(View entire post here)

Retired? Missing Work? Wonder Why?

Every day we read stories about people who are currently or plan on working in retirement. This is not an oxymoron but the new reality for many people. Some people get it immediately why people want to continue to work in some way, and others are shocked. But if you look at why they work, you'll discover that there are many reasons. In fact through research we discovered 85 reasons for why they work beyond the money and a lot of it has to do with personal fulfillment.

What drives you?

We conducted research for Don't Retire, REWIRE! by asking 200 pre-retirees age 39 to 77 and more than 100 retirees age 41 to 99: "WHY DO YOU or DID YOU WORK BEYOND A PAYCHECK?" Many people don't realize what they get from work besides money until you come right out and ask them that simple question! We were stunned by the 85 reasons ranging form deire tohave accomplishments, to making a difference, to having recognition or power. We called these 85 reason, drivers.

Think of Drivers as personal motivators.

Since no one else feels your Drivers like you do, there are no right answers and no test score. Drivers are personal motivators that can either consciously or subconsciously propel us to make the decisions or choices we do in selecting work, leisure and community activities. Our results show that it doesn't matter if you're 25 and starting a career; 45 and hitting a mid-career obstacle; 58 and having the chance to retire early; or 70 seeking to pursue a rewirement® career, Drivers rule!

(View entire post here)

The reality that we are living an additional 20-25 years after the age of 65 is seen as a gift by some, and a curse by others. This is particularly true for couples. Couples have unique challenges. Since you don't rewire® in a vacuum, there are two people's needs, wants and concerns that need to be considered and that's where the fun and the challenge begin! Our research shows that a successful rewirement® takes a commitment from both parties.

Couples who seem happy about living their next act tell us that it has taken a whole lot of communication and planning. They started the dialogue well in advance of the first partner retiring, or even considering a change, and they admit it wasn't always easy. As one husband said "when you finally sit down to talk you may be surprised to hear that your partner has a whole set of ideas different than yours!" Or worse..she has the "Honey do" list.

Discussing how to create a rewired life portfolio is as important as creating a diversified financial portfolio. Couples who avoid the subject, in many cases like the plague, maximize the potential for failure. Pretty simple isn't it.

Simple? Yes. Easy? No.

Rewirement® is about change. We know change isn't always easy. It can be doubly difficult for couples, and requires adjustments, compromises, negotiations and agreements. Sounds like the U.N? Well, maybe not that complicated. For example not every couple agrees on how much time they are going to spend with the grandchildren? How will they divide up the chores around the house? How much money are they willing to spend so one of them can go back to school so they can start a new business? The list goes on from there.

(View entire post here)

"Are you telling me not to retire?" "Do you mean I should work forever?" These are some of the questions audiences ask before I begin to give a speech or deliver a workshop on our book, Don't Retire, REWIRE! The answer to both questions is NO. However...that NO is my opening line. It's the reason why people need a whole new way "to do" the future.

Before we wrote our book, we asked hundreds of people what they thought of the word retirement. Almost unanimously we got a "thumbs down." People admitted to mixed and negative feelings about the word...and more importantly what it exemplified..." a step before death" was what one person told us. We found this view quite extreme, but understood where he was coming from. We'd heard variations on his comment before. Today, all Boomers have to go on is an old model of retirement created by Otto Von Bismark in Germany in the late 1880's!

We don't know about you but we thought that it was time to do a retirement makeover on the word and meaning of retirement! Who wants a game plan for the future that was created over 100 years ago! People are moving fast and don't always have the time to figure out their next act. So we made it easier and created a new concept with a new set of ideas so people could create their future...not follow somebody else's. We called ours' Rewirement®.

(View entire post here)

Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners are our guest bloggers during the week of November 5th. If you have any questions for Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners, add a comment to any of their posts. Here is some brief information about Don't Retire, REWIRE!: Second Edition: 

About Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners

Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners, husband and wife, have 25+ years of experience working in the areas of personal and professional transition. Their backgrounds include executive search and outplacement, plus Jeri is the former Editor at Large of Working Woman magazine and currently Senior Advisor to The Conference Board on the Mature Workforce. Rick is the co-founder of Flexcorp Systems, a business process outsourcing company, which was named by INC. magazine as one of the fastest growing 500 privately held companies in the U.S. in 2005. The company which was number 119 was sold in 2006.