How can we turn retirement into engagement?

Author

Sarah Richard
March 18, 2024

“Retirement” is such a funny word. Why do we use a term that reeks of withdrawal to describe what could be our greatest opportunity to engage with meaning?

The meaning of work

I’ve been thinking a lot about the meaning of work. To me, work is effort that’s expended in partnership with a team, in service of a vision. I firmly believe that work can never be undertaken alone. Work is frequently a locus of socialization, particularly for early career knowledge workers, and even individual work ultimately is in service of society (… we hope). Work can be a source of profound meaning for those who view their efforts as serving a larger purpose.

The Japanese framework of “ikigai” describes one’s “reason to live.” Within this framework, work integrates what you love (your passion), what the world needs (your mission), what you can be paid for (your vocation), and what you are good at (your profession)1 . In the very best case, work can comprise passion, mission, vocation, and profession; these lucky workers can find a real sense of value and identity in their work.

Given that work carries such meaning for many, it strikes me as very odd that we don’t really address or support career transitions, particularly the one we call retirement. A stereotypical retirement looks like cake in the break room on Friday, followed by a very unmoored Monday.

If we tell someone for 40 years that their purpose is work, informing them they’re too old to work is informing them they have no purpose. As we see increasing numbers of older adults exiting the labor force due to retirement post-pandemic2 , we need a better solution for supporting older adults in finding purpose during transition.

Encore careers

For many, finding purpose after retirement can look like finding an “encore career.” Popularized by Marc Freedman at CoGenerate (formerly Encore.org), encore careers describe later-in-life phases of meaningful work. This work tends to be more flexible, more creative, and more mentorship-based than a person’s first career(s) may have been, frequently motivated by desire for personal fulfillment.

In addition to emotional fulfillment, folks may transition to encore careers for financial reasons. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) covers only 40% of retirees’ pre-retirement income on average, requiring a nest egg of savings for retirees who leave the workforce entirely3 . With such a gap, it’s no wonder that only 21% of savers are very confident their nest egg will last through retirement4 .

Whether for financial security, personal growth, or the opportunity for continued learning, encore careers have potential to build a renewed sense of purpose after the loss of identity retirement may bring5 .

Approaches to redefining retirement

Several companies are supporting a new vision of retirement for seniors, striving to connect seasoned workers with mentorship opportunities:

  • WisdomCircle connects the "WisGen" - seasoned professionals over 50 - with meaningful opportunities that leverage their wisdom

    • Founder (2022): Neeraj Sagar

  • Maturious redefines recruitment by spotlighting the untapped value in the skills, talents, and abilities of mature age workers.

    • Founder (2016): David Tarr

  • Eldera connects different generations in a global virtual village

    • Founder (2020): Dana Griffin

Voices of the Upper West Side

This week’s tech coaching sessions with older adults in the Upper West Side (NYC) highlight the opportunity for continued engagement with meaningful work6 :

  • Brenda‘s trailblazing first career as a family physician powered her second career owning a medical practice in the '90s. After cognitive impairment began impacting her daily work, she now focuses on her encore career mentoring within her practice.

  • Mentioned last week, Linda’s first career as a publisher led to her encore career writing poetry. She finds meaning in expanding her poetry portfolio, even exploring using chatGPT.

  • Robert’s wife feels lucky that as a stage and film actress, she doesn’t have to retire. The roles she lands may change but she remains motivated by the same work.

Engaging with an encore career doesn't have to mean starting from scratch; it's about evolving with the roles life presents us and keeping our passion for meaningful work alive.

Sailing off into the sunset?

The word “retirement” conjures images of sailing off into the sunset, golf clubs in hand. But that vision of retirement is viewed from the perspective of the workforce left on shore, not from the perspective of the retiree. Our collective image of retirement is one of withdrawal from work, in a society that equates work with identity and meaning. That’s such a shame. It’s precisely at the point of retirement that a person likely has the most insight to share, if only we could provide them with an outlet that matches their need for greater flexibility with our need for their wisdom.

I’m hopeful that we can transition from a vision of retirees sailing into the sunset to a vision of mentors embedding deeper in community. Given the importance we place on work driving identity, “retirement” may begin to look more like “engagement” if we can evolve our notion of careers to include purposeful mentorship after one’s first career.

6  Name and identifying details have been changed to protect privacy.