{"id":4575,"date":"2015-05-21T11:26:27","date_gmt":"2015-05-21T15:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=4575"},"modified":"2015-05-21T11:26:27","modified_gmt":"2015-05-21T15:26:27","slug":"kerrys-oklahoma-conference-on-aging-speech-refire-vs-retire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=4575","title":{"rendered":"Kerry’s Oklahoma Conference On Aging Speech: Refire vs. Retire"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"images\"<\/a>NORMAN \u2014<\/span> The first person to approach AARP retirement expert Kerry Hannon after her speech Wednesday at the 40th annual Conference on Aging could serve as a poster child for her very topic: finding your passion and your dream job in a working retirement.<\/div>\n
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Bill Weaver, 77, worked 30 years in higher education, before becoming president of the Daily Living Centers adult daycare program in Oklahoma City some 23 years ago.<\/div>\n
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A native of McAlester, Weaver taught sociology at various schools, including at Bacone College in Muskogee and Florida Junior College in Jacksonville, Fla. After he was diagnosed with renal cancer, he moved to Hobbs, N.M., and worked as a night administrator for a college there, so he\u2019d live closer to M.D. Anderson where he received care for several years.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI thought I\u2019d only live another four or five years, and really wanted to do something before I died, and then the Daily Living Centers and I found each other,\u201d Weaver said. \u201cI tell people I\u2019ll retire someday, but what I\u2019m doing is too much fun,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Weaver is part of a growing trend of \u201cretirees,\u201d Hannon said, who move on to find encore careers, often with social meaning and purpose, like he did \u2014 or bridge jobs that offer greater flexibility without killer hours.<\/p>\n

A recent Transamerica survey of people 50 and older found most plan to work well beyond 65; one third say they\u2019ll never retire, she said.<\/p>\n

A former full-time journalist, Hannon, 54, said she left the conventional workplace 12 years ago to create her own \u201cpatchwork quilt\u201d of jobs, including speaker, expert and author. Her books include \u201cGreat Jobs for Everyone 50+\u201d and \u201cWhat\u2019s Next? Finding Your Passion and Your Dream Job in your Forties, Fifties, and Beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

On her nationwide book tours, Hannon met a former Navy pilot who redeployed as company manager for a traveling circus, something he always loved going to as a kid. Meanwhile, a former investment banker, after Sept. 11, moved from New York home to Pittsburgh, where he opened an Italian restaurant. To make sure it\u2019s what he wanted to do, he first moonlighted at several other Italian restaurants.<\/p>\n

Retirees, she said, might consider pursuing jobs that \u201cride the age wave,\u201d such as a patient advocate, massage therapist, driver or personal assistant for seniors. Or, they could start their own businesses, she said, possibly pairing with younger, more tech savvy partners.<\/p>\n

Hannon recommends seniors seek younger mentors to help them be nimble online. \u201cEmployers want to know if you\u2019re up to speed technically, and legitimately so,\u201d she said. Having a profile on LinkedIn.com shows employees you\u2019re adept,\u201d she said.Eighty-five percent of companies use LinkedIn to recruit, she said. \u201cPlus, it\u2019s good for networking,\u201d she said. \u201cEmployers hire people they know and people they know know.\u201dPerhaps most importantly, workers in retirement need to be physically and financially fit, Hannon said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou have to show employers you have the energy and stamina for the job,\u201d she said, \u201cAnd debt can be a real dream killer, if you need to make a certain salary or don\u2019t have the money to start a new business, where many initially pay themselves little or no salaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hannon\u2019s speech motivated Karen Jordan, 65, and Kathy Holman, 62, both of Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n

A registered nurse and nurse educator, Jordan is retiring July 1 from Oklahoma City Community College, and plans to work as a traveling part-time nurse so that she can see more of her grandchild in Phoenix and more of the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m retiring to get benefits and to have the flexibility to do what I want to do,\u201d Jordan said.<\/p>\n

A gerontologist, Holman plans to continue designing senior housing and teaching licensure classes for assisted living administrators. However, because she elected to start drawing her Social Security benefits in October when she turned 62, she\u2019s cutting back on her projects.<\/p>\n

At their full retirement age, which is 65 or older depending on birth year, retirees can earn as much as they want, without jeopardizing benefits. However, an annual earnings limit still applies to Social Security recipients 64 and younger. This year, it\u2019s $15,720; for every $2 earned above the limit, the Social Security Administration will withhold $1 in benefits.<\/p>\n

by Paula Burkes<\/span><\/a> <\/span>Published: May 10, 2015<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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