A Requiem for Retirement

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs asserts that people are motivated to achieve their needs in a particular order of priority. The most basic is physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates behaviour. As soon as that has been fulfilled the next level motivates us, and so on. This hierarchy is most often depicted in a layered pyramid with Survival at the base, capped by Safety (and order), then Love and Belonging which in turn supports Esteem or self-worth. Self-actualisation tops the pyramid.

Somewhere like Singapore, where the first two levels of the pyramid are often taken for granted while there is opportunity to actualise the higher levels. But our rapidly ageing society threatens these assumptions for many; coming undone just as one attains the age where the search for meaning is supposed to have been satisfied. Is it ever?

Retirement, which is touted as reward for having peaked life’s quests, often leads to a gradual

deconstruction of the pyramid’.

Why do we work?

Being human should be about discovering the dignity of being human. This is not a tautology.

We evolved to be social beings, becoming earth’s uber species by working cooperatively. Thus our part in society is reaching for the pinnacle of a life of meaning, provided we’re allowed to achieve it in a way of our choosing.

If you were born only to earn money, like machines, then you would probably rather be a machine, without the distractions of a psyche searching for meaning. The experiment to disprove that thesis was attempted in Russia and China, and we know how it worked out.

What if the government owned everything and paid everyone to sit at home watching Disney, while being served by robots? What if people only worked until they had earned enough to acquire their robot, which they rented out to companies, and that process evolved to the point where pretty much everyone derived their income from renting out robots? What would such a social model, in which robots produced all the goods and services while humans only consumed them, give? Not the Terminator. Instead, boredom and purposelessness, depression, angst.

Humans struggle to stray far from that hierarchy of needs. Forcing them to leads to implosion, as we saw the Soviet Union do in 1989. We are competitive and seek dignity (or status, or power, however you label it) and purpose.

Jobs and careers serve as more than a pathway to money. The opportunity to do our work “right,” to do our best, to be encouraged to develop and learn, to feel appreciated by co-workers and supervisors, to feel that our opinions count, to feel that what we do is important, and to have good friends at work. That elevates work into fulfilment.

Work offers structure to daily life, a sense of purpose that potentially makes a difference to the world, making other people’s lives better. We learn new things, developing both as workers and as humans. When the workday also offers a measure of autonomy and discretion which people use to achieve a level of mastery or expertise, it leads to a sense of life with meaning. And it may even make other people’s lives better in ways that are significant.

The Retirement Reset

Isn’t it then the vilest thing when society tells someone that they have served their purpose and should stay out of the way, henceforth? To make way for the more able-bodied. Do the top two layers of Maslow’s pyramid suddenly evaporate on attaining age 50? or 60? Or 70? Does the purpose gene go “puff” when the clock turns?

What happens when society discards its seniors? We sow aimlessness… depression.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20% of people aged 55 years or older experience some type of mental health concern. The only wonder in that is that it is only 20%!

Retirement plays a huge role in mental illness. When somebody asks, ‘Tell me about yourself?’, what’s the first thing you respond with? You say what you do. When you retire, you no longer have that to say. So, there is a loss of identity. Amplified while entering a phase where your body develops aches and pains, and possibly a chronic condition. What does that cocktail do to your identity… and ability to fight disease... or your reason to?

“Checked out and sleepwalking through our days.”

Now add a twist of anxiety. Like money worries. When you started to work, the conventional wisdom was that you needed enough for about 5 years of retirement. By the time retirement comes around (having bought the myth, of course) you turn around to notice that your life expectancy is 85! How do you fund 25 years of retirement with savings enough for 5 years?

If you are lucky you have children who are doing well, and they remember their childhoods fondly.

Women are no more or less vulnerable to retirement-induced depression than men. Even women who have never worked outside the home may ‘retire’, except that in their case it is usually called an ‘empty nest’. These women were the CEOs of their families. When the children leave, mothers haven’t usually had much opportunity to taper and redirect their responsibilities.

The myth of the golden years of retirement must itself be retired and its victims given more choice and dominion over the next phase of life.

What to do with that ‘use-by’ date?

How to battle societal bias about impaired mental acuity and infirmity… being denied work because you are too old to be trusted with responsibility?

A life of purpose starts with structured days. This has added significance in retirement, when seniors have too much time and few options to fill it with. If they are able, silvers should find ways to stay in or return to work. One idea is to return as post- retirement re-hirees. Easier said than done perhaps, but worth casting about for. Or be your own employer and work gigs. Gigs aren’t limited to driving a cab or delivering food. Consultants, electricians, lawyers and physical trainers have worked gigs as a career.

The kids have grown and the home paid for. So, this phase is a gift. The opportunity to figure out what is meaningful. To attain that long unfeasible ambition, to shift to an industry of choice. The gift of re-learning, retraining; taking a relevant degree or diploma course for a second run at ‘career’.

Or guide the young, work as an industry mentor to the one you just left. Dust off that old hobby and teach, train or perform it.

Work less or more, choice is the gift of this time of life. After-all, you’re in business now and it is your business. Grow it into a full-time occupation or balance it against the leisure you seek.

Sequent.

Sequenting is that phase of life in which work and play are not mutually exclusive. You’ve too much life left in the tank but you don’t want to mark attendance at the office daily at 0800 either. Leisure breaks interspersed with the hours and pace of work of your choosing, sequenting is the flexibility to keep the bank account topped up while pursuing creative interests, travel or caring for the grandkids while retaining purpose and social relevance.

Sequenting Aid

Greygigz’s new platform (in development) will allow seniors to list and showcase their expertise. We supply the platform but seniors will have to be creative about how they market themselves.

Our service providers may choose to market the skill they retired with or a repurposed version of it. Or, if they wish, list multiple talents eg. the hobby and that daytime career skill set in different profiles.

This is the opportunity to be creative and repackage elements of an old career, like using specialised knowledge of the civil service labyrinth to help companies process their permit applications efficiently or to help deserving foreigners to craft citizenship or PR applications. Former managers may use apply their training to mentor young companies on instituting robust service standards or adapt that Saturday morning hobby to drone inspections and aerial photographs for hire.

Grey Gigs

Greygigz’ is choosing a life of purpose too.

There hasn’t been such a single place for seniors to list their skills and be directly hired for them. All that knowledge and work experience (or those hobbies of 20 years or more) have never had an outlet - to be taken out of storage, retargeted, polished up and taken on the road to solve problems for those strapped for time and talent.

Hirers too have not had a single platform to fill their short-term needs - to search, like, enquire, negotiate, hire and pay for help, all in one place. The depth of expertise they would find is just a bonus.

We are developing the marketplace for silvers to advertise their talents to hirers by listing skills, qualifications, experience and service offerings on a personal page. Hirers can search for service providers by category, type, rating and availability.

We are facilitating choice. It will be your decision to work only on assignments that feed the soul or simply working the hours you want, when you want, for as long as you wish. You wouldn’t be sequenting otherwise.

Greygigz is where experience lives.

Published on LinkedIn on 15 April 2022