Let’s Retire Retirement

"I'll run out of gas long before I run out of ideas of what to do. I don't have retirement in mind." Robert Redford.

I talked to my friend Kathy last night. She’s probably the most right-brained person I know, so I was eager to share with her Dan Pink’s theory that we are entering the conceptual age, when right brain abilities will become more important than left brain skills we’ve emphasized for the past century or so.

She was initially elated at the idea, then dejected because she thought, “I’m going to be too old to take advantage of it!” At 56, she’s hardly over the hill and I strongly doubt that she will retire at 65. Like most baby boomers, she and I plan to continue working long after the traditional retirement age.

To the astonishment of my twenty something students, retirement doesn’t sound like much fun to us. What are we supposed to do—play bingo and lie around the pool all day? I don’t think so.

In fact, many baby boomers are starting businesses. With their families grown, houses paid off and retirement funds available, it may be the perfect time to start that business. My friend Irv’s wife Bev, who’s in her 70s, is getting bored and planning to go back to work part-time. She had worked for many years in the legal field and now plans to provide document delivery services for lawyers. Sounds like a winner to me.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved