Rx for Retirement: Boomer's Guide to Surviving Downsizing

By Sandra W. Evans

Recent events have upset the apple cart of the baby boomer generation. In 2009 through 2012 millions of people lost their jobs in a very short period of time. As there were very few jobs available, among the hardest hit were the older workers nearing their retirement years. The baby boomers thought that they had plenty of time to plan their retirement and did not anticipate being downsized from their job at this late stage of their career. Rx for Retirement: Boomer’s Guide to Surviving Downsizing confronts the many issues that the baby boomers face and helps them deal with the new paradigms as they chart a path into the unfamiliar territory of retirement. It is the time to let your imagination take hold of thoughts and ideas for the retirement life that you worked your whole life to achieve.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9780977776122

Sandra W. Evans

Sandra W. Evans has more than twenty-five years of experience in corporate financial and general management at major corporations and nonprofit organizations. She holds an MBA and is also the author of Rx for Business: Qualitivity.

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Author

Introduction

Losing Your Safety Net

… you thought that you had plenty of time to plan your retirement.

Losing Your Safety Net

Old and New Paradigms

Much has happened in the past two years that has upset the apple cart of the baby boomer generation. From 2009 through 2012 millions of people lost their jobs in a very short period of time. The Wall Street Journal said that there were 22 million people out of work at the end of 2012. During this three-year period, there were very few jobs available, so the hardest hit were the older workers nearing their retirement years. You know because you or someone you know is still reeling from losing their safety net.

You heard that it was happening but it was always other people losing their jobs. Now it’s you. You ask yourself, What am I going to do? It doesn’t help that you just heard another news commentator say, The baby boomers are the most educated, healthiest, wealthiest generation ever. You are thinking, "They must be kidding!"

Just a few months ago, you thought you had plenty of time to plan your retirement. You did not anticipate losing your job at this late stage of your career. You still feel that you are at the prime of your life. Rx for Retirement: The Boomer’s Guide to Surviving Downsizing confronts the many issues that you will face in the months ahead and helps you deal with the old and new paradigms as you chart your path into the unfamiliar territory of forced retirement.

Retirement Zone

The boomer’s guide introduces the retirement zone, illustrating the life-long journey that brought you to this pinnacle point in your life. The retirement zone is about the cycle of life and the many transitions that you make from childhood, adolescence, adulthood and middle age into your retirement years. The cycle of life balances yesterday with today.

When you reach the retirement zone, you have already been through a number of zones and transition periods in your life. You may not have realized it, but there were hurdles to jump and obstacles to overcome in each zone and transition period of your life. The following table illustrates the different periods of your life and your identity in each:

You will note that there is another level after retirement to consider as you weigh your current level. You may feel more comfortable knowing that there is a level after retirement. This one additional transition is provided so you can contemplate and plan for the full span of your senior years.

Cycle of Life

It is important to master the intricacies and milestones of each zone and transition level over your lifetime--childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age, retirement and golden age--in order to move successfully through the cycle of life. Once the retirement zone is reached, it requires that you make a successful transition in order to enjoy your retirement years. The following illustrates what you learn and achieve in each zone and transition:

Childhood

Dependent

Attachments

Parents

Siblings

Skill building

Adolescence

Independent

Values

Morals

Beliefs

Spiritual

Relationships

Family

Friends

Peers

Adulthood

Independent

Marriage

Support

Emotional

Physical

Social

Financial

Parenting

Middle age

Educating

Empty nest

Health

Exercise

Nutrition

Retirement

Security

Diet & fitness

Happiness

Social network

Relationships

Family

Friends

Golden Age

Health

Quality of life

Extra luxuries

Comfort

Well-earned rest

As you will note from the six periods in the cycle of life, each is a building block for the next cycle. It is significant to realize that aging starts at birth. In the first zone, childhood, you begin to build your characteristics such as attachments and skills. Then, you go through adolescence and adulthood and peak in your mid-twenties. As you move from adulthood to middle age, there are visible signs of the aging process in your eyesight, graying of hair and loss of collagen in the skin. You are less resilient to lifestyle behaviors that can do more harm as you get older.

There may be obstacles along the path of life that affect passage from one zone and transition to the next. You begin to understand how your past influences your future in each zone. There may be situations such as illness, relationship or family problems, financial problems and events that have a negative impact in one or more cycles.

If you do not master a skill or milestone in one zone, you still move to the next phase of the cycle, but you may experience difficulty with some elements and future transitions. Like you did in prior cycles, this requires that you tighten your seat belt and get moving on a plan that compensates for the lost planning time. This is where you draw on all your past experiences to get you through this transition. Your experiences help you make the current decisions about today, tomorrow and the future.

Hierarchy of Needs

A number of your basic needs have been threatened that impact the very foundation of your life. Abraham Maslow concluded, in his Hierarchy of Needs, published in A Theory of Human Motivation,i that there is a hierarchy or levels to our basic needs. Maslow believed that each need in the hierarchy must be satisfied before moving to the next level. You are missing a set of key elements in the transition into retirement.

When you were downsized into retirement, this represented a major obstacle with many challenges to what may have been an easy transition into retirement. This partially explains why losing your job near your retirement zone can be so debilitating. You missed a number of steps for an easy transition from middle age to retirement. The following hierarchal building blocks are the key to navigating in the retirement zone:

Physiological – biological

Personal security – survival

Financial security – safety

Self-Esteem – love, belonging

Well-being - health

Self-actualization – fulfillment

During your lifetime, you actually go through the hierarchy of needs at least three times. During childhood and adolescence, your parents are responsible for helping you satisfy each of these needs. During adulthood and middle age, you have responsibility for satisfying each of these needs to the best of your ability. As you enter retirement, you must once again satisfy each of these needs. In the coming retirement zone building blocks you will explore each of these basic needs and learn how to overcome or compensate for the one or ones causing the greatest obstacles for you. As you navigate your way into and through the retirement zone, you will slowly overcome the obstacles standing in your way.

Survival