Costs of retirement challenge businesses, boomers
[22 July 2005 - East Bay Business Times] It is true that the idea of retirement is changing. Instead of moving to a warmer climate to play golf, many people are shifting from careers that put bread on the table to more creative endeavors that offer a richer sense of fulfillment. The question of what to do after 65 certainly has affected the planning process. Yet the question of how to pay for it is not simple, especially with pensions at companies like United Airlines and with Social Security under threat. ...

Stress and lack of control drive workers to retire early: Employers advised to give valued staff more autonomy
[21 July 2005 - Ottawa Citizen] Employers trying to keep older workers from taking early retirement should consider the often overlooked option of offering them greater autonomy on the job, says a new Statistics Canada study. The study says such ideas as raising salaries or reducing hours of work do not go to the heart of one reason many workers opt out early -- namely high job strain fuelled by a lack of control over what the job is and how it should be done. ...

Selfless baby boomers switch careers
[23 June 2005 - NBC Nightly News] Study shows majority of boomers looking to make a difference ...

Opinion: The retirement brain drain
[13 July 2005 - HR Zone] With an ageing population, Godfrey Parkin wonders why so many companies have no formal process for passing on the knowledge of their most experienced workers at retirement. ... In most Western countries, the baby boomer bubble is causing concern for those planning pension and social security services. It should also be worrying employers. A quarter of current American employees will be retiring within the next five years. If the outgoing masses know anything of value and it is not being passed down to others in their companies, those organisations face a brain drain that could harm their ability to operate. ...

Lifetime intellectual function and satisfaction with life in old age: longitudinal cohort study
[16 July 2005 - British Medical Journal] What is successful ageing? Current opinion is that "cognitive vitality is essential to quality of life...in old age." This depends substantially on people's cognitive ability from early life, and on how much they decline from their cognitive peak in young adulthood. Early cognitive ability also affects physical health and even survival to old age. But surely happiness and satisfaction with life are also key indices of successful ageing. Happiness was described as "the highest good and ultimate motivation for human action"; this does not seem to be related to current cognitive ability. Cognitive level in youth and the amount of cognitive change across the lifespan are important indicators of cognitive vitality in old age. We examined a unique data set to investigate whether these factors are associated with people being happier. ...

MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures New Face of Work Survey
[16 June 2005 - CivicVentures.org] Half of Americans age 50 to 70 want jobs that contribute to the greater good now and in retirement, according to the MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures New Face of Work Survey. In recent years, the vast majority of baby boomers have told pollsters that, unlike their parents, they plan to work in retirement, they need continued income, and they want greater flexibility in retirement jobs. This survey of 1,000 Americans�conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International in spring 2005�is the first to ask those in their 50s (baby boomers) and 60s (pre-boomers) what type of work they aspire to, what they want to accomplish through this work, and why they want to do it. Survey results show that boomers and pre-boomers:
- Want to do work that helps others, now and in retirement.
- Want careers that are about people, purpose, and community.
- Have divergent attitudes about post-retirement work based on gender and race.
- Don't think it will be very easy to find second careers doing good work and strongly support public policy changes to remove obstacles. ...