Berkshire Senior Online

by Catherine R. May

Executive Director

The Changing Goals of Retirement

Any social scientist who assumes that Older Americans, as a group, have common goals for their years beyond retirement, will surely miss the mark. This group ranges from under sixty to over one hundred, a vast and fast growing cohort; far too large to be one group, or to have one plan for their "golden years".

Yet society does see these millions as one group, and applies numerous stereotypes to these older Americans, (some call it ageism) which negate the value and contributions of those who have moved beyond the work place. On the other hand, some new and emerging thinking sees retirees as a resource capable of alleviating or resolving some very complex societal problems.

The sheer size of the number of individuals living in retirement creates a major force, alternately viewed as a drain on society, per Pete Peterson and Lester Thurow, or, as propounded by Marc Freedman, a positive resource and an answer to societal ills.

Former Nixon administration Commerce Secretary, Pete Peterson of the anti-entitlement Concord Coalition, writes in his 1999 book ,Gray Dawn, of global aging as the iceberg that lies ahead, and warns that this iceberg threatens to bankrupt the great powers. Peterson’s thinking helps fuel the "Greedy Geezer " perception of older persons, as those seeking more and more public funding through Social Security and Medicare, while ignoring the needs of youth and other sectors.

Thurow, the noted MIT economist, wrote in the New York Times Magazine in May,1996 that for the first time in history we have a large group of elders who are affluent, inactive, in need of expensive social services, largely dependent on government for income, and bent on continually bettering their position at the expense of the rest of the populace. Both Thurow and Peterson predict a new kind of warfare between generations over limited resources.

Marc Freedman, in his book "Prime Time" has a very different perspective. He views the retired as the country’s "greatest remaining natural resource", and sees current retirees and the age wave of retirees about to be created by the baby boomers as a wonderful opportunity.

Freedman’s "Prime Time", published in 1999, takes another look at aging in America, and propounds the theory that the baby boomers will both revolutionize retirement and transform America. In a nutshell, he sees retired persons as "our only growing natural resource", and the only adult American possessors of that most scarce of all commodities: time. He tells how older persons have been both integral to American society, as in pre industrial revolution America, and more recently, segregated to sunbelt retirement communities, where the focus was on leisure, pleasure, and disengagement from the larger community. Today he finds a different mind-set, based on the increasing need of the retired to be involved in real and productive activity, which will benefit those with whom one is involved.

Whether Thurow and Peterson, with their focus on leisure and affluence, or Freedman and others who propose a more positive and productive theory of retirement, prevail is not the issue. What is important to acknowledge is that there are many lifestyles for the retired, and no one need be scripted by any one stereotype. If however, the involved and productive model of retirement is to be successfully lived, society will need to change both to acknowledge the value of the on-going contributions of older persons, and create an environment in which their skills and expertise are effectively utilized.

In 1956, then Senator John F. Kennedy said "Today we are wasting resources of incalculable value; the accumulated knowledge, the mature wisdom, the seasoned experience, the skilled capacities, the productivity of a great and growing number of our people - our senior citizens." At the first White House Conference on Aging in 1961, President Kennedy challenged the delegates, saying that now that we have "added years to life," how might we "add life to years"?

Early models of senior engagement include the Foster Grandparent Program, which pairs needy children with a reliable and caring elder, and has recently begun a successful program in North Adams. Retired medical professionals are giving care where none is available; retired teachers bolster the efforts of overtaxed public school teachers.

Some seniors retire to leisure, some focus on family, others give to their fellow retirees through volunteering at Senior Centers or as Money Management Volunteers or SHINE (Medicare) counselors.

The lifestyle of each retiree can be what each one wishes. It is a time for choice and freedom, engagement or solitude.

Let’s remember however, John Kennedy’s talk of "wasting resources", and continue to seek creative and productive ways to engage retirees to meet the needs of children, their schools, unwed mothers, the many non-profits and public organizations that need high skilled/ low cost assistance. The doors need to be open, and then some of these retirees, if invited, will come.. They are indeed a natural resource.