{"id":5616,"date":"2016-06-12T08:14:50","date_gmt":"2016-06-12T12:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=5616"},"modified":"2016-06-12T08:14:50","modified_gmt":"2016-06-12T12:14:50","slug":"retiring-work-a-little-play-a-little-a-new-retirement-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=5616","title":{"rendered":"Retiring: Work a Little, Play a Little: A New Retirement Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"the-new-york-times<\/a>SINCE Dane Peters retired three years ago as head of school at Brooklyn Heights Montessori School in Brooklyn, he has fused a life of consulting, volunteering and leisure time. \u201cIt\u2019s my trifecta,\u201d he said. \u201cPaid work, giving back and relaxation. I call it \u2018consulteering.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Mr. Peters, who is 68, a growing number of retirees are seeking a similar equilibrium. \u201cMy hunch is that we\u2019ll be seeing more of \u2018consulteering,\u2019\u201d said Dorian Mintzer<\/a>, a retirement transition coach. \u201cIt\u2019s a great way to fit work into life rather than trying to squeeze time for life into your work schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Mintzer\u2019s clients, she said, are \u201cintentional in figuring out what\u2019s next \u2014 realizing they benefit from some work structure and want to build social connection, mental engagement and meaning into their life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even after stepping away from a full-time job, for many \u201cretirees,\u201d work is still their primary identity. \u201cIt\u2019s an important part of how they define themselves, and they don\u2019t want to totally give it up,\u201d Ms. Mintzer said. \u201cBut they want to create their own hours and have time for other things that matter to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The interest in consulteering \u2014 a word Mr. Peters said he thought up on his own \u2014 is one sign among many that traditional retirement no longer satisfies as many older people as it once did. A recent study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that fewer older Americans say they\u2019re having a great time during retirement.<\/p>\n

Based on a 15-year period of data from the University of Michigan\u2019s Health and Retirement Study, the most comprehensive national survey of older Americans, the share of people reporting \u201cvery satisfying\u201d retirements dropped significantly from just over 60 percent in 1998 to under 49 percent in 2012.<\/p>\n

Read column on The New York Times<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Staving off retirement blues takes preparation. The first step for Mr. Peters and his wife, Chris, a retired teacher, was to move closer to family. They relocated to Greenland, N.H., to live near their son and daughter-in-law and their two young granddaughters, ages 3 and 5.
\nIt wasn\u2019t a rash move. They rented for a year. \u201cWe wanted to get a lay of the land and not disrupt our son and his family\u2019s life, and at the same time find a place we could afford,\u201d Mr. Peters said.<\/p>\n

Consulting allowed him to look for work from his new home. \u201cI did not want to stop working altogether for my own sense of self, and I wanted to stay in the game and support independent schools with my expertise in leadership and governance,\u201d he said. \u201cYet, I didn\u2019t want to keep up the pace of a 70-hour workweek.\u201d<\/p>\n

To test the waters, he accepted weekend consulting assignments before retiring. \u201cThere was a demand, so now I pick and choose when I work \u2014 generally one job a month,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Dane<\/a>
Dane and Christine Peters at Senior Moments performance. Photo courtesy of Dane Peters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After moving to Greenland, Mr. and Mrs. Peters began volunteering together for an acting troupe called Senior Moments, a nonprofit performance group. The group writes its own plays and short skits, and performs them throughout New Hampshire at senior centers. \u201cMy wife and I are the young kids in the group,\u201d Mr. Peters said. \u201cThe guy who runs it is 84.\u201d<\/p>\n

To further engage in their interest in theater, they usher at a local music hall and the Seacoast Repertory Theater, and sell concessions. \u201cI make a lot of popcorn,\u201d Mr. Peters said.<\/p>\n

He also serves as a board member at a handful of small nonprofits.<\/p>\n

The third leg of the stool is family and leisure. Dane and Chris Peters care for their granddaughters two days a week before and after school. This year, they have already traveled to San Miguel, Mexico, and have booked an Alaskan cruise and a biking and barge tour in France.<\/p>\n

To keep in shape for all of these activities, Mr. Peters says he typically cycles nine miles a day. \u201cFitness is a big piece of retirement for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

What it all comes down to is \u201cbalancing a life of leisure with a life of purpose,\u201d Mr. Peters said. \u201cThe biggest challenge is time management. The management comes in how many gigs I will take on and how much volunteering we can realistically do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, Ann Seltz, 66, who lives in Rockville, Md., keeps a tight rein on her paid work in retirement, limiting it to an average of 25 hours a week, so she has time for her volunteer work and other activities.<\/p>\n

Ms. Seltz sings in a Sweet Adelines barbershop group that performs locally, competes regionally and includes a regular exercise program of yoga, walking and aqua fitness. \u201cMy mission is to keep moving and stay active mentally, so I don\u2019t become some fat, old woman with a cane,\u201d Ms. Seltz said. \u201cYou need to be intentional about taking care of yourself. You have to plan how you want to spend these years. You can\u2019t just drift.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the transition took time. \u201cI loved my last full-time job,\u201d recalled Ms. Seltz, a former vice president of marketing. \u201cIt was a fast-moving, hard-charging media company covering the residential design and construction field, and there was always a new impossible challenge or revenue number to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then it all fell apart. Roughly six years ago, Ms. Seltz was let go \u2014 a circumstance faced by many older workers. \u201cI was expensive upper management in a collapsing residential construction world,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI was laid off one day, given a pretty generous severance and sent on my way.\u201d<\/p>\n

A sizable 60 percent of retirees surveyed last year by the nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies said they were pushed out of their jobs before age 65, largely for reasons out of their control, according to Catherine Collinson, president of T.C.R.S.<\/p>\n

After bouncing around in a few short-term positions, Ms. Seltz decided to set up her own shingle, starting SeltzSolutions.com, <\/a>a marketing-consulting practice. To land assignments, she tapped FlexProfessionals, an employment agency in Washington and Boston that matches experienced professionals with part-time employment. Her hourly rate was about a third of what it would have been for project management and marketing assignments at the top of her game, she figured.
\nFor Ms. Seltz, lowering her wage bar wasn\u2019t a stumbling block. \u201cI\u2019ve come to see work as something that funds my real passion \u2014 volunteering,\u201d she said. \u201cIn fact, what kept me from falling into depression when my \u2018real\u2019 career blew up was my volunteer work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gwenn\"<\/a>
Gwenn Rosener, co-founder FlexProfessionals. Photo Courtesy of Gwenn Rosener<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not all retirees are willing to work for less than they feel they\u2019re worth. That is often a mistake. \u201cThey have unrealistic expectations for pay and responsibility, especially for part-time positions,\u201d said Gwenn Rosener, co-founder of FlexProfessionals<\/a>.
\n\u201cThis stems from justified pride in their expertise, but it significantly limits the landscape of positions that can meet those expectations,\u201d she said. Moreover, many semi-retirees \u201chave a sense that the world is their oyster and that the second act is about pursuing a dream, or trying something new,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmployers don\u2019t want to be part of an experiment,\u201d said Ms. Rosener, who explained that uncertainty does not fly well with employers who are looking for commitment and focus. \u201cIf you\u2019re not certain what your second act is,\u201d she said, \u201cfind ways to explore and test your ideas through volunteer work, job shadowing and classes before pursuing real employment.\u201d<\/p>\n

By KERRY HANNON<\/a><\/p>\n

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