Working Retired

There are only a few magic numbers in American civic life. You can vote (and get drafted) at age 18.You can drink at 21.You can become president at 35. You can retire at 65.But on that last one-do Americans really want to? Now that so many Americans are living healthfully until 85, fewer and fewer actually retire at 65. Today there are 5 million people 65 or older in the U.S. labor force, almost twice what there were in the early 1980s.And that number is about to explode.

Some people are working past 65 because they have to: Health care costs are rising, and Social Security payments-at an average of about $1,000 a month-don't cover what they used to. But the bigger trend in Senior Work is the fact that Americans love- and now that we're living longer, we want to work longer too. We just can't get enough. My friend and mentor Harold Burson, the co-founder of the global PR firm Burson Marsteller, where I am CEO, just turned 86, and comes to work every day, bursting with ideas.

On average, Americans work over 1,800 hours per year, substantially more than most workers around the world. Although we get fewer vacation days per year than other Western countries (13 days, compared to 28 in the UK, and 37 in France), we let more than twice as many go unused. And really, what’s a vacation to us these days without our Blackberry? In 2006, almost a quarter of us (23%) checked our work e-mail and voice mail while away-up from just 16% in 2005. A lot of us love to work.

In fact, the impulse to work is so basic that the Fourth Commandment is to take off one day a week. Not working for a day is right up there with not murdering, not committing adultery, and not stealing. We tend to assume that most people want off-waiting all week for the Friday afternoon whistle so they can stream out of work. To be sure, many jobs are terrible- even life-threatening- and people reasonably can't wait to get home. But as work overall has become more managerial, consulting, and software-oriented-and as manufacturing jobs have been on the decline-a lot of people have changed their attitude toward work, and the number of workaholics has skyrocketed. How many times have you heard the old saying that no one ever lay on his deathbed wishing he had spent more time at the office? And yet, a lot of people are doing just that. The sandwich generation is going to be in for a shock when they call their 70-year old parents at the office and find they are just too busy to babysit their grandkids.

Add to America's general obsession with work the fact that it is now the baby boomer generation who is nearing 65, and it becomes clear that the traditional idea of "retirement"-with its gold watch, rocking chair, and golf course- is just about ready for retirement itself.Boomers reinvented youth in the 1960s and economic success in the 1980s; they are not to do their senior years by someone else's formula. According to a 2005 survey by Merrill Lynch, more than 3 in 4 boomers say they have no intention of seeking a traditional retirement. Rather they look ahead to their 20 more years (when Social Security was created in 1935,a 65 year old could expect just 13 more years) and they say Bring It On. Some want to keep their health insurance, or have enough funds for the extra years- but more of the boomers surveyed said they wanted to keep working in order to stay mentally and physically active and to stay connected to people.

"Microtrends- the small forces behind tomorrow's big changes" Mark J. Penn (2007)
Hachette Book Group

Questions:

1. What do the magic numbers of 18, 21, 35 and 65 represent in American civic life?
18 is the age where one can vote or be drafted. One can drink at the age of 21, whereas the number 35 represents the age where a person can become the president. 65 is the age where one can retire.

2. Why do some people work past 65?
This is due to the fact that health care costs are rising, and Social Security payments-at an average of about $1,000 a month-don't cover what they used to. Above all, Americans love and want to work longer as they are living longer.

3. What does the phrase " bursting with ideas” when he comes to work at the age of 86 implies about Mr. Harold Burson?
Mr. Harold Burson is still working very hard and his mind is still in an active state despite his old age. To him, age is not the factor in determining when he should stop working.

4. Give examples to show that American employees are workaholics by choice?
Although the Americans get fewer vacation days per year than other Western countries (13 days, compared to 28 in the UK, and 37 in France), they let more than twice as many go unused. In 2006, almost a quarter of the Americans (23%) checked their work e-mail and voice mail while away-up from just 16% in 2005.

5. What is the tone of the writer when he mentions that "not working for a day is right up there with not murdering, not committing adultery and not stealing"?
Sarcarstic.

6. What example is given to show that the grandparents of the present generation do not fit with the traditional stereotypical image of grandparents in the past?
The sandwich generation’s 70-year old parents working at the office are just too busy to babysit their grandkids.

7. Explain in your own words the sentence “it becomes clear that the traditional idea of "retirement"-with its gold watch, rocking chair, and golf course-is just about ready for retirement itself."
The stereotypical idea of retirement is no longer applied to the workforce today and is on the brink of extinction as the workers prefer working for a longer time to seeking retirement.