Yahoo Finance This famed writer wants retirees to change their thoughts about aging in America — here's what he means
The word “retirement” doesn’t always evoke the most positive images. Many tend to think only of people getting older and receding from the workforce.
Michael Clinton, 70, noticed this when he retired after a 40-year career in media. In 2020, he was ready to leave his role as president of marketing and publishing for Hearst Magazines, but didn’t want to retire “within the old construct.”
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“Today’s 65-year-old is radically different than our parents’ generation in behaviors and attitudes,” he told the New York Times (NYT). “Retirement is an outdated concept.”
With the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) stating that Americans now average a lifespan of 77.5 years (74.8 years for men and 80.2 years for women), Clinton points out that there needs to be new terminology for the 15- to 20-years of post-retirement living.
“If you don’t change the language, if you don’t change the images, you can’t change the cultural construct,” he told the NYT.
“Re-imagineers”
When Clinton left his role at Hearst, he didn’t quietly fade into retirement. He started a new career — writing a book about retirement, called “Roar: Into the Second Half of Your Life (Before It’s Too Late).”
When it became a bestseller he realized there were other retirees who also wanted to create a “new” retirement. In partnership with his old employer, Hearst, Clinton created an online platform for older adults called Roar Forward.
Clinton’s second career is what makes him a “re-imagineer.” He described the word he coined as people who “want to reinvent and reimagine their lives, not wind down.”
It’s true that now, more than ever, people’s post-retirement lifestyle includes some form of work. In fact, Fidelity’s 2024 State of Retirement Planning found that 57% of Americans plan to work post-retirement, at least part-time.
Two-thirds of those surveyed are doing so because they can’t afford to stop working and need to generate more income. But another 68% want to keep working because they find pleasure in it.
“My generation [was] linear and stayed in the same industry,” Clinton explained to the NYT. “Reclaiming what you left behind in your younger self that you always wanted to do is the second career.”
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“Life layering”
Clinton noticed that, before he’d even retired, he needed to re-think his life. When he was 39 years old, he felt “stuck” despite having a successful media career and a fulfilling family and personal life, according to a piece he wrote for Oprah Daily.
He started a process he calls “life layering” wherein you ask yourself who you are outside of being a parent, spouse, and colleague. He thought about what excited him and what he’d put on the backburner during his years in the workforce.
Clinton discovered that his other “layer” was seeking out adventure. He went on to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, hike in Patagonia and track lemurs in Madagascar.
This isn’t just an exciting way to shape your third act, but a practical one. Retirement coach Robert Laura told Moneywise that people often suffer boredom and malaise post-retirement.
“That's probably the biggest thing we try to teach people is: you're going to lose more than you gain and you need a way to replace these things,” Laura said. “Because if you don't, you're going to feel out of sorts.”
If you’re not sure how to add more to your life after retirement, Clinton recommends looking into education for people over 50. There are tons of courses at universities and colleges, specifically for people making the transition into their second career, including an advanced leadership program at Harvard and a distinguished careers program at Stanford.
But Clinton believes that his generation is up to the challenge.
“Boomers were the original activists who believed in change,” he told the NYT. “They are now challenging what it means to age and live longer.”
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