News from the web: With the country yet to begin the full scale implementation of the much hyped National Social Security Scheme to take care of the army of retirees and others with no steady income, a bleak future awaits many. In this report Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf relives the experiences of some business people who changed careers in midstream and ended up being successful
With the harsh economic reality biting h in this report, ard, not many people will relish the prospect of ever leaving a paid employment to start job-hunting afresh or even contemplate venturing into private practice.
But that is sadly what a lot of people have to contend with during this period of economic recession as most organisations are laying off staff in order to cut down on cost.
Most financial institutions across the country have had to prune their staff strength substantially within the last couple of months as part of their cost-reduction strategy, among other factors.
A cursory view shows that mid to top level officers in many of these banks have been affected by the layoffs, with some of the staff still at a quandary as to how to get over their present predicaments.
VICTORVILLE • Tired of looking for things to do in his retirement, a 71-year-old Illinois man decided to go for a jog on Route 66 — all 2,448 miles.
Emory Duick started out on June 2 at the intersection of Jackson St. and Michigan Ave. in downtown Chicago where Route 66 begins. After 202 days and more than 2,000 miles, he is passing through Victorville and Hesperia this week on his way to the Santa Monica Pier, where the highway ends.
“I’m doing this for seniors age 50 to 85 years old because what I saw, even prior to doing this, is that when people retire in their 60s they kind of retire from life too and that’s just not right,” Duick said.
Where do you see yourself upon retiring? Do you intend to spend some quality time with your grandchildren? Or would like to be the head of your own business? If the latter appeals to you, that’s not surprising. The American Association of Retired Persons said that 70 percent of retirees want to continue working and be their own boss. Many cherish the idea of self-employment.
According to the National Academy on an Aging Society, many retirees actually stay active after retirement age. The Academy found that, “61 percent of individuals aged 60 – 69 work full time, and 72 percent of people aged 70 plus work part-time.” Individuals in this age bracket have a wealth of lifetime experiences and generally good business acumen. They tend to be more risk averse and this lends to their success in taking on a business venture or starting up their own business. And during an economic downturn, retirees also find it more difficult to be hired as they compete against younger workers.
Dorothy Atkins, of San Jose, Calif., may be the prototypical example of today’s retiree. She’s active, healthy ... and working. In 2002, when Bank of America told Atkins, now 68, that it was relocating her division, the project manager walked out the door and bid farewell to her banking career. But her working days didn’t end there. “I was retired for about a second,” she says. Atkins used BofA’s severance to start her second act by converting a spare bedroom into an art studio and creating a line of greeting cards she sells to stores and museums. The income has kept her from dipping into her retirement savings and let her live the life she wants. “I encourage my friends to find something they love so much that they’d do it for free,” Atkins says.
The image of the average retiree as an 80- or 90-year-old waiting for a spot in the nursing home is way off base. That’s why the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce, in addition to actively pursuing industries that bring jobs to Rome and Floyd County, is just as active in its effort to promote Rome as a great retirement community.
Who’s retiring to Rome?
People like Jim Keaten, a retired attorney from Atlanta who came to Rome four years ago and is now chairman of the South Rome Redevelopment Agency board, vice chairman of the Rome International Film Festival board and member of the Northwest Georgia Housing Authority’s board. His wife, the former Helen Harbin, is a native of Rome. In spite of that, Keaten said he was skeptical about coming to Rome.
Racism and sexism we know plenty about. But what of ageism?
Ageism can strike anyone once they reach a certain age -- sometimes as early as 40 -- and it can make the victim feel unwanted, unneeded and oppressed by all in this work and youth oriented society.
It doesn't matter if you're white or black, brown or Asian, man or woman. What matters is your age.
Federal law and several state laws say employers cannot consider your age in deciding if you should be hired, fired, retired, promoted, laid off or whatever. But the laws are widely violated, and sometimes invalidated by courts. Some of the court decisions have been downright bizarre. One recent ruling, for example, found that an employer who told a worker he was being fired because "you're too damn old for this kind of work" was not violating the law. Another court said a boss who told a worker he had to make way for younger workers was simply stating "a fact of life."
For many Baby Boomers, odds are good the decade just completed will be the last in which they are full-time salaried employees.
As we leave the Aughts [the decade 2000-2009] the first wave of Baby Boomers born in 1945 or 1946 will hit the traditional retirement age of 65 in 2010 and 2011. Tail-end Boomers born in the early 1960s will be 55 to 60 by Jan. 1, 2020.
True, unless you're among the minority with a gold-plated defined-benefit pension, you're unlikely to enjoy that magical chimera dubbed (courtesy of London Life) Freedom 55. Then again, I don't really consider those born between 1960 and 1964 as full-blooded Baby Boomers. If you weren't traumatized by the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy, your status as a Boomer is dubious.
Those born in the 1950s, like yours truly, will likely leave full-time employment sometime before 2020. By then, according to Canada's Urban Futures Institute, 425,000 Canadians will retire each year.
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=ace743d7-5fa5-466f-8a02-6041b4ef016a#ixzz0dRivJz2y The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.
Are you someone who hopes your life will improve on its own when you retire from work without you having to do anything yourself? Maybe you believe that life without work will be wonderful and you will find it easy to cope , or maybe you are dreading the changes which you believe will come from changing the daily routine from work life to retirement.
You may be waiting for someone else to plan your life for you but it’s important to realise that you have the power in to make the changes you want for your new life. Don’t wait for other people to tell you what to do but decide for yourself that retirement is a chance to change everything if you wish.
Virgia Bartee, who recently turned 106, is often asked about her secret to wrinkle-free skin.
She also is asked how one survives more than 10 decades.
Her answer is always the same: Don't smoke or drink. Stay active after retirement. Surround yourself with young people.
One of her four children, 72-year-old Ruth Gray, adds one more “must” to the list: Remain feisty.
“She has never been shy about speaking her mind,” says Gray, a retired nurse who lives in a mobile home in Bartee's backyard and is her primary caretaker. “The other Sunday morning, she said, ‘I'm not going to church today.’ She never misses church. But that morning, she just didn't feel like getting dressed. So she crossed her arms and legs, sat on the couch and wouldn't hear anymore about it.”
The baby boomers are those who were born in the mid 1940s to the mid 1950s and are now retired and living the cozy life. But is it cozy? If you were to ask any one of these retired individual how they are enjoying being retired, you would get a response saying they enjoyed it initially but now they are bored, with lots of free time and nothing to do. Adjusting to a retired life can be difficult for some, especially those who are used to being active and working. How much golf and sailing can one person do any way?
One of the biggest disadvantages of being retired is the fact that there is a problem of money. You are retired and do not have a monthly income coming in, so playing golf, sailing or just going shopping may not be an option to those who have money constraints.
Retired health and physical education teacher Frances Wood knew the WellStar Health Place was a great place to work out. Ten years ago, she wondered if it would also be a great place to work.
"I liked the atmosphere, so I inquired about employment and was hired as a member service representative," said Wood, 61. "I'm a people person. Sitting at the front desk, I get to know our members and I get to help them stay healthy, which is something I believe in. This job is a perfect fit."
AARP recently named WellStar Health System (which owns Health Place), to its list of Best Employers for Workers Over 50. Wood understands why.
"I feel like I'm a productive and contributing member of the staff," she said. "We have people of all ages working here and we make a great team."
Retirement is a time in our lives that we look forward to for many years. We all have dreams of what we want to do with this time. Happiness is something that comes from within and it is important to feel needed and appreciated. Keeping active is the best way to feel great and to live your dreams. You have earned this time and you should definitely enjoy it.
News from the web: There are people who take up retirement as the end of their active life and are therefore depressed. However, there are others who have a different perception to the prospect of retirement as they would have free time completely to themselves. Most of these people start planning for retirement and investing for retirement long before they are about to retire, so come to execute their plans appropriately. Their retirement plans can include different options, like spending quality time with family members, spending more time on hobbies or test for some side work to stay engaged.
It’s very possible that you may live to regret it. It is hard to think about your retirement years when you are still in your thirties or younger. After all retirement seems so far away. It could be another 30-35 years before that time comes around so it’s easy to think, what’s the rush? Many over 50s and the already retired can tell you that this time of life comes around much faster than you plan for.
Who would think the word “retirement” would cause such a negative emotional response when so many folks seemed to look forward to this stage of life. I started by looking up related phrases: retire (rî-tìr´) verb
1. To withdraw, as for rest or seclusion. 2. To go to bed. 3. To withdraw from one’s occupation, business, or office; stop working. 4. To fall back or retreat, as from battle. 5. To move back or away; recede. Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language
retired person (noun)
old person: old person, elderly person, retired person, pensioner, old-age pensioner, senior citizen Source: The Original Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases
With definitions like this, no wonder folks have such a negative reaction when I say I’m retired. “You can’t be – you’re too young – you’re too active” are the common retorts.
Recent census data show that more Americans 65 and older are in the job market than ever before, 6.6 million. That compares to 4.1 million in 2001. Many retirees seek work because of the recession. Others saw their pensions eroded when employers stopped paying, and still others lost heavily in the stock market.
Whatever the reasons, many older people want to work.
If employers do not know already, they soon will have to understand that they are dealing with workers who expect to live longer and not only want to work longer but want to continue to feel dignified about what they are doing.
From a wonderful website comes some practical advice: Choosing a spot to live out your life after retirement is no small task. Yes you want to live somewhere nice, but you want to spend your golden years in a location that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Also, while you are retired you aren’t dead yet. You need a spot that offers plenty of recreation and other perks while still saving you a little money in the process.
Here in the United States, there are plenty of retirement options that fit the bill. Here’s a breakdown of the top ten retirement locations that fit the above criteria.
To make the most of unprecedented tight budgets, planners at Cincinnati Public Schools know there is value in every dollar saved.
That's why Terry Elfers, the schools' chief operating officer, turned to the Executive Service Corps of Cincinnati for help in increasing the district's operating efficiency.
In the 18 months since Elfers took over as COO, the Service Corps has helped trim at least $7.5 million total from the schools' public expense.
In the early days of retirement, the feeling of relief is overwhelming. We relax our dress style and our obsession with punctuality. We feel as though we are on vacation and we wallow in that lovely feeling. However we soon notice that this vacation is going on a little too long. We are not used to having this much time off. The day comes when we start to notice a feeling of being out of touch with our former world. The camaraderie of the workplace may have been a fixture in our lives for years. We have now joined another group–the non-working group.
You have already taken the first good step by coming to RetiredResources.com but here is some more advise on what to do: Have you recently lost your job? If so, you’re part of a large group of Americans who are out of work. Unemployment is around 10 percent while the number of people forced to work part-time jobs or have grown discouraged and quit looking for work has that number up around 17 percent. Clearly, these are not good times in America!
Yet, there are jobs available with people regularly interviewing, receiving, weighing, and accepting job offers, and starting new jobs every day. If you have not pounded the pavement in many years, then you may be unfamiliar with how to find your next engagement. In that case, the following seven tips can help you get started, taking into consideration your personal needs and desires:
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=4352485c-71b9-48c1-a6b3-7fe48b87eb30)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=2dce79ad-98e5-4bf1-a6ee-4cfbd7a3a2ae)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=42ccf33a-1868-402a-983c-87b1bf7cabce)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=fd93c496-0325-4770-8c68-2bdda1808033)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=501e0242-46d2-4efe-9697-a2b29d436256)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=0c493e63-92b3-4f4a-b467-d85b2d26329b)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=d530110a-3d9a-49d3-b608-a3962b6d4826)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=9dceef1f-1ebb-44ae-addd-2cf2a60df0e3)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=5d64e6c8-0957-4319-9d79-5d92cdd85cff)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=e4369d84-4e39-41d6-bd8e-b10b36222437)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=2b9399a7-ced7-4a92-9061-5641a97ebefc)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=39a6a482-624e-40ed-a1de-d70ada4015a9)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=ada3c13c-d3f7-48f2-8d6b-85de0ed9d0d1)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=aceed981-60ca-4735-9a40-cbcc744bcca5)