The New Boomerang Workers: Rehired Retirees...

How to go back to work in retirement where you had a full-time job   You’ve no doubt heard about boomerang kids who return to their parents’ homes in their 20s (maybe you have one). But there’s a growing group of boomerangers who are typically in their 60s: retirees who return to work part-time or on a contract basis at the same employers where they formerly had full-time jobs. If you’ll be looking for work during retirement, you might want to consider avoiding a job search and becoming one. Employers That Rehire Their Retirees A handful of employers have formal programs to rehire their retirees. The one at Aerospace Corp., which provides technical analysis and assessments for national security and commercial space programs, is called Retiree Casual. The company’s roughly 3,700 employees are mostly engineers, scientists and technicians, and Aerospace is glad to bring back some who’ve retired. “With all the knowledge these people have, we get to call on them for their expertise,” says Charlotte Lazar-Morrison, general manager of human resources at Aerospace, which is based in El Segundo, Calif. “The casuals are part of our culture.” The roughly 300 Aerospace casuals (love that term, don’t you?) can work up to 1,000 hours a year and don’t accrue any more benefits (the company’s retirees already get health insurance). Most earn the salary they did before, pro-rated to their part-time status, of course. Why Aerospace Corp. Brings Back ‘Casuals’ The “casuals” program lets Aerospace management have a kind of just-in-time staffing system. “It allows us to us to keep people at the ready when we need them,” says Lazar-Morrison. Ronald Thompson joined Aerospace’s casuals in 2002, after retiring at age 64. He’d worked for the company full-time since 1964,...

What It Takes to Turn Your Passion Into a Career...

Enthusiasm isn’t enough. Follow these tips from the author of ‘What Is Your What?’ (The following is an adaptation from What Is Your WHAT?, the new New York Times bestseller by Steve Olsher. You can now get a free copy of the book at the What Is Your WHAT? website.) We’re often told that if we pursue our passion and do what we love as a career, we will — to quote Confucius — never have to work a day in our life. And let’s not forget Oprah who popularized the phrase: “Do what you love and the money will follow.” In theory, pursuing your passion as a career should be easy, effortless and create a monetary nirvana where income flows and happiness prevails. Reality, however, demonstrates that few who follow such advice will ever reach their desired destination. When Passion-Following Turns Sour It seems like a dirty trick. We’re encouraged to chase the carrot and before we know it, we’re miles down the rabbit hole with nothing to show for our efforts but mountains of debt that may take decades to repay. Consider the countless examples of those who quit their day jobs to pursue passion-related opportunities (cupcakes anyone?) only to end up emotionally, spiritually, and financially drained. When you throw in the harsh realities of capitalism, the happy-go-lucky “if you build it, they will come” rhetoric is a blatant disservice to those who lack clarity on the elements truly needed to bring their anticipated utopia to fruition. Now, before the hate mail starts rolling in, I’m not saying passion isn’t important. I am saying that you need to focus on cultivating a sustainable career… not merely engaging in a hobby. Creating a flourishing existence that provides a...

Federal Agency Jobs Just for People 55+...

These two programs specifically want older workers to fill their openings Gary Olson put in 32 years as an analytical chemist at Kodak in Rochester, N.Y., including stints in R&D and on digital innovations. “I had a great career there,” Olson says. “I was never bored.” But worn down by Kodak’s constant restructuring and layoffs, in January 2002, at 56, Olson took a generous buyout offer. He and his wife moved to Seattle, Wash. to be closer to their daughter and her family and Olson kicked back for a few years. In 2005, he spotted a Craigslist job posting by the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging for a “senior environmental employee” at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Senior Environmental Employment Program and position were reserved for workers 55 and older. Intrigued, he applied. “I wasn’t going to do what I did for more than 30 years,” says Olson. “I wanted to do something different.” He got the job. The 2 Programs for Workers 55+ Ever heard of the EPA’s Senior Environmental Employment Program, which has been around for 31 years? How about the comparable, seven-year-old Agriculture Conservation Experienced Services Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture? I hadn’t. These jobs are specifically designed to tap into the experience of boomers, yet not once in interviews for my Next Avenue column on job opportunities for people in their 50s and 60s did these programs or ones like them come up. (The idea for this column came from my editor who learned about them at the American Society on Aging’s recent Aging in America Conference. ) “Older workers are a largely untapped resource,” says Gregory Merrill, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Older Worker Career Center,...

Why I’m Not Buying the Retirement Gloom...

In the emerging Unretirement movement, you are your best investment Gray wave. Age wave. Geezer tsunami. (Pick your favorite — or most hated — euphemism.) Catchphrases like these capture the realization that we’re living longer and that older Americans make up a growing share of the population. As economist Laurence Kotlikoff and columnist Scott Burns say in The Coming Generational Storm: “The aging of America isn’t a temporary event. We are well into a change that is permanent, irreversible, and very long term.” Living longer should be a trend worth celebrating. But many people believe that America’s boomers can’t afford retirement, let alone a decent retirement. They fear that aging boomers are inevitably hurtling toward a lower standard of living. And here’s their evidence: We’ve just been through the worst downturn since the 1930s, decimating jobs and pensions. Retirement savings are slim. Surveys show that boomers aren’t spending much time planning for retirement. The prediction that the swelling tab for Social Security and other old-age entitlements will push the U.S. government and economy into a Greece-like collapse seems almost routine. The Unretirement Movement Don’t buy into the retirement gloom. I’m not. Here’s why: The signs of a grassroots push to reinvent the last third of life are unmistakable. Call it the “Unretirement” movement — and it is a movement. Unretirement starts with the insight that earning a paycheck well into the traditional retirement years will make a huge difference in our future living standards. You — and your skills and talents — are your best retirement investment. What’s more, if society taps into the talents and abilities of sixty-somethings and seventy-somethings, employers will benefit, the economy will be wealthier and funding entitlements will be much easier. The Unretirement movement...

When Does It Pay to Go Back to School in Midlife?...

Getting a degree or certificate won’t guarantee a job. Here’s what you need to know to increase your chances of finding new work. I suspect many Americans in their 50s and 60s are considering going back to school to improve their career prospects. After all, getting additional education in midlife — whether it’s a bachelors degree, a masters or a certificate — can be an excellent way to move into a new career, earn a promotion or make more money. But college isn’t cheap and there’s no guarantee that further schooling will lead to a new job or fatten your paycheck. So when does it pay to go back to school after age 50 or so? A Midlife Degree Is No Job Guarantee I got to thinking about this issue after my editor forwarded me an email from a distraught 59-year-old Next Avenue reader. She couldn’t find a job after picking up a bachelor’s degree in social work because employers said she lacked the necessary experience. That’s an all too common chicken-and-egg predicament faced by many new, older graduates: You need relevant experience to get a new job, but you need a job to gain relevant experience. If going back to school, either for a degree or a certificate, is something you’re thinking about, here are three considerations for choosing a program wisely, plus two tips to help you find a job after completing your studies: How to Select a Back-to-School Program Research employment rates for new graduates. There was a time when pretty much any college degree was a ticket to a new job. But those days are long gone. According to “Hard Times, College Majors, Unemployment and Earnings 2013,” a study just released by the Georgetown University...

Housesitting: A Fun Way to Travel the World on a Dime...

Here’s how it works and what to watch out for When boomers want to escape the 9-to-5 workplace grind and the demands of caregiving for parents and/or kids wane, many dream of traveling. A recent survey found that 59 percent of retirees look forward to exploring new places during the second part of their lives. But people soon realize the cost of traveling for extended periods can be daunting, especially when living on a reduced income. That’s why housesitting has become an increasingly popular way to live away from home without the steep pricetag. What is Housesitting? Housesitting entails taking care of someone else’s property (and possibly their pets) in exchange for your stay. In the past, it typically took the form of informal arrangements between people who knew each other. Less commonly, individuals or couples were hired by professional agencies that employ housesitters at a salary, usually for long periods of time. Over the past decade, though, technology has spawned a new model of unpaid housesitting, with websites connecting homeowners and potential sitters for jobs lasting weeks or months at a time. This peer-to-peer model is part of the same “sharing economy” that laid the foundation for successful businesses such as Uber and Airbnb. Retirees are leading the pack among housesitting-site users. The sites are also popular with people who are semi-retired or have location-independent (portable) careers. “Without a doubt, other housesitting networks would agree that ‘silver surfers’ are a trusted mainstay of our customer base,” says Lamia Walker, founder of HouseSitMatch.com. Why Housesitting Isn’t Entirely Free Housesitting isn’t a totally free ride. While it can offer substantial savings on accommodations, housesitters still must pay for their food, airfare and transportation costs. Since it can be difficult to...

Second Career? They’re on Their Third and Fourth...

You, too, just might have a succession of encore careers Most of my boomer friends tell their adult children to plan on multiple jobs and careers. The era of corporate loyalty and the organization man and woman is long gone, they (and I) say — due to a hypercompetitive global economy and their likely desire to embrace new opportunities throughout their work lives. Good advice. But boomers ought to heed this insight, too, embracing multiple acts during the second half of life. I think you shouldn’t just plan on a second career, but maybe a third or a fourth. Linda Lyman: On Her Third Career That’s also what Linda Lyman told me with a smile when we met at a Phoenix breakfast event for UMOM, a nonprofit helping families break the cycle of homelessness. She’s exploring her third career in what I call Unretirement (also the title of my new book on the trend). Lyman moved to Phoenix 31 years ago, eventually managing legal services for a land developer. On the 17th anniversary at this job, a colleague congratulated her and asked: “What will you do for the next 17 years?” The thought of spending another 17 years at one place jolted Lyman, then 46. “I have to get out of here,” she thought. “I am going to do something more meaningful.” Lyman next began working at a small nonprofit that mentored at-risk kids, New Pathways for Youth, and ran the group successfully for a decade. She loved the work, but decided it was time to “retire” earlier this year. “Ten years is a long time,” Lyman says. “I needed to have more life balance. I left on my own terms. It’s good.” Now Lyman, 58, is eager to...

Convincing an Interviewer You Want to Downshift...

To snag a position with less stress, take these three steps If you’re nearing retirement, you might be thinking about finding a less demanding job with a better work-life balance: One with fewer hours, less responsibility or reduced travel demands. But when you’re ready to apply for a less-stress job for less pay, how do you communicate that effectively to potential employers? More to the point, how do you do so without seeming like you’ve lost your competitive drive? It’s a challenging situation. We are taught to approach the career ladder as a forward climb — one that leads progressively upwards to positions of greater status, pay and responsibility. But when you reverse direction and want to take a step downwards, employers tend to react with skepticism. They worry that downshifting is code for “tired and checked out.” (It doesn’t help that a Gallup survey last year found that workers in their 50s and 60s are America’s least engaged.) And they fear that if you accept a lesser role than the one you just had, you’ll be bored and leave when a better opportunity arises. Given these concerns, the key to convincing an employer to let you downshift is to do three things: Reformat your job search materials — resumé, LinkedIn Profile and cover letter — to be in alignment with your desired job. Target employers and industries that are receptive to midlife career changers and flexible work schedules. Prepare yourself to effectively address the employer’s concerns during the interview process. Now, let’s take a closer look at each of these “must-do” strategies: Reformat Your Job Search Materials If you want employers to take your request to downshift seriously, you need to edit your resumé and LinkedIn profile so...