Retirement Is So Yesterday; Think Rewirement! – Take Five with Author Jeri Sedlar
Jeri and I have had an ongoing moveable feast conversation that has taken us from munchies at a retirement/rewirement fair at Hewitt, to lunch in NYC, to coffee in Chicago. And every time it’s a generative conversation. Jeri is the author of Don’t Retire, REWIRE! 5 Steps to Fulfilling Work that Fuels Your Passion, Suits Your Personality and Fills Your Pocket (www.dontretirerewire.com) and Senior Advisor at The Conference Board on the Mature Workforce. I recently took five with Jeri after I handed her a Starbucks almost made perfectly to order–except that in her handwriting “skim” seemed to read “w/ cin” which I took to be “cinnamon. ” No matter, she drank it with gusto!
Take One: As people live longer is the concept of retirement becoming obsolete? If so, why?
A traditional retirement meant the end of work, and the creation of a new life built around leisure activities that usually lasted just a few years. This old model is being discarded because one, we are living on average 20 to 25 years beyond the age of 65, and two, because we are healthier, we’ve set higher expectations. It’s anticipated that 3 million boomers will live to be 100. In some cases, a person could conceivably be in retirement longer than they worked! Traditional retirement just doesn’t fit our collective lifestyle any more. The biggest change is that people have to or want “to work in retirement” in a flexible way that will contribute financially, and allow time for travel, learning, family fun and fulfillment.
Take Two: You prefer the word “rewire” instead of “retire.” Why?
We want people to think—you retire from, you rewire to. Just because traditional work ends doesn’t mean you do. Your energy doesn’t suddenly get turned off. That’s why we talk about a new retirement model, or as I like to say, rewirement. When you rewire, you start something new that fulfills you. Rewiring is about re-routing your energy into new activities that could include work, play, learning and a variety of other experiences. We don’t want people to fill time but rather have fulfilling times.
Take Three: So is your message only for the 40+ crowd? What urgent messages do you have for the Xers and the Millenials?
We discovered that the message works regardless of a person’s age or stage of life because it relates to the future. We tell people to rewire early and to rewire often! One of the key questions people need to answer is “why do I work beyond a paycheck?” We asked over 300 people the question and received 85 different reasons that we call “drivers.” Once you understand what drives you, or makes you tick, you tend to make better work and life choices, and get greater fulfillment in life. Too often people wait until they’re 50+ to do some self-assessment, and then lament the fact that they didn’t make some changes and take some risks earlier in their careers. A key benefit of four generations in the workforce is that each generation gets to learn from each other, and that applies to work skills as much as life skills. If you’ve deliberated about taking a course, going for a promotion, or adding some new activity in your life, stop deliberating and go for it, now! And use your drivers as a guide.
Take Four: What are four practical things any of us can do in the coming year to make the most of the life stage we are in?
1. Identify your drivers. You’ll have a few AHA moments of confirmation or shock about what really does motivate you.
2. Use that knowledge as a roadmap to direct you to change. You may add new activities and discard others, but the goal is to always be learning and growing.
3. Learn to take risks. Start small. And dare to make a mistake. Trying something new is very important. A person who doesn’t have a failure or two probably hasn’t tried anything new.
4. Make sure you are having some fun, however you define fun. All work and no play is a sure path to unhappiness. You need to rewire energy at work and play. And fun does not have to be expensive. Having fun makes some of the less pleasant or more difficult activities of our daily lives less tedious and more bearable.
Take Five: In your book and presentation you often refer to “fulfilling our dreams.” In the midst of life and work challenges, how can people make this actionable and not just have it be pie-in-the-sky?
Today’s realities can easily zap our dreams so we need to be both realistic and optimistic or our dreams could be stolen from us forever. Dreams don’t go away because the economy changes but they do need to be looked at differently; you may have to downsize or postpone a dream and create a new timetable. Once you put action behind a dream, you begin to make it a realistic goal. You put yourself in control and begin to use your energy to move your idea forward. This is a form of rewiring. Knowing that you are doing something toward making your dream real is energizing no matter how big the dream is. So don’t stop dreaming!
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Jeri is a great speaker and also friend. I appreciate her insights on retirement which is focused on making this time of life a new beginning with a focus on one’s passion.