Thinking About Financial Retirement

Here I am, with a blog about retirement. I brazenly announce that it’s not just about the money.  That’s partly because finances are my weakest area of retirement knowledge.

But recently I came across a research article, which discusses a retirement process model. It focuses on financial issues and was published just this year.

The statements below are listed under four categories each of which has between fifteen and eighteen statements. I have choosen two from each one.  Read the following and see how you respond to the statements.

1)  Retirement Representations

a. I often compare my current financial position with the financial position I would like to have in retirement.

b. I often talk to my family about financial issues for retired people

2)  Retirement Goals

a. I have specific goals regarding the financial position I want in retirement

b. I have specific goals regarding the future roles I would like to hold as a retiree

3) The decision to prepare for retirement

a. I’d rather deal with my financial issues closer to retirement rather than making financial decisions now.

b. I know that people in my age group are making financial preparations for retirement

4)  Preparing for retirement

a. If I was forced to retire today I would have enough money to cope well with retirement.

b. By the time I retire I will own a house without a mortgage.

What stage of planning for retirement are you at?

My Retirement Decision Making

Recently I came across an article that helps me understand my attitudes toward my upcoming retirement. The article is called “Applying Work-Role Attachment Theory to Retirement Decision-Making”.  There are three variables; job involvement, organizational commitment and career identification.

         In my adult career life that began in 1967 I have primarily been a university professor, with a brief period of time after I left Ontario during which I worked as an Industrial Psychologist (about 5 years) before I joined Kwantlen.

         When I was 65, six years ago, I was almost forced out by mandatory retirement. It of course has now been outlawed as a form of age discrimination.

         There is no doubt in my mind that teaching at the university level has been a central part of my life and retirement will mean giving up valued work role activities. It will also mean giving up a room full of books, fiction and non-fiction, that I have acquired over the years.

         I have less of a commitment to the University it’s self although until recently I have been an active participant in Departmental decision making.

Here are some of the factors that were considered:  all responses were listed between Strongly Agree and Strongly Disagree

How do you respond to them?

1.   I expect to retire in the near future

2.   I am very much personally involved in my job

3.   I am proud to tell others that I am part of the organization where I         work.

4.   My line of work/career field is an important part of who I am.

An attitude toward retirement question was:

1. Retirement means being bored.

Finally, some people reported favorable attitudes toward both work and retirement.  Their responses suggested that “...other roles such as leisure and family even more powerful  ‘pull’ toward retirement.”

I would really like to know how you deal with or intend to deal with your retirement.

Memory and Aging In The Here and Now

 As I age, I am becoming more aware of the imperfection of my memory processes. Especially when I can’t remember where I put my car keys. Often, when I look back over my shoulder, there seems to be a large sign with the word Alzheimer’s.  It’s scary!

Many people, including a lot of older persons, believe that as we age we tend to live more and more in the past because earlier life events mean more to us.  Yet most people regardless of their age have fond memories. So why should older people spend more time in the past than others? Memories, long and short, positive and negative can useful because they can help us act in the here and now.

By releasing preoccupation with either the “good old days” or the future we can focus our experience on the here and now.

That’s not to say that the past means nothing. We can learn from it, without living in it.  According to Wille Nelson, an American musician and community activist who is now 76-years-old, to act wisely we must “Be here. Be present. Wherever we are, be there.

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Volunteering and Aging

  For more than ten years I have been volunteering at the Langley Seniors Centre. It has been, and continues to be a major source of activities outside my work life.   If you would like to see what we do their and consider senior's centres in your area go to http://www.lsrs.ca.    
   Volunteering is a way many people enhance their sense of belonging, participate in social networks, express their trust in others and give back to the community.  Similar to other Provinces, BC volunteers help organize activities, serve on boards or committees, canvas, campaign and raise funds worth millions of dollars. In many cases, the hours we spend volunteering tend to increase with age.  In one study, seniors who volunteered contributed an average of 233 hours per year, much higher than younger adults.

      So the question arises: What does volunteering provide for us?  For one thing it creates an opportunity to maintain our sense of competence within organizational objectives during our senior years following retirement.  Part of the answer might be found in the work of Jane Loevinger, a major personality theorist.  She emphasized that with aging there comes a gradual internal acceptance of social rules and the maturing of one's  conscience.

     In other words, volunteering can be seen as a reflection of growing self-awareness and a desire to give back to the community using skills and abilities that have been maturing through adulthood.  We have pretty well figured out who we are and what we can contribute.

Do you volunteer?

If so, why?

Driving Home: A Transition For Older Drivers

       On October 15^th of this year, my birthday, I became 71-years-old.   I was notified about two months ago that I would need to come in to get my driver’s license renewed.  I was afraid.  What if “they” were going take my license away? My wife Elizabeth, assured me that it would be a formal procedure, just like past renewals. Why was I afraid, after all five years ago I fought mandatory retirement at the University and was able to stay on?

       Buttoning up my fear, I went in to have my license renewed. It was a straight forward process, just like all the times since I was 16 and proudly earned my first license.  As I left the building, after filling out the paperwork, I gave a deep sigh, got in my car and drove home.

        Research studies of have found that “driving cessation can result in unfavourable outcomes including:

·           Increased depressive symptoms

·           Decreased community engagement

·           Isolation and

·           Safety risks associated with alternative transport use

       Research, conducted in Australia has explored the process and outcomes of driving cessation.  For instance “Driving in the past comprises the early history of driving that shapes the meaning and identity that an individual attaches to driving.”   Loss of driving is not only a life transition it is a practical loss.  For instance the research notes that retired drivers spend less time with their social networks and are more likely to stay home, expressing lower life satisfaction.

       In Australia occupational therapy researchers have developed the UQDRIVE program to help support retiring drivers.  It is based on three principles:

·        Empowerment of older people

·        Phases of Driving cessation and

·        Individuality of experience

        The program includes an “intensive support program developed as a group format delivered to between 8 and 15 retiring or retired drivers for 3 to 4 hrs per week for 6 weeks and includes topics like:

• Driving in later life
•  Experiences of retiring from driving and
• Adjusting to losses and changes

       I hope we have something like that around here.  If we do, I’m sure someone will let us know.


For more info go to:  www.uqdrive@ uq.edu.au

Retirement Planning: A Discovery

Something very exciting happened today as I surfed the net at Kwantlen. I came across an article published by researchers in New Zealand this past spring that explores retirement planning. Those attending my Retirement Workshop yesterday at Kwantlen said they want  to share ideas about retirement planning with others.

The researchers, Noone, Stephens, and Alpass constructed a 52-question survey investigating the processes of retirement planning.

The fifty two items were spread through four categories:

1. Retirement Representations i.e. what people think and understand about retirement
2. Retirement Goals
3. The decision to prepare for retirement
4. Preparing for retirement

For the rest of this Blog entry I intend to present one item from each of the four categories.

Retirement Representation:

1. I often talk to my family about financial issues for retired people
2. I often compare my current health with how I would like to be in the future.
3. I often compare how I spend my time now with how I would like to spend my time in retirement.
4. I often compare my current roles with the roles I would like to have as a retired person.

Retirement Goals:

1. I have specific goals about the financial position I want in retirement.
2. I have specific goals for my long-term health
3. I have specific goals about regarding how I want to spend my time in retirement
4. I have specific goals regarding the future roles I would like to hold as a retiree.

The Decision to Prepare for Retirement

1. I’d rather deal with any financial issues closer to retirement, rather than`making financial provisions now.
2. It’s too early for me to consider my long-term health.
3. I know that people in my age group are developing new ways to spend their time.
4. It is worthwhile to prepare for changes to my roles as a retired person.

Preparing to retire:

1. By the time I retire, I will have sufficient income to ensure the standard of living I want in retirement,
2. I only eat foods that will benefit my long-term health
3. There are many things I could do with my time if I was forced to retire today
4. I have many things outside of work that I would like to pursue.

Continuing Social Interests into Retirement

Since my days as a graduate student, I have been involved in social activities. After finishing my master’s degree, in order to continue my education I moved to Detroit Michigan where earned a PhD. I also joined the civil rights movement.  Many of my fellow activists were Baby Boomers who are now approaching their retirement years.

An important factor for our satisfactory adjustment is the development of wisdom. According to the Max Plank Institute, unlike relatively simple intelligence, wisdom reflects understanding and making decisions about uncertain matters in life, which frequently involves social relationships. 

In a book entitled Wisdom, Wille Nelson, an American musician and community activist who is now 76-years-old, says to act wisely we must “Be here. Be present. Wherever we are, be there.”  

Now, as the Boomers approach their lives as seniors, the rest of society seems to be frightened by their numbers and the effects of an “Aging Society”. The formal term used is “Apocalyptic Demography”

It is important for us all, and particularly those of us who are senior citizens, to take good look at our lives and community expectations. We can ask ourselves about the social relationships that we continue to experience as seniors and about new ones we can develop.

Aside from having close friends and extended family, many seniors continue to contribute to society through volunteer work, care giving and civic activities.  On a wider scale the World Health Organization refers to our social involvement as “active aging.”

Until recently, British Columbia maintained mandatory retirement, which basically asserted that after 65 employees were less valuable to society. Many of those forced into retirement took the lesson to heart. They began to see themselves less competent, developed lower self-esteem and negative self-stereotypes.  

On the other hand a good example of senior’s social relationships, active aging and social interest is expressed through volunteering.  It has been reported that in recent years three million Canadian retirees spent five billion hours each year on productive activities (paid and volunteer), which represents a contribution to the Canadian economy of about $60 billion dollars. Millions of older people continue the break the stereotype of uselessness and are vital members of their community and society as a whole.

As I approach retirement next year my social interest also continues to grow.  I am on the board of the Langley Seniors Resource Society; the co-founder of ICAL, the Intergenerational Centre for Action Learning, a not for profit, and a co-owner of a private company BC Community Building: Research and Action. If you would like to know more you can check our websites at ICAL.Ca, and BC-CommunityBuilding.com