Jim Donovan, the Ageless Boomer

“Work hard, save your money, and when you retire you’ll be able to finally enjoy your life.”

Bull! Nonsense! No! No way! Nein! Nyet! Aniyo! Iie! Non!

If there was ever a misguided message given to people, this is it. Look at the absurdity of what we are told to believe and follow. You spend 25 or 30 years working in a job that you may or may not enjoy and save your money so that “someday” you can retire. While saving is sound advice, too many people take it to an extreme depriving themselves of life’s pleasures so they can squirrel away every extra cent to be enjoyed sometime in the future, which they may or may not ever live to see.

We are then told to put up with all this so we can “enjoy our retirement” which, for many people, who unknowingly bought in to this plan, means living on a meager savings and social security while occupying their time waiting for the mail to come. Is this living? I don’t think so.

The very idea of retirement is flawed at its core. For one thing it establishes that a time will come when you are of no monetary value to society and will not be able to earn a living so you better be prepared. The sad truth is that many older citizens, due to the advances of medicine, are outliving their savings and have to rely on family to support them. The US Department of Labor says that, by age 65, ninety three percent of the population requires help from family and loved ones just to make ends meet! I am a big believer in taking care of ones family, however, I also feel that we are all able and entitled to support ourselves.

One of the saddest things I’ve ever experienced was watching my father, in his twilight years, sit idly waiting for the mail to arrive each day. This was what his life had become.

It saddens me when I see older people using canes and walkers, especially since I know, in many cases, it could have been prevented. With the exception of accidents and injuries, the crippling effects of aging we see are the result of poor health choices, a sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise and most of all, the acceptance that this is a “normal” part of the aging process. It is not.

If you interview older people you will soon to begin to notice several characteristics they all share.

Something that has been demonstrated to me personally, and is shared by many active people in their 80’s and 90’s and even older, is that they continue to be engaged in careers that they enjoy or some other activity that keeps them occupied and gives them a feeling of contributing. They are engaged in volunteer work, a part-time endeavor, or even self-employment.

I’ll always remember Frank Krause, a former client of mine. When I first met Mr. Krause, I always addressed him that way, not so much because he cared but because it always seemed appropriate. He was in his early 80’s and was the owner of two businesses.

One day we drove in his car to mid-town Manhattan, in the heart of New York City to look at some trade show displays. I had been working with him in developing a trade show booth for one of his companies. When he parked the car at 53rd Street and 6th Avenue, I grabbed my attaché case and jumped out so that I could help him out of the car.

After all, he was over 80!

But when I got out and looked around for him, he was half a block down the street and I had to practically run to keep up with him. I realized right then and there that his boundless energy was in part due to his love for his business, and the fact that it gave him challenging experiences to look forward to each day. He also exercised several times a week and, of course, he ate sensibly, but it was his love for his work and the companies he’d built, that left him feeling connected and provided his “joie de vivre”

(Excerpt for the forthcoming book by Jim Donovan, “Don’t Let an Old Person Move Into Your Body”)