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Ryan Paugh graduated from Penn State in 2006 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business. After working in corporate communications, freelance writing and reporting, he co-founded 
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New here? Employee Evolution is a blog written by Ryan Healy. Ryan is a Co-Founder of Brazen Careerist, the webs #1 social network for young professionals. Ryan speaks with organizations on best practices for recruiting and retaining Generation Y and how to effectively use social media to reach your target market. To contact Ryan, please visit our contact page.
I’ve always been troubled by the concept of growing old. Traditionally, it’s coming to terms with death that scares most people. In my situation, it’s coming to terms with the way I’m going to live.
When I think about retirement, I think about the grandparents of my generation – lonely, isolated and fairly unaware of what is really going on in the world around them. Sure, they might watch more news than any other age group, but think about it. Listening to what the media feeds us with little outdoor social interaction makes this planet out to be a terrifying place.
The other night after work, I hit up a local pub with my dad for a few beers. We got into a conversation with an older bartender, probably in his mid-60s, who was a retired salesman for AT&T. Turns out, he couldn’t imagine himself in a world where he just settled down. He needed to do something with his “golden years.” So he and his wife worked at this bar. He was the barkeep and she was a waitress. My fear of growing up seemed a little less warranted.
Last night on NBC Nightly News there was a story about how Boomers are never going to retire. Not because they don’t want to, but because they can’t afford to. As much as I empathize with this situation, maybe there’s some light at the end of the tunnel.
Call me naïve, but the trend of not being able to retire may bring some much needed respect back to our elders. Let’s stop thinking of retirement as the point we stop working and begin thinking of it as the point of reinventing.
As a twentysomething, I have a long ways to go, but when I reach the point of retirement, I’m not going to call it quits. I think that represents the end of me. I’m going to reinvent myself – pursue a passion. Maybe I’ll become a bartender like my friend at the local pub who inspired me to write this piece. Maybe I’ll take my enthusiasm for cooking to the next level and become a chef. I don’t know what I will feel like doing forty-some years down the road, but it won’t be sitting on my couch watching the Game Show Network.
It’s inspiring when I hear members of my parent’s generation talk about doing something with their “elderly-hood.” The other day, a co-worker was telling me how she and her husband are going to open a bed and breakfast. Ryan Healy’s parents have something up their sleeve too. As for my parents, I don’t dare get into age issues…but I know they’re not planning on settling down either.
I’ll leave you with this. I love my grandparents, but when I thought about how their generation retired, it frightened me. I want to continue to contribute to society as long as I can, or else what the hell am I even here for? Eventually our bodies will get the best of us and we will have to call it quits. Until then, you’ll find me serving drinks at the local pub
Leave your thoughts here. (18 responses)
- 1 Pingback on Jun 14th, 2007 at 10:59 am
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Before I even read this post, can I say that I laughed out loud really really hard when I saw the title. At my corporate job (for the next three weeks) they’re focusing so heavily on how boomers are going to throw the whole retirement industy on its head. AND I signed up for bartending school last week. Way to capture my life, Ryan.
My grandmother will be 66 this summer and she still works her little ass off every day. She’s a real estate agent and she loves getting to know people, getting involved in their lives, and helping them out. She’s probably the most active “old” person I know. And if she heard me call her old she would probably shoot me right now. I know that when she does finally “retire” she won’t be sitting on her ass in a rocking chair. I can picture her travelling around the country visiting out relatives, gardening, and taking up other community causes.
The reason that boomers aren’t going to have as much money as their parents in retirement is related to the lack of guaranteed income streams, like pension plans. With everyone like us switching jobs more and more frequently, there’s been a huge shift to personal responsibility for retirement planning. It’s going to be interesting to watch how the 76 million boomers who are due to retire between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2029 change how we think about retirement.
Great post, Ryan. I laughed out loud at the title, too. Mostly because I could relate. Even now, many decades before retirement, I’ve thought about how much happier (and wealthier) I could be bartending or waiting tables. (Damn those student loans and the guilt over not using a degree).
But I agree. There’s no way I could just sit back and relax upon retirement. My grandparents didn’t. Neither have other significant older people in my life. But they’re all doing things they really love. It’s a great example of what the “golden years” are really about.
I’m glad to hear so many of us have grandparents that are still so active. Definitely sets a good example for us and makes me feel better about getting old (a little).
I’ve grown up w/ a lot of older people that aren’t as “go-getting” as the ones described here. There’s a few exceptions, but I feel like the majority are kind of reserved and inactive.
Maybe I’m just an exception and the elderly are really still kicking ass! That would be great.
Thanks for the insight girls.
Let’s make a pact to check back on eachother’s blogs in 45 years and see what you’re doing. If Gen Y’s penchant for living with its parents is any indicator, I’ll bet you’ll be living with and off your kids.
As two 23-year-old guys who already live on their own, have jobs and take the initiative to try and make a change, you have got yourself a deal.
You’re a funny guy though. So I won’t retaliate too hard when you’re wrong.
Ryan - I too, liked your title.
Since I am a Boomer, your grandparents would be my parents’ generation. They, other family members and their friends have been very active and involved until “their bodies got the best of them” - and I don’t think it’s just because they were in New York. I don’t personally recognize your description of your grandparents and their generation in terms of the people I know.
Most of the Boomer professionals I know don’t ant to retire in the traditional sense, and many can afford to. Ours is a generation that never sees themselves as old and wants to keep contributing. (See www.nextgeneration-nextdestination.com blog for lots about reinvention. )
Maybe you don’t want to talk with your parents about age issues, but do talk about their reinvention.
I can’t imagine retiring. I’ve had a few reinventions along my career(s) and am always pioneering something new. I’ve been thinking for several years about reinventing myself as Mr. Met. (Time to diversify baseball, even if my friend, who is a female professional baseball umpire, is still not allowed to umpire in the major leagues except in spring training.)
Phyllis Weiss Haserot
Phyllis:
Thanks for your input.
I think there’s definitely a group of my grandparents generation that is still active and involved. For instance, the bartender I refer to was a grandfather and is still kicking it.
It’s funny though, I was so certain that people would at least have a few people in their lives that have grown old and sort of become isolated. When you say very active and involved, how do you mean? My grandparents are still very active with family and friends as they push into their 90s, but their interactions with society as a whole is what truly separates them.
Regardless, I think you point out that there’s at least some kind difference between your generation and your parents. You’re defying the traditional retirement that used to be embraced. It’s an inspiration to me because as I grow old, I want to keep contributing too. Sure, I’ll always have my family and friends to take care of (most elderly love to play this role), but I hope I’ll have something more to contribute as well. Something that spans further than my own social circle.
-Paugh
My grandmother is 83 this year. She played tennis every week until she was 80 when a bad hip forced her to give it up. She travelled to jazz conventions all over the world until her seventies and still travels to jazz conventions all over Australia. It’s an inspiration! I would love to have these Golden Years after I retire.
The only thing is that my generation (tail end Gen X or beginning of Gen Y) probably will never get to retire. The economy won’t be able to support our retirement and government taxes and greedy and/or incompetent fund managers mean our pensions won’t be worth much. So I expect to be working at least part time for my entire life. It’ll keep me active, which is great, but I would prefer to be using those years travelling and writing books and kayaking in the ocean (my equivalents of tennis and jazz).
I don’t know about your grandparents, but mine are not clueless and lonely as you seem to generalize. Regardless, I think you are missing the point.
The point is that they have managed their lives so well, that they have choice. If they want to live it as a hermit, traveling, shuffle boarding, or tending bar, more power to them. I have the utmost respect for a generation that knew the meaning of hard work and saving so that they could afford to do whatever the hell they want when they are older. You seem to say that there is no validity to that lifestyle unless they are generating income. The fact is, they are contributing all of that amassed wealth back into the economy without sucking the rest of us dry, or taking up jobs that could go to younger people.
The boomers and later generations are going to be screwed because they have squandered away their wealth building years. Boomers were too busy being free people and your generation is too busy trying to “get yours” now vs. later. You spend it faster than you can save it. Your parents have been too busy making sure you didn’t have to work hard ever, so now they have no accumulated wealth.
I thank God for those past generations and the hard choices they had to make and the rough times they went through. They have taught me that living my life is not about a job; it’s about being glad I am alive and having respect for others.
You seem to think respect can only be earned through a paycheck. I respect the men and woman who fought in wars, who weathered depressions and recessions and still came out on top. I dig a person that can work if they want to, not because they have to. Who am I to judge a generation I can’t begin to relate to?
I think you might rethink your opinion and respect what they have done, not what they aren’t doing now.
Sean:
Just to set the record straight, I respect the generations of the past. In fact, I made the point that they deserve more respect than they actually get. Trust me, if I was bashing an entire generation of people, you would know.
This post was supposed to be about the reinvention of retirement, but you’re getting too caught up in the fact that I don’t want to grow old the same way as my elders did and making the assumption that it means I don’t respect them.
This is just not the case, but I’m sorry I gave you the wrong idea.
By the way, I also pointed out that when I begin reinventing myself it’s not going to be for a paycheck. It’s going to be for a passion.
so my question is why wait till you’re of retirement age? Of course you need enough money to survive but they aren’t mutually exclusive.