Work-til-you-drop America

[Carl Remick <carlremick@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

[The NY Times propaganda mill is working overtime getting folks used to the
idea that the postwar "Golden Years" concept of retirement -- which, all of
a sudden, is being described as not just economically unrealistic but also
emotionally stultifying -- is obsolete.  People will now have to work until
they're dead, but as one beaming expert tells the Times, old folks will now
have "the freedom to work in new fields."  Can't wait; I'm practicing
already:  Welcome to Wal-Mart!]

March 6, 2005
RETIREMENT IDEAL

The Late, Great 'Golden Years'

By STEVE LOHR

... Though there was always a bit of Madison Avenue mythologizing to that
vision, the "golden years" have been real and attainable for two generations
of Americans, those born roughly from 1900 to 1945. Yet for people now in
their 50's and younger, what once seemed to be a permanent new feature of
the American dream appears to be rapidly receding.

Were the golden years ever a sustainable concept for American retirement -
and will we miss them when they are gone? ...

[In a word, no.]

... the baby boomers are ... shunning the golden-years notion of retirement
as an endless vacation. Surveys by AARP and other organizations are finding
that up to 80 percent of boomers plan to do some sort of paid work into
their 70's. They see continued participation in the work force as a way to
help them stay mentally sharp and socially engaged, as well as financially
more secure.

"The 'golden years' was a brilliant marketing strategy, and a model of
retirement that appealed to a lot of people for a long time, but it no
longer works economically or socially," observed Marc Freedman, president of
Civic Ventures, a nonprofit group that tries to make it easier for older
Americans to work in their communities.

Today's retirees are a diverse group, 40 million people of varying ages,
incomes and levels of activity. But there are signs that many of them, too,
find conventional retirement unsatisfying.

"A life of leisure for most people is boring," said Ken Dychtwald, a
marketing and strategy consultant on aging, who advises corporations and
governments. One symptom that Mr. Dychtwald cited: Retired Americans watch
an average of 43 hours of television a week - akin to a full-time job.
"Traditional retirement has proved to be a failed experiment," he said. ...

<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/06/weekinreview/06lohr.html>

OK everbody, back to work -- chop-chop.

Carl