Ageism 101: Old People are So Alike Yet So Different
[May 2006 - Vital Aging Network (PDF)] Presentation by Robert Yahnke, professor of film and the arts at the University of Minnesota. Robert began his presentation by defining ageism as unwarranted stereotypes of older adults. From Roberts’ humanities background, everybody is an individual and cannot be replicated. This is contradictory to ageism. ...

Lessons on retirement from the experts: retirees
[17 May 2006 - The Christian Science Monitor] As the first baby boomers turn 60 and approach a new stage beyond full-time careers, retirement advisers are trying to spread an important message: Leaping in without planning could lead to uninformed or impulsive decisions and the possibility of mistakes and regrets. Although some baby boomers are already considering future finances, housing, and activities, others are taking a mañana approach, largely ignoring these issues. ...

Brain Shows Signs of Alzheimer's Onset
[10 May 2006 - Forbes] Researchers say they've spotted a correlation between mild declines in cognitive ability -- regarded as a strong early predictor of Alzheimer's disease -- and physical changes in the brain. ...

BABY BOOMER BRAIN DRAIN: Firms plan for impact of mass retirements
[5 May 2006 - Chicago Tribune] About once a month at International Truck and Engine Corp.'s headquarters in suburban Warrenville, Ill., a crowd gathers in a large room on the executive floor for cake and tributes to a retiring colleague. The occasion is a reminder of a worrisome reality. The truck maker's work force, like that of the nation, is swollen with employees approaching the end of their careers. More than half the company's 600 managers and executives will be eligible for retirement within five years, according to a 2004 report to the company's board. The finding jolted the company into action, spurring practices such as assigning younger employees to "shadow" veterans before the older workers retire. "All that knowledge is really important -- the culture, the relationships with customers," said Dan Ustian, chairman, president and chief executive officer of International and its parent, Navistar International Corp. "It's vital we get a head start." ...

What Happened to Retirement Bashes
[7 May 2006 - The Wall Street Journal] Retirement isn't what it used to be. Neither are retirement parties. Gone are the days when companies relied on the traditional gold watch to recognize long-serving employees during a predictable annual group departure. Instead, as the demographics of the workplace have changed, so have the send-offs. More often, they now are impromptu, arranged by peers and, in many cases, marked by mixed emotions. "As the nature of the psychological contract between organizations and employees has changed...you really don't have an easy time figuring out what does it mean to do a retirement party," says Rocki-Lee DeWitt, dean of the University of Vermont School of Business in Burlington. "Do you do a retirement party for people who take early-retirement buyouts? Usually it's not a celebratory context because the performance of the firm is challenged. It's almost like a slap in the face for people who weren't eligible for early retirement to recognize the people getting to leave the place before it tanks." ...

Active lives defy aging: Generation redefines society's expectations for growing older
[6 May 2006 - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel] Debbie Schwartz is 50, looks 40 and "feels 38, max!" She rides a Harley, fancies herself a "blue jeans and T-shirt girl, just like in high school," and for pure enjoyment likes nothing better than stretching, bending and breathing through 90-minute yoga sessions. "I look at the age, 50, and I say, 'that's not me,' " says Schwartz, a mortgage banker from Fox Point. Schwartz is part of the massive wave of American baby boomers who feel younger than their years, a wave that over the decades will all but shatter the notion of what it means to be old in America. This isn't about how baby boomers are refusing to grow up, let alone grow old. They are getting old and know it. But what is happening is nothing short of a redefinition of aging in America and everything that goes with it, from work to retirement to selling goods to a generation with cash and clout. ...

Does Working Longer Make People Healthier and Happier? (PDF)
[February 2006 - The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College] Financing retirement is one of the major challenges facing an aging U.S. population. If individuals continue to retire in their early 60s, many will be hard pressed to maintain an adequate standard of living throughout retirement due to the declining role of Social Security, the shift to 401(k) plans, and low personal saving rates. Combine the retirement income crunch with the dramatic increase in life expectancy, and continued employment in later life appears to be an attractive option. While it is clear that working longer would benefit older Americans financially, less attention has focused on the non-monetary effects of work at older ages. This brief addresses the impact of late-life paid work on physical and psychological well-being. The first section reviews the literature on work at older ages and elderly well-being. The second section describes the analysis. The third and fourth sections present the results. The fifth section identifies vulnerable groups. A final section offers concluding thoughts. Key findings are:

• Work at older ages can improve physical health, regardless of the type of job.
• Work can also improve psychological health, but the type of job matters. Less desirable jobs have a negative effect on psychological health.
• While working longer can be beneficial, job opportunities for some groups of older Americans may be limited.

The Paradoxical Creative Brain (PDF - Page 8)
[January-February 2006 - The Dana Foundation's "BrainWork: The Neuroscience Newsletter"] To create, a person must have knowledge but forget the knowledge, must see unexpected connections in things but not have a mental disorder, must work hard but spend time doing nothing, must be competitive while afflicted by self doubt. These and other paradoxical ideas about creativity and the brain were explored by a panel of two leading neuroscientists and two nationally known creative artists during a public meeting Nov. 14 at the Dana Center. ... Education is failing creativity as well. "I think it is mostly inhibition of creativity that we see," said Pierre J. Magistretti of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Nancy C. Andreasen of the University of Iowa, and author of The Creating Brain, agreed: "Boundaries are created artificially that shouldn't be there. We need to train kids to see fewer boundaries, more integration across things." ...

• See also the Webcast of "The Creating Brain" panel (Real Media video)
  [14 November 2005 - The Dana Foundation - Dana Center, Washington, DC] The participants were: Dana Alliance member and author of the new book, The Creating Brain, Nancy C. Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D., University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and MIND Institute, University of New Mexico; Janet Eilber, Artistic Director of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance and principal arts consultant to the Dana Foundation; Michael Kahn, Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre; and European Dana Alliance for the Brain Vice-chairman Pierre Magistretti, M.D., Ph.D., University of Lausanne Medical School and Brain and Mind Institute, in Lausanne. William Safire, chairman of the Dana Foundation served as moderator.
  

Only Half of Non-Retirees Expect to Be Comfortable in Retirement
[1 May 2006 - Gallup Poll] Gallup's annual poll on personal finances reveals that most Americans report to be living comfortably now. However, many non-retirees expect a downturn in their lifestyle once they stop working. In all, fewer than half of non-retirees say they have enough money to live comfortably now and expect to do so in the future. In comparison, the vast majority of current retirees say they have enough to live comfortably now. ...