UPDATED: 6/8/15
Evening with Chris Farrell
Join us on May 20th as author, Chris Farrell speaks about “Unretirement” at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, FL!
For almost two years I’ve been writing blog posts about the exciting opportunities around the ever growing encore movement. There is an increasing number of inspiring “encore stories” about people aligning with their purpose , making a difference and redefining ways to earn continued income. At the same time there is a constant barrage of demographic projections by economists, futurists and the media that paint the picture of the boomer generation depleting our social security and Medicare, along with a significant (25%+) exit of boomers from the workforce and confoundedly, boomers continuing to work which many feel would take jobs away from younger generations!!
It was a welcome surprise when I found an author who had all the right facts and statistics to dispel this doom and gloom, along with laying out the realities of unretirement. Chris Farrell, an economist (who can argue with an economist?) outlines in his new book, Unretirement: How Baby Boomers Are Changing The Way we Think about Work, Community, and the Good Life, that these dire predictions aimed at aging America are dead wrong! There is in fact a silver lining, that this boomer generation is healthier and better educated than previous generations. They want to stay engaged and active in this third chapter of life. Chris Farrell explains,
“The last third of life is being reimagined and reinvented into ‘unretirement’
This book is packed with humor, stories, and history along with solid facts, trends and statistics that portray an aging workforce as an economic asset that wants to live a good life and leave the world a better place! Farrell explains how the rise of unretirement will create significant changes in how we reward work, create jobs, start new businesses, share the wealth and deal with old age.
UNRETIREMENT: IN THE WORKPLACE
Farrell does a great job of peeling back the onion with all the different ways that the “unretirement movement” is shifting the paradigm within our organizations. Several chapters are devoted to the evolving nature of work and the workplace such as:
- The rise of the non traditional workforce with part time or freelance work.
- The similarities and opportunities of intergenerational learning and collaboration (Mentoring both ways between millennial / boomers)
- The realities of ageism and negative stereotypes held by far too many employers.
UNRETIREMENT: HISTORY AND FINANCIAL REALITIES
It was helpful to learn about how the whole concept of retirement evolved, starting in the later part of the 19th century with pensions, into the 1930’s with the establishment of the Social Security Act and then into the 1950’s with the evolution of the retirement lifestyles. (Del Webb/ Sun City). He also digs into the real truth about the financial projections of social security and Medicare in light of the significant changes with work and new sources of continued income later in life.
UNRETIREMENT: THIRD AGE ENTREPRENEURS
Farrell does a great job of laying out the facts, stories and a positive outlook for older entrepreneurs. He recognizes that many of the start ups founded by older Americans may not be creating large scalable businesses but they will provide continued income to this fastest growing age group of entrepreneurs (which will also postpone the draining of social security)
In a recent op ed Chris summarizes the “unretirement movement”. “The rise of unretirement calls for a whole cluster of changes, including overhauling corporate benefit policies, the design of social safety net, and debunking stereotypes that wrongly assume older workers aren’t creative. Taken altogether, aging boomers are constructing a new vision of the good life!”
What is most exciting about this movement is that we are creating a positive productive model or trajectory for what life after 50 can really be for future generations!
