Tag: retirement

Keep Beginning Again

“Working keeps my mind sharp and my body agile”

By Guest Blogger Wanda S. Lloyd

“My mom doesn’t know how to retire.”

Those are the words of my millennial daughter, Shelby, who frequently tells people that her Baby Boomer generation mother is in her third career. 

Perhaps we Boomers took a lesson from actress Betty White, who once said: ““Retirement is not in my vocabulary. They aren’t going to get rid of me that way.” White lived up to her own prediction by performing well into her 90s.

Like many in my generation, after officially “retiring” in 2013 as an editor in seven daily newspaper newsrooms, I kept working. I became a professor, an author, an essayist and opinion writer, podcaster and a community volunteer.

Working long and hard was ingrained in the professional corps of my generation. And now, Based on a recent survey, it seems like the work-until-forever trend may be the case with the Gen Z generation, those who are behind the Baby Boomers – albeit for a different reason. 

In April 2024, AARP reported that 20% of adults ages 50+ have no retirement savings, and more than half (61%) are worried they will not have enough money to support themselves in retirement. 

The parents of my Boomer generation worked for what now seem like unreasonably small wages, yet they were able to sustain households. The elders in my family, those whose health allowed them to live long enough to enjoy the fruits of their labor, used their relatively comfortable pensions and meager Social Security checks to enjoy hobbies, church activities and time with family. My elders didn’t seem to covet working after retirement. 

Not me. Now in my mid-70s, I believe working keeps my mind sharp and my body agile. After I left my first career, I didn’t look forward to hobbies, and after decades of work-related travel I had little thirst for long vacations. My years as a newsroom leader were full of exciting challenges — hiring great staff, developing talent, the demands of breaking news and daily deadlines. 

No day was like the day before. That’s the pace I kept, yet I knew it would be difficult to totally pump the brakes just because I was no longer working in newsrooms. I knew it was time to redefine myself professionally.

These days I encounter quite a few other retirees who have transitioned from one hard-working career to the next, some of them still earning money and some simply enjoying the satisfaction of volunteering. 

After departing my last newsroom, the Montgomery Advertiser in Alabama, I stepped into the role as a university department chair and professor, landing back in the coastal Georgia hometown that I departed 45 years before. Then a few years later I decided to step away from academia, and I began my non-fiction writing career, which included two books published in 2020, followed by  a COVID-inspired virtual book tour. These days I am a lecturer and moderator on  topics of great interest to me. And I continue to  mentor the next generation of journalists and aspiring authors. 

For those who may be approaching retirement and wondering how to adapt to the next chapter of life, here are some insights from my experience.

  • Give yourself time to figure out the next step. When you officially “retire” you may first be overwhelmed with calls for opportunities to volunteer, lead projects, join boards or get involved with someone else’s projects. Take some time to rest, clean out your closets or plant a garden – whatever gives you pleasure as you ponder your next chapter.
  • Dress for a different kind of success. Speaking of cleaning closets, one of the things I discovered is that I had way too many professional clothes and not enough casual stuff. Grocery shopping in the middle of the day dressed in business casual attire was not cool. My advice: set aside a small budget for more casual stuff; find a consignment store or donate much of your professional wardrobe. Hard-working, cash-strapped GenX or millennial workers may appreciate the value of your recycled items. 
  • Go for long walks (especially if you have a dog). I discovered that walks with my Bella are therapeutic and a great opportunity to meet neighbors, enjoy the changing seasons and think about life’s next steps. And, I found that some of my best writing ideas come to me while walking.
  • Find a new community. If you are antsy to get out of the house and enjoy social events, check out neighborhood websites or social media to see what’s going on around you. In my community, I joined The Learning Center, where members enjoy lectures and programs that enhance our knowledge of our community, the humanities and culture in the company of other active senior citizens. Many new friendships have been developed at the center.
  • Maintain career connections. Stay in touch with former  career colleagues, especially those who are also retired or retiring soon. And make yourself available to mentor young people who aspire to grow in your career field. Young people need the wisdom of our experiences.

One lesson I learned about retirement was from TV personality Fred Rogers, who recorded “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” until he was 72 years old. He said this about working life: “Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.”

Embrace that as you look for your own next beginning.

Photo credit: Jamie Weaver

Wanda Lloyd, an editor who worked at The Washington Post, USA Today and five other daily newspapers, is the author of COMING FULL CIRCLE: From Jim Crow to Journalism, and she is co-editor of MEETING AT THE TABLE: African-American Women Write on Race, Culture and Community.

Her Story: How I’ve Redefined Retirement

 “Aha! It’s not about the other side of work…just a continuum of life’s journey.”

By Guest Blogger Iris E. Holliday

In May 2016 I retired from a 27-year fulfilling career of corporate philanthropy and community engagement, and from a work life that had spanned nearly 45 years.

I had been practicing for this significant change for a few years, like a doodler, as the birthdays went by. It became an obsession to see how many words began with “re-” as in the word “retirement.” All said, I amassed over 100! These included re-invent, refresh, reverb, regain and recalibrate. I was struck by their positivity in contrast with the word retirement…as in final, the finale, end, terminus.

The work ethic is strong within me, forged by loving parents – a conscientious father and a precise, efficient and maybe perfectionist mother. So to retire has been alternately exhilarating and excruciating.

While I had a loose plan for my time in this part of my life, I did not have a Gant Chart or dot-by-dot picture.

I have tossed the business cards and replaced them with a Twitter account. I’ve turned once-infrequent business lunches with colleagues who became friends into opportunities for leisurely discourse. The talks are no longer dictated by work etiquette and can be both politics and prose. It’s all on the table. The language can be colorful and candid. After all, I am only representing me!

So what does this new, no phase- or chapter-labeled retirement look like? I still have a stack of curated retirement planning books, articles and listing of websites to review, and I am still pursuing personal goals. Some days it’s like a staycation or sabbatical. Other days, it is an endless quest to cram in as much living and learning into 24 hours as I humanly can.

Many years ago I realized that it is not age that terrorizes me, but the state of irrelevancy. The cure for this is not in a jar of designer wrinkle-reduction cream, but in the endless embrace of knowledge, connecting with people where there is dynamic chemistry, in daily gratitude for family and those whose spirits abide in our hearts, and in our power to empathize and commit to serve others with what God has given us in resources.

This new world is vastly uncharted. It is kind of a “choose your own adventure” era. At this point, I can redefine myself on any terms that I’d like.

Each day is an affirmation of worth and grace, both of which include a rich work life – then and now. There is no “other” side of work, unless I say so. Aging is part of this plane. The relevancy is in my court. And I have hit hard the re-set button as part of my continuum on life’s journey.

Iris Holliday is a third generation Washingtonian (Washington D.C.), a Cruzan (St. Croix) and Hoosier (Indiana), and both a Howard University University Bison and VCU Ram. Her career in public relations spans 35-plus years. Now, retired from Dominion Energy (formerly Dominion Resources), Iris counts philanthropy and government-, media- and community relations in her portfolio. During her career, she advanced the reputations of government entities, corporations and nonprofits, including for the 10th Pan American Games in Indianapolis and as director of corporate philanthropy and community partnerships with Dominion prior to retiring in 2016. Because she lives by the Sufi saying: “Some people go to a beautiful place, others go to make a place beautiful,” community engagement through volunteerism is a key part of her life. In this vein, she was chairperson of the Children’s Museum of Richmond Board of Directors and served on the Community Foundation of Greater Richmond and the Jenkins Foundation Board of Trustees. Currently pursuing a certification in Museum Studies, she is interested in opportunities to knit public relations with the museum field. She recently accepted an internship with the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia and is assisting with collections management.