Retire Smart

Retire Smart
06/16/2002
There's More To Retirement Than Work!
By Humberto and Georgina Cruz
Tribune Media Services

We've said many times - engaging in meaningful work keeps us active and productive, and adds joy and meaning to our retirement.

But we wonder whether many of us are going a bit too far, afraid to let go of work and not quite sure how to live without it.

Our feeling has been reinforced by an article titled "What's Working in Retirement" in the Journal of Financial Planning, a trade publication. The article found a growing number of aging Baby Boomers putting off retirement, as well as retirees going back to work.

"It surprised me that there were so many people who were reluctant to just chuck it off," said Nancy Opiela, associate editor of the Journal, who interviewed financial planners across the country for the story.

Because of the uncertain economy and erratic stock market, Journal editors expected to find planners' clients staying longer at their jobs or going back to work after retirement. What surprised them was that so many did even though, financially, they could easily afford to retire.

Some were plain bored, missing the stimulation and social interaction of the workplace. But others were reluctant if not afraid to retire without knowing that to expect - or do.

"We in the Baby Boom generation don't want our parents' retirement," said Opiela, 41. "We don't want that rocking chair in the porch. But we also don't give ourselves time to even consider what we might like to do."

Opiela wrote that financial planners "may need to counsel clients on the benefits of reaching out, taking some risks and exploring life beyond work." Compared to a generation ago, when retirees exited the work force completely, "we have to ask ourselves if the pendulum has swung an unhealthy distance in the other direction as a record number of Baby Boomers insist that they will never retire."

Admittedly, concerns about the economy contribute to this attitude. "Retirement Revisited," a Gallup poll of 1,001 non-retired investors this year conducted for UBS AG Financial Services Group, found a "major shift" in retirement expectations compared to 1998.

According to the study, the average expected retirement age is 63.8 years now, up from 62.9 in 1998. More notably, 19 percent of those surveyed anticipate they will delay their retirement by 4.4 years on average.

At the same time, a whopping 83 percent said they would continue to "engage in work activities" after reaching retirement age.

We find that attitude healthy - as long as it's tempered with realistic expectations. According to another 2002 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 45 percent of today's retirees quit work earlier than they wanted, mostly for reasons beyond their control such as health or disability problems, or layoffs.

This reality is prompting financial planners to take on an added role. Beyond purely financial matters, many planners now advise clients to think carefully about what they want to do in retirement and to "practice" some of those possibilities.

For example, if you plan to sell the house, buy an RV and travel the country, practice by renting one and going on the road for as long a vacation as you can get. If you haven't developed any hobbies, try some out on weekends and vacations to find something you like.

"It's kind of getting people in the mood of doing what they want to do now, not waiting 30 years to do it," said Michael Ancona, a certified financial planner in Scotch Plains, N.J. Ancona encourages clients to take a "day away" once a month "and kind of get a feel for what the other side of retirement might be."

"It's not so much fear of the unknown," Ancona said of the reluctance to retire, "as that you really haven't given yourself the OK to try new things."

Ancona borrowed the "day away" idea, which we like quite a bit, from Ginger Cockerham, a certified business and life coach in Dallas who runs the Web site www.Coachginger.com

On your day away, "Think hammock, or fly rod, or ball parks, or Japanese gardens," Cockerham said. "Think dance, or fabrics, or bright lights, or long walks. Think a luscious day alone or gather your frivolous friends to play hooky with you.

"Try something brand new or return to your greatest passion. Paint all day or dance all night. The world will continue to spin and your colleagues, clients, customers, family and your 'to do list' will all survive your day away. They may not even notice you are gone."

Humberto Cruz can be reached at AskHumberto@aol.com and Georgina Cruz at GVCruz@aol.com, or c/o Tribune Media Services, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1500, Chicago, IL 60611