a pre-retiree career activist. The main task is to make sense of retirement in the context of your own life. The popular image of the happy retired couple strolling hand in hand at sunset along a pristine beach may fit and be attainable. Then again, you may wish to join the grey nomads touring the country, topping up the coffers with casual farm labour, such as fruit picking. Or you may wish to indulge some long-neglected hobbies. Any of these are worthy songs so long as you’ve thought them through.

Naturalist Diane Ackerman said: ‘I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well’. Part of the breadth and depth of life is singing your song.

What will your song be?

Dr Ann Villiers, learning guide, professional speaker and author, is Australia’s only Mental Nutritionist® specialising in mind and language practices that help people build flexible thinking, confident speaking and quality connections with people. Visit www.mentalnutrition.com to learn more about Mental Nutrition. Visit www.selectioncriteria.com.au for free resources unlocking the mysteries of public service jobs.

I came across this great article recently from the Wall Street Journal talking about business entrepreneurship among the 50+ age group.

Did you know, for example, that rates of entrepreneurship are 50% higher for people between 55 and 64 than people between 20 and 34? Furthermore, rates of entrepreneurship among people ages 55 and 64 have generally been trending up since 2007, whereas rates for that younger group have stayed relatively flat (source: Kauffman Foundation).

It appears there are various reasons for this – many people struggle to find gainful employment if they are aged 50+ in the event that they made redundant from a middle to senior management job. In this event, people may not have a choice as to if they should start a business because there simply may not be any other options for them. At the older end of the spectrum, other retirees simply find that retirement is boring and they have all these great skills sitting there un-utilised.

I think the attitude towards retirement is changing.

People no longer dream of a retirement life of leisure simply sitting in a retirement village  and golfing, fishing or whatever. People can and do want to stay productive as long as possible.

Thankfully in Australia, advances in technology and our low rate of unemployment means that organisations are amenable to their workers tele-commuting or contracting. This type of work solution has really never been available before and allows retirees to become productive once again on their terms! No more 9-5 daily commute on inefficient public transport, the productive retiree of today can work from home, travel from home or set their own hours to be in the office.

And I think this is what retirement will ultimately become – simply just the opportunity to set your own work schedule doing something that you enjoy.

What do you think?

Great article from the Sydney Morning Herald on the sea-change and tree-change phenomenon HERE.

Retired?

Bored?

Want to earn a little extra cash on the side?

Here are a few jobs you may want to consider to keep your mind active and fund that next cruise you had your eye on!

Online Tutor

Are you a teacher, professor or an expert in a particular field? If so, then online tutoring may be the perfect retirement job for you! Online tutors set their own hours and work from home, coaching students throughout the nation and teaching online classes.

Check out these websites which match tutors with students:

• findatutor.com.au
• tutoringaustralia.com.au
• teachingallover.com.au

Obviously you will need a computer with internet access.

Freelance Writer or Editor

Are you an ex-journalist, copywriter, editor or English teacher, or are you a good writer than doesn’t bat an eyelid at punching out 500-1,000 words on a topic of your choice?

Well then why not continue as a freelance writer?

We live in an information age and there are thousands of print or online publications which have canyons of space to fill with quality content on a regular basis. Try submitting work for free to editors to get a name for yourself then you can start charging for your efforts.

Translator

Do you speak a second language fluently? if so, you could score a job as a translator.

Many government organisations and corporations need interpreters to translate other languages into English, either as written work or as a live translation over the telephone. If you have a computer, a high-speed internet connection, a quiet work area and a phone, you can work from home as a translator. Obviously, speaking and writing a second language as well as english fluently is job requirement!

Answering Service Agent

Have you ever called your doctor’s office at 9pm to hear a friendly voice chirp, “Hello, this is Dr. Dogooder’s answering service! How may help you?”

Answering service agents typically work from home and answer after-hours calls from doctors and dentist offices, travel agencies, animal hospitals and other businesses. The agent then records the caller’s info and either forwards it along to the doctor, dentist or business owner or follows some other pre-determined protocol. As long as you have a working telephone, a nice speaking voice and great people skills, you could land a job answering these after-hours calls.

Internet Business

I don’t think there has ever been another time in the history of the modern world where you could start a business so cheaply and with less risk than you can today with the internet. There are multitude of business models you can use, from selling products on ebay to selling advertising on your own website. Better still, there are plenty of ways to educate yourself about these businesses for free on the Internet. If you have a passion for commerce and are a little entrepreneurial, this could be the proch job for you!

Can you think of any other jobs that can be done by retirees from home?

Do you know a retiree who has a work from home business?

Tell us about it…