Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The End of Retirement

“The subject of my remarks is the end of retirement, and the profound effect this is going to have on all of us personally and on the marketing of goods and services in America and throughout the industrialized world.”

Say what? End of retirement? Who could possibly be saying such a thing?

None other than William Novelli, executive director and CEO of AARP. Even though he said this in a speech seven years ago, the message is even more true today. Novelli has written similar thoughts recently in AARP the Magazine and in the monthly AARP newsletter.

“Retirement as we have known it, as my Uncle Andy and millions of others practiced it, is largely disappearing,” Novelli said in his 2001 speech to the Institute of Public Relations. “And in its place there is a new, much more vital vision of how most of us will be living as we grow older.

“Now people are thinking of retirement as a beginning, not as an ending. We (AARP) did a survey recently showing that two out of three people 50 and older view this phase of life primarily as a time to begin a new chapter, start new activities, and set new goals.”

Novelli continued: “The most fundamental change in the concept of retirement is that it is likely to involve work. Our research shows that 80 percent of (Baby) Boomers expect to continue working in some form past the age of 65 – either for the money or for the fun of it. Many will start their own businesses. Others will work part-time. Still others will reinvent themselves and begin new careers, sometimes in order to give something back. This has implications for virtually every part of society: education, government, corporate America, the nonprofits, and religious institutions.”

What are you waiting for?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello. My name is Eleni Schmidt and I'm writing an article for www.WeBooks.co.uk about retirees who have started business online. I wonder if you'd be willing to answer some questions online on how to make it as a retiree?
If you feel that you have the time, these are the questions.
Kind regards, Eleni Schmidt




Could you tell me something about your business plan?
What made you come up with this idea?
What's your motivation?
How did you begin this work? What were the first steps? How long did it take before your website began to pay off?

Picture a retiree who's rather inexperienced with the Internet, but want to start an online business. What advice would you give?

In your opinion, are many retirees interested in making money online?

What are your plans for the future?