Next Step:Engaged Retirement & Encore Careers

People retiring today, whether voluntarily or through layoffs, can expect to live as long as 30-40 years in retirement. They are the most educated and healthiest group of retirees in history. This is also the first cohort to have large numbers of women retiring, especially managerial and professional women. Earlier generations of women were mostly homemakers.

Retirement is not the end, but rather the beginning of a new stage of life, and also may be the beginning of a whole new career, such as an encore job that give back to the community, or starting one’s own business. Some people may “retire” many times before they cease to work for income permanently.

However, retirement is a major life change.  Many people experience significant stress and even depression as a reaction to this change.  For women, it often means returning to the role of homemaker and (grand) child care.  Some welcome this role, while for many of the managerial and professional women, this is a role they previously rejected.

The transition is easier if some thought and planning is done before hand. Work provides certain benefits beyond remuneration: structure, status and identity, a sense of usefulness, social interaction. A satisfying retirement lifestyle will include activities that replace these work-related benefits. The following programs are available from the Princeton Senior Resource Center to help people make the transition to this new stage of their lives.

PROGRAMS FOR INDIVIDUALS

PSRC’s Engaged Retirement Programs are about lifestyle in retirement, not about financial planning.  Financial planning is the means to the end, not the end, which is a rewarding, satisfying next stage of life.
Introduction to Your Retirement This 90 minute workshop gives an overview of the many issues involved in lifestyle retirement planning and helps attendees begin to build their own plan.

Maximizing Your Volunteer Experience. How to find the right volunteer opportunity and make the most of It.  Volunteering at a nonprofit lets you make a difference in the community, but it can also expand your horizons, give you new skills and help you create new relationships. Learn how to connect to the many opportunities available and find the one(s) that will best meet your personal and professional goals. A joint program with VolunteerConnect, the volunteer center in the greater Mercer County area.

Engaged Retirement workshop This multi-session hands-on series helps attendees envision and plan the retirement of their own design.  Classes include presentations, readings, exercises, and discussions to help people identify their goals and develop a concrete plan for achieving those goals.

Engaged Retirement Speakers Series Monthly presentations by professionals in retirement and financial planning, civic engagement, making a mark on the world, and physical and mental well-being.

Job Search Strategies for Older Workers This is a new 90-minute program designed to meet a critical need in the community.   It addresses issues such as the changing structure of the job market, ageism in the job market, using the internet for job searches and networking, and avoiding job search scams on the internet.

Encore Careers: Doing Good While Doing Well Looking to combine passion, purpose and a paycheck in a second career or retirement job?  Find out how you can use your skills, knowledge and experience in an encore career in growth industries such as the education, health care, and environmental fields.

Time At Last — Navigating Retirement So much of our life and identity revolves around work. This monthly supportive group discusses  the joys, concerns and challenges of having extra time and making decisions about how to use it to create fulfillment. A joint program with the Robert Wood Johnson Health & Wellness Center, Hamilton.

The individual presentations,  Speaker Series and support group are offered free to the community at various venues in the area. There is a fee for the multisession workshop.
In addition, The Engaged Retirement & Encore Career Center partners with other organizations periodically to bring programs of interest to the community:

• Project Re-Employment is a program for displaced workers, with a goal of improving job search skills, building confidence and returning to the workforce as efficiently and as quickly as possible. This program is offered in conjunction with Jewish Family & Children’s Services.
• Build Your Own Business, a 10 week course for people considering starting their own business.

PROGRAMS FOR BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS

PSRC is available to partner with organizations to provide pre-retirement programs and services to their employees. Two programs are available:
Lunch & Learn workshop is a single session “Intro” to retirement.  It explores some of the major issues facing new retirees and some of the options available to them, including volunteering and encore careers.

Multi-session workshops in which attendees explore their attitudes toward retirement, work, aging and managing transitions; identify their hopes and dreams; research options for this stage of life; and develop a plan for achieving their dreams.  This five session program is offered periodically at  PSRC and is available for in house presentation in your company.
For more information about Engaged Retirement & Encore Careers programs, call Carol King or Susan Hoskins at the Princeton Senior Resource Center (609) 924-7108, or email cking@princetonsenior.org