Challenges Facing Retirees Attending College

¶ … Retirees Attending College

The latest retirement planning book entitled 'Boomers: Visons of the New Retirement', written by a person who is about thirty years old, Dr. Maria Maylater, PhD., states the author's opinion that it is not what an individual, or in other words, a retiree 'has' when he retires that is important; it is the ways in which he plans out this important phase in his life in which he would be able to actually're-invent' himself totally. She states that today, all the Baby Boomers of yesterday are looking forward to another twenty years of a full and productive life, and an extremely rewarding one, what with all the technological and scientific advances that have taken place in recent years, an average individual can hope to love a longer life than his father or his grandfathers before him. (3 Retirement Challenges that you were Never Told)

The idea is to re-invent himself and aim for a newer and richer life, and prepare adequately for such a life after retirement, by doing what he always wanted to do but did not have the time for. This new vision of retirement that every retiree has been adapting of late has also resulted in bringing about major changes in the Human Resources services that are offered by these professionals before they retire from active service. The author says that it is the general tendency of any organization to bombard the retiree with plenty of advice on issues such as health plans, insurance plans, and relocation plans, and the innate desire of the retiree to form new relationships or to learn new things are completely ignored. These are issues that the retiree would be more interested in at this time of his life, and would find it a real struggle to try to fulfill them, and this is where they must be offered more help. (3 Retirement Challenges that you were Never Told)

Michael Falcon, the Chief Operating Officer of the Retirement Group, Merrill Lynch, says that as far as retirement plans are concerned, men and women make entirely different plans. Whereas men think of retirement as a chance to spend more time at home with the family and with friends, women go about it in an entirely different manner. They make plans for traveling or get more involved with their communities, or more often, study further or start on a new career. While men prefer to spend their retired lives complacently and free of any tension, women seem to want to try out new avenues of interest that they had never tried before, including adult education. Women are more likely than men to have the idea of're-inventing' themselves. This sort of disparity may have serious consequences when the couple is planning out their finances. However, this may not be so very troublesome if the couple took the time to sit down and discuss the various issues involved and then plan out what they must do. When one of the couple decides to work and/or attempt further education, however, then this must be provided for in their financial plans. (Sharing your Vision of Retirement)

It is a fact that today's retiree is not sitting back and relaxing and hoping to just while away his remaining time in useless activities. He, on the other hand, has big and better plans for his retirement than ever before. For example, the several different Retirement Communities in Philadelphia have certain activities and organized sessions that would not have been normally associated with a retiree yesterday. Some of these are nature treks, a park and a playground for the grandchildren, an indoor swimming pool, and even a personal fitness trainer. This shows that things are indeed changing, and the retiree is making his own well-educated plans for his own retirement, wherein he can lead an extremely productive life and virtually're-invent' himself. The retirees of today and the 'baby boomers' that are on the verge of retirement definitely want more out of life, today. (Today's Retirement Community, a Lifestyle Choice)

Statistics reveal that the number of Americans who are 55 years or older will become double the figure it is at, from now up to the year 2030. That is, the 60 million people who will retire today make up about 21 percentage of the total population of retirees in America, and this figure will rise to 107.6 million in the year 2030, which will make up about 31 percentage of the population at that time. This figure includes the 'Baby Boomers' who would have reached retirement age at that time, and the astonishing fact is that the number of retirees, in other words, people above the age of 65, at that period of time would be more than double of what it is now, that is, from the present rate of 34.8 million people or 12% of the population, to 70.3 million in 2030, that is, 20% of the total population. What is even more astonishing is the fact that the rate in the figures of the oldest elders is growing. While in the year 2000 there are about 66,000 Americans who are older than 100 years, the figure shows that there was less than 20% of this number of centenarians in the year 1964. (Fact-sheet on older Americans)

The U.S. Census Bureau also states that there would be about 214,000 centenarians by the year 2020, and a larger number of 834,000 by the year 2050. The facts also reveal that the next generation of American retirees will be some of the healthiest and the best educated and also the most affluent in the entire History of the nation, what with an increased life expectancy, that is, an average American who reaches the age of 65 will be able to enjoy another 17.9 years of productive lives, with the increase in life expectancy. In addition, the likelihood that an average American would be able to survive up to the age of 90 and above has also been increasing, and this means that when it was a mere 14% in the year 1960, it has reached an amazing 25% today, and the rates are further increasing: by the year 2050, it is expected that more than 40% of those people who have crossed the age of 65 will be able to cross the age of 90 or above. (Fact-sheet on older Americans)

The education as well as income levels for the senior population of America has also been increasing, and the figures show that while only about one-third of the population aged above 70 to 75 years today has had some form of college education, the figures would rise to about 50% by the year 2015. In the same way, the levels of household incomes have also been rising, and more families would be able to enjoy disposable incomes every year, as their financial recourses increase rapidly. What is even more important than anything else is the fact that the older citizens of America are in fact changing in their very attitudes towards retirement. Today, an average American is not looking at retirement as 'one endless vacation', but is looking forward to retirement as a phase in his life that would not only bring him fulfillment and a sense of accomplishment, but would also make him use the time that he has on his hands, now that he is no longer in active service, in following certain useful and productive activities. (Fact-sheet on older Americans)

According to a survey by the Civic Ventures, about 59% of retirees or older Americans see retirement as a time when they can become active and involved in new and more productive activities, wherein they may be able to enjoy life by setting themselves new goals for achievement. In fact, most of them saw this phase in their lives as the most productive stage in their entire lives. It was only a small percentage, about 24% that saw retirement as a time to relax and rest. The desire to work and be active, felt most of them was because of the need to remain productive, rather than in the need for monetary compensation. The result of this study, whne taken as a summary, shows that there has been an emergence of a new trend in the lifecycle of a human being; a stage between adulthood and old age, and this is the period that has been termed the 'third stage' or 'midcourse' which is mostly made up of people between the age groups of the 50's, 60's and the 70's. (Fact-sheet on older Americans)

A sea change is needed in the public service sector if there were to be a change in the challenges that are facing the older citizens today. The interest of these seniors has to be kept in mind while working out these plans, and this would help these people immensely, especially because of the changing attitudes of everyone today about ageing in general. The fact that we are living in an ageing society cannot be denied, and this may be taken as the chance to change the nature of public services for them. Older people or retirees are now stating that they do want to continue their activities and live productive lives, and that they will not take the time off to relax. They want to study further, as well as learn more things, and it is the duty of the society to provide all this for them. (Public Services for Tomorrow's Older Citizens and changing attitudes to ageing)

Scientists are, however, of the opinion that ageing actually has the effect of eroding certain aspects of the brain that control memory that would need control, and at the same time leave alone other types of behavior that could be automatic or learned. When it comes to the question of acquiring new knowledge, then it would mean that they would have to control this new learning process, and when old age sets in, it becomes difficult to control new information within the brain, and this is on factor that deters retirees form attempting new studies and education, especially in technological areas. Whereas past habits are all automatic, new habits are difficult to retain, and this inevitably means that the new learning that they acquire after great difficulty would not be retained in the memory for a long period of time; they would forget it rather easily. (Scientists say that they know why older citizens have trouble learning tricks)

The study also shows that over a period of time, any types of bad habits, like for example, smoking or drinking, or even over-eating, become a matter of habit, meaning that it becomes naturally automatic and learned behaviors. This also means that even when conscious efforts are made to forget the old learned behaviors and replace them with the newly acquired ones, the subconscious mind that controls those old habits and retains them in memory becomes difficult to overcome, and this means that old habits are always stronger than the new ones. (Scientists say that they know why older citizens have trouble learning tricks)

The fact that it is difficult for the retiree to learn as quickly as he used to do when he was young, and the fact that he may not be able to retain all the information that he would assimilate during the process of learning something new acts as a major deterrent for the retiree when he wants to opt for leaning something new after retirement. Added to this is the fact that it may not be possible for him tom learn as quickly as the young boy or girl who is in the same class as him also embarrasses most of the senior citizens. However, as statistics reveal that today's retiree is no longer a person, who wants to sit back and relax and waste away the rest of his life in inactivity, but rather, as a person who shows a willingness and an eagerness to learn new things and get involved in new activities that he has never attempted before, one must provide for these people.

One example of this is the fact that most seniors are not proficient in the use of the computer. In fact it is often seen that most of them have a fear or a phobia of such new equipment that have in fact become a normal part of the lives of the young people of today. However, the truth is that computer and related technologies have penetrated the lives of old people today, and this has happened despite the popular idea and concept that old people have a phobia of technology; it even has a name: 'techno phobia'. Retirees today are in the process of building an electronic community so that they may be able to meet the various challenges of the computer age. In some cases, even if there is no fear in their minds of the new technology, the old people may not be able to afford training in such spheres as computer technology and related fields, and also may not have an easy access to all the equipment and paraphernalia that are associated with the technological marvels of today.

During the 1980's, it was seen that quite a few companies revealed their findings that it was seniors that were resistant to the introduction of computers into the business establishments, despite having ample proof that a computer would make work relatively easier for them. However, after improvements were made in the 1990's in the human-PC interface, the young old that comprised of people above 55 the old, made up of people above 65, and the elderly, people above 75, showed a keen interest in acquiring a PC of their own for either home or official uses. By the year 1998, surveys showed that more than 70% of seniors above the age of 55 had Internet access at home, and those who did not were willing t learn and acquire any skills that they thought that they lacked in. however, it was also discovered that it was the higher educated citizens who were more than willing to invest in a computer and in the Internet, and willing to learn the intricacies of the usage of both, and the lower educated persons did not want to acquire a computer at home. (Too Old for Computers?)

Several humorous comments were published by the survey: one old man said that he found that he just could not keep pace with his 4-year-old grandson in the use of a computer, and a 68-year-old woman found that she could keep in touch with the rest of the world through the Internet, and she found this quite amazing. She also thought that she was in fact 'connecting with the past and the future'. PC's are most often used by retirees and senior citizens for a multitude of very simple purposes. Some of them are for sending e-mails and maintaining contact with family and friends through this medium, for undertaking research on any particular topic of interest and relevance to them, to access the latest news, to play games and puzzles on the computer, to research travel destinations and weather forecasts, and also, most importantly, to perform voluntary work for any organizations that they may belong to.

The important question is how these seniors acquired these computer skills with all the setbacks that they have to face physically as well as mentally. In surveys conducted to assess this phenomenon, it was found that about 40% of these people taught themselves how to use the computer, about 21% started to use the computer when they were still at work, 17% had taken computer classes, and about 15% of seniors had picked up computer skills from a friend. 'Senior Net' affiliates teach computer skills to older citizens at centers all over, and, to date, more than 100,000 seniors have taken classes at these centers, and some of these retirees as old as 101 years old! When seniors desire to teach themselves, there are free online courses available to them, or they can enroll in nay class or school or computer center anywhere to learn. (Too Old for Computers?)