by Elaine Schiff

The ins and outs of starting a new career
Experience counts
The write stuff
Rewards of work

The ins and outs of starting a new career
Rocking chairs? Ha! The conventional image of retirement — white shoes, early-bird dinner specials — is over. Increasingly, people plan to keep working during retirement, and it’s not just for the extra cash and health benefits. Today’s retirees are often too restless to stay put. Many want to begin again with a new career.

For employers, so-called “mature workers” can add enormous value to the workplace. According to mega-retailer Home Depot, which has made hiring these workers a centerpiece of its personnel strategy, older employees offer three key attributes:

• Great energy
• Great work ethic
• Great mentoring skills for younger workers

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 20% of all U.S. workers will be age 55 or older by 2014. There’s more: In the last decade the percentage of over-65s in the workforce has risen to 12.8%, the highest rate since 1979. It’s a demographic phenomenon.

Experience counts
A good book on the subject is “Don’t Retire, Rewire” by Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners (Alpha Publishing). You can get a discount copy at Amazon. In the authors’ view, “Retirement doesn’t have to mean aimless walks…The end of one career can be the beginning of another fulfilling career.”

They write about one well-to-do couple that retires to the south of France, only to find the experience flat and unrewarding. After 20 months of what they called “an endless vacation,” they decided they had “flunked” retirement and returned to the States to a life filled with family, friends and work. The book also chronicles the second brilliant careers of such superstar retirees as Lee Iacocca and Jimmy Carter.

No surprise then that AARP has created the National Employer Team to help link mature workers “to companies that value [their] experience and abilities.” Participating corporations include Adecco Staffing Services, AlliedBarton Security Services, Borders Book Stores, Cingular Wireless, Comcast Communications, CVS Pharmacies, MetLife Insurance, Pitney Bowes, SunTrust Bank, Verizon and Walgreens. For details, check AARP’s website.

The write stuff
Now, if you’re looking for more than just another job, you might consider writing. With the advent of Web-based self-publishing, it’s not such a crazy idea. Don’t expect to make much money, but if you’re patient and have something to say, you can do more than aspire to be a published author. You can actually do it.

J.R. Tate is one such retiree-author. After a career in the Marines followed by several years running his own farm, Tate pursued his ultimate passion — hiking the Appalachian Trail. Over eight years he assembled a fat scrapbook from his many stories and photographs. The scraps eventually morphed into a book, “Walkin’ on the Happy Side of Misery.” Uncomfortable with signing away the rights to his book and distrustful of the publishing industry, Tate decided to self-publish after a meeting with the nonprofit Tennessee Writers Alliance.

For a mere $960 Tate published his journal through print-on-demand publisher Xlibris (www2.xlibris.com), an affiliate of Random House. Over two years, the book has netted Tate more than $2,000 in royalties and $10,000 in speaking fees. Not bad for someone who insists, “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d become an author.”

Some tips on the writing life:

• Get your manuscript professionally edited
• Plan on doing your own book promotions
• Be strong in negotiating any royalty agreements
• Set aside plenty of time for writing and publishing

Rewards of work
If you seek a more conventional career, one that pays nearly as well as your first, you may be disappointed. Expect some downward mobility as you re-enter the workplace. On the other hand, if you have a well-planned retirement, extra income — even if modest — from work can help maintain your standard of living. If your new job comes with health benefits, that’s another big plus.

A better strategy might be to hold on to your current job for a few more years than you had planned. You’ll almost certainly earn more than you would in a new job, and be able to grow your 401k and IRA and pump up your nest egg — which is always a good thing to do, especially if you plan on a long, happy retirement.

©Longevity Alliance, Inc. 2006