Retirement As You Want It - 5 new articles

Did you know that vibrant, engaged people over age 50 are gathering once again for the National Positive Aging Conference in St. Pete's, Florida, co-sponsored by the Life Planning Network, and held on December 6-9? Of the many professional conferences I've attended in 30+ years, the 1st Conference held 2 years ago was stupendous. So, I'm expecting at least as many lively, inspirational experiences now as I did then. Here's the lineup:

If you have left your mid-years' career, or intend to do so soon, and wonder what you'll do to fill your hours with challenging, delightful, meaningful things, then check out the excerpts of all my past TV shows on YouTube. You'll be delighted to find short previews of people who've left Wall Street, corporate life, advertising, teaching, social work, and many other careers and have started something entirely new.

Some are "encore careering" for pay, some as a volunteer, some part-time, some entrepreneurial. But, some qualities are central to all these people. They are excited, invested, passionate, curious, open, receptive. They are engaged in their lives.

To the left (above) is Riva Berkovitz, who discovered macro-photography in her 70s. That's me on the right. Below to the left is Amy Lampert, who left Wall Street to start her own business "demystifying" investments for women and youth. And the image on the right was painted by former businessman turned artist, Fred Mandell, whose video clip will be up on YouTube very soon. 

Boomers are turning to elder caregiving as encore careers either by necessity as their parents become more dependent or by choice as they elect re-training in gerontology-related fields.

The Caregiving Project for Older Americans, the International Longevity Center - USA, and the Schmiedling Center for Senior Health and Education have teamed up to coordinate and disseminate information to recruit and train caregivers via community colleges all across the US.

Aside from hands-on care in elders' homes and facilities, what opportunities might arise to service the needs of this growing part of the population? A few come to my mind. Are any of these on your radar screen as you determine how you will earn income to supplement your diminished investments and savings after you leave your mid-careers?

The Osaka Silver Sisters, (see video) who were stars of pro baseball in their teens and twenties, are now in their 70s. Fifty years later, eleven of them decided to resurrect their team and challenge a young men's team in a Saturday game after practicing for an hour on Fridays. "The ladies often ask me to pitch faster," says the captain of the men's team, in awe of the women's spunk and stamina. Khosaka, the 75 year-old captain of the Silver Sisters, insists they'll play till they're 80. She likes to catch behind her back, like major League Baseball star Ichiro Suzuki.

Despite some health problems the women are overjoyed to be back on the diamond, competitive as ever, feeling great when they get a hit and run fast enough to make it to first base on time. Khosaka schools her children to send her off in her baseball uniform when she dies.

What an inspirational story. See the whole article here. What do you do to keep your body moving and challenge yourself in your later years?