Sharlyn Lauby, Author at Unretirement Project

Is It Possible to Flunk Retirement

August 8, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

A friend of mine recently recommended the book “Don’t Retire, Rewire!” by Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners. The focus of the book appears to be very similar to the concepts of unretirement, meaning that when we stop working full-time in Corporate America, we don’t have to sit around and do nothing.

I haven’t finished reading it, but one of the early sections that captured my attention was a list titled “The Top 10 Reasons Why People Flunk Retirement”. My initial reaction was “Can you flunk retirement?!” For me, the word “flunk” conjures up the idea that we failed, and we can’t recover. There were two interesting things about the list.

Beyond “didn’t have a plan”, there was no mention of money, finances, insurance, estate planning, etc. While I don’t believe that retirement is all about the Benjamins, we do need to be realistic about having the means to live and take care of ourselves during retirement. Even if that involves living with a family member. And I could see individuals who don’t feel they’ve prepared enough financially for retirement feeling like they’ve flunked that aspect.

There were several reasons that fell into the category of “assumptions”. For example, I assumed my partner would be my social life. Or I assumed that rest and recreation would be enough. And finally, that I didn’t know myself very well. I’m not sure these are mistakes that an individual can’t recover from. Now, I’m not saying it will be easy. The process of self-discovery can be hard. Not only do we have to come to our own conclusions, but we might have to share our feelings with friends and family.

But the real takeaway for me wasn’t to focus on the flunking part. It’s to figure out how to move forward.

In today’s business world, we appear to be much more accepting of failure than ever. Billionaire business people like Sir Richard Branson and Spanx founder Sara Blakely remind us that it’s okay to make mistakes. But I can see how people could feel different about flunking at 20 than flunking at 60. They also might choose to handle the situation differently based on their circumstances.

We have to view our unretirement and retirement as a journey. A journey that starts early in life. Will there be stumbling blocks and changes along the way? Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean we’ve flunked life or our retirement. It does mean that we need to find ways to adjust.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while wandering the streets of Miami, FL

Employee Retirement Programs: Employers Need To Do the Right Thing

August 1, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

I ran across this article in Talent Economy titled, “The Long, Winding Road to Retirement”. The article starts no differently than other articles about the predicament with Boomers and retirement: lack of company sponsored pension plans, dwindling employee savings, Great Recession impact, etc. But what surprised me about this article was the author’s feeling that it was a leap of faith that organizations would get around to doing the right thing because of their pressure to deliver profits.

I certainly hope that’s not the case.

I do agree that organizations are under pressure to deliver results – financial and otherwise. But the way that organizations will deliver those results is with people. Let’s add that the numbers tell us that there are more jobs than people to fill those openings. So, organizations need to find ways to keep older workers engaged and, in the workforce, longer.

Now, I’ll also admit that this challenge doesn’t completely lie with companies. Employees need to think about their retirement plans. They need to find ways to save and take advantage of plans like 401(k), individual retirement accounts (IRA), and Roth IRA. Individuals approaching retirement should be researching how Medicare and Social Security work, so they file for benefits at the right time.

But the way employers and employees can do the right thing is by being authentic and transparent.

Employers need to start thinking about their staffing needs and whether they will act to retain older workers beyond traditional retirement. If that’s their plan, they should have conversations with employees ahead of schedule, so employees can start thinking about their plans and whether they want to stay in the workforce longer.

In turn, employees need to start thinking about their retirement strategy. Do they want to consider working part-time or as a freelancer? Employees need to start building skills for that transition. Is that something they can do on their own or would it make sense to ask the company for assistance?

This isn’t an easy fix. Or an overnight one.

Organizations looking to meet and exceed their goals will need talent. Some of that talent will be individuals approaching retirement age. But if companies want to keep talent, they have to start thinking about offering jobs, salaries, and benefits that that are going to do that. Frankly, that means doing the right thing.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the Wynwood Art District in Miami, FL

What We’re Up To – July 2018

July 25, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

Disclosure: Occasionally we receive free products for review or include advertising links in posts, but no one impacts the honesty of our opinions.

Watching| The Marvel Cinematic Universe

> Ever since Avengers: Infinity War came out, we’ve been catching up on older Marvel movies we hadn’t seen. We finally watched Avengers: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok, and Spider-man: Homecoming. I love how Marvel is tying the storylines together. Next on the list for us later in July is Ant-Man.

Reading| Common Financial Sense

> I’m not a financial advisor, so I make it a rule not to tell people how to spend their money. That being said, I do feel it’s okay to say that we have to think about our financial future. I received a copy of the book “Common Financial Sense” by Harris Nydick and Greg Makowski. Both are certified financial planners. The book delivers on the title and will give readers who are thinking about their financial future a few things to consider.

Remembering| Old HR Bartender posts

> I recently read an article on Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger about “How to Update Old Posts on Your Blog (and When You Should Consider Doing it)”. First off, if you’re considering blogging in your unretirement, you should definitely start paying attention to ProBlogger. Second, if you have a blog, Rowse makes a good point about keeping older content fresh. HR Bartender has been around over ten years. We have thousands of posts. It’s worth a look at our older content.

Working On| Scheduling More Fun

> I enjoy reading the “Yes and Yes” blog authored by Sarah Von Bargen. One of her recent posts was titled “A Weird Tip for a More Fulfilling Life: Make a ‘To Do for Fun’ List”. It’s exactly what the title says. We spend so much time making lists for the work things we need to complete. Or the errands we need to do. Why not have a list of fun stuff? And for a planner like me…it’s the perfect July project!

Feeling| Like a Homebody

> I don’t mind traveling at all, but I’ve been doing a lot of it lately. It’s nice to be home for a few.

Planning| Doctor’s Appointments

> When you move to a new city, there are so many people you have to find – like an accountant, hair stylist, and doctors! I must admit that social communities like NextDoor have been very helpful in getting recommendations. We’ve received some excellent information so far.

Loving| Inside Trader Joe’s – a Podcast

> I’m a fan of Trader Joe’s and after listening to this 5-part podcast seriesabout the store, I’m becoming an even bigger fan. The show talks about how the store started, their food tasting panels, why employees wear Hawaiian shirts and much more. Check it out wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Geeking| Amazon Cloud Cam

> We picked up one of these during the July Amazon Prime Day sale. It’s an indoor camera that works with Alexa. You can control it from a mobile app. Very easy to set up. Just direct it at the area you want to monitor and turn it on. You can watch the activity from your phone. If you’re in the market for a security device, this might be worth consideration.

What’s UP with you? Let us know how your summer is going so far.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of New Orleans, LA

Retirement: Is It About Money or Happiness

July 18, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

Years ago, I started reading a blog called Get Rich Slowly. The blog was written by a guy named J.D. Roth who started blogging his journey to dig himself out of massive debt. Along the way, he got divorced, moved, sold his blog, and eventually bought it back. The reason I’m bringing this up is because he was the guest on a podcast recently for NewRetirement, which is a retirement planning tool.

Quick side note: I don’t know anything about the NewRetirement platform. That’s not an endorsement or a slam. Maybe someday I will…but that’s not the reason for today’s post.

Today’s post is about something Roth said in the podcast. “Even though I’m writing about money, I’m actually writing about the pursuit of happiness.” This sentence made me wonder. Is retirement about money or the pursuit of happiness?

Yes, of course, we need money to live. But as we’re planning our retirement, should we be so focused on the money that we’re not thinking about what makes us happy? It reminded me of a few things.

There are many low-cost and no-cost things that make me really happy. Like a cuppa tea in the morning (or evening). Watching football on Sundays. Reading a good book. Happiness isn’t always about buying things or taking expensive trips. I need to keep that top of mind in my retirement plans.

Prioritizing expensive things that I’d like to do could be helpful. It’s true – there are once in a lifetime trips I’d like to take. And maybe see Hamilton, which appears to be expensive. But if I prioritize and save, hopefully I can make those splurges happen. Which would make me very happy.

My wants and needs will change over time. It’s possible something that makes me happy today will become “meh” in the future. And that’s okay. Hopefully, I won’t spend money on a “meh” experience nor do I want to experience regret in not doing something I could have.

While we’re saving money and getting ourselves ready for retirement, it’s equally important to ask ourselves, “What will make us happy?” Keep in mind part of that answer could be to have a semi-retirement or an unretirement. The good news is that we can have what makes us happy if we plan for it.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Key West, FL

Workplace Financial Education Helps Retirement Planning

July 11, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

I ran across this article from the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin-Madison about “Workplace Financial Education’s Effects on Retirement Planning.” Whether you’re an employer or employee, it’s worth a read.

The gist of the article is that organizations have moved away from providing fully funded retirement programs, placing the responsibility for retirement planning in the employee’s lap. But employees aren’t stepping up their savings strategy. According to the Employment Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), one in four workers has less than $1,000 saved for retirement. This is despite efforts by employers and the government to make saving more attractive with matching contributions and tax advantages.

But one thing the University of Wisconsin article did mention was effective was workplace financial education.

Organizations that are offering employees access to financial education tools are seeing increased retirement account contributions. They’re also saying that employees feel their personal knowledge of budgeting and savings has increased as well.

As a general rule, we don’t learn about financial planning in high school or college. The primary place we learn about budgeting, saving, and managing money is either through friends and family … or at work. So, if organizations are going to give responsibility for retirement savings to employees, shouldn’t they at least provide a bit of financial literacy?

Financial literacy programscould easily be incorporated into the company’s wellness and well-being programs. The cost of providing a program would be significantly less than the savings from eliminating the company’s pension plan. I don’t know exactly how much, but I do think we can logically get to this conclusion.

Organizations want employees to do their best work. They won’t be able to if they’re worried about saving for retirement. Offering financial education is a way to help employees accept responsibility for future.

Meanwhile, if organizations do provide financial education, it’s up to employees to participate. You’re never too young to learn about retirement savings. When I was in school, and received my first Social Security card, I was told the Social Security program was designed to supplement my retirement savings. Keyword: supplement.

I don’t know what’s going to happen with pension plans or Social Security. I do know that it couldn’t hurt to start putting a retirement savings plan in place. Whether you’re an organization or an individual, financial education makes sense. Because the more educated we are about our finances, the easier it will be for us to start saving for the future.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring Las Vegas, NV

Organizations: Consider an Unretirement Employee Benefits Package

June 20, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

I’d like to think that most of us have heard the statistics that people have the ability to live longer than ever. As a result, many employees want to stay in the workforce beyond the traditional retirement age.

But let’s face it, some employees aren’t prepared for retirement. Over the years, organizations have replaced pension plans with the 401(k). Those plans rely on employee contributions. And employees haven’t saved at levels commensurate with the loss of pension plans. So, some of the decision behind employees wanting to stay in the workforce longer is they need to stay in the workforce.

I recently ran across an article in Workforce Magazine titled, “Live to 100? Implications for Work, Employers, and Retirement”. The article goes into some details about why employees aren’t prepared for retirement, but it also suggests that organizations should consider providing resources to help workers transition into retirement.

As recruiting continues to be a challenge, it could make some business sense to create benefits programs for unretirement. Organizations want older workers to stay engaged and continue working. Employees want to contribute and save some additional resources for when they’re fully retired. The question becomes: What are the right benefits to offer? It can’t be things that jeopardize existing government programs. Here are a few things to consider (three of these you’ve probably considered plus one that might be a little ‘out of the box’):

Financial wellness programs: Organizations can make sure that workers are educated about their finances. They can prompt employers about extra savings opportunities under qualified plans and IRAs. Organizations can let employees sign up for automatic enrollment and savings plans. And offer financial counseling for employees approaching retirement.

Flexible scheduling: Employees like time off. Organizations can provide employees with part-time, seasonal, on-call, and contract positions. Older workers can reduce their hours gradually, which allows them to adjust their budgets accordingly. Organizations can use this planned reduced scheduling arrangement to create knowledge management programs and keep valuable historical and technical information.

Learning opportunities: Both employees and employers want this phased retirement strategy to work. Part of making it successful is keeping skills current. Just because an employee transitions to part-time doesn’t mean the company should stop making investments. The goal of this arrangement is for the company to benefit from the employee’s work and the employee to benefit by contributing longer. That happens when employees receive training.

Redesigned traditional benefits programs: There’s no reason that organizations can’t offer some sort of benefits package that is commensurate with the reduced hours that the employee is working. Sometimes we simply assume that only full-time employees are eligible for health care, wellness, disability, etc. Maybe it makes sense to include some of your organization’s unique perks like retail discounts or special services.

I’m hearing an increased number of organizations asking, “We have a lot of workers getting ready to retire. We need them to stay. We don’t have candidates to replace them. How do we do that?” The answer is start creating a benefit package for employees transitioning to unretirement. Talk with them. Find out what they want. This is exactly what organizations do to attract full-time employees.

Part-time positions are just as important as full-time work. It’s time to place some dedicated energy to creating unretirement jobs that can bring value to the organization.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby on the streets of San Francisco, CA

What We Are UP To in June 2018

June 13, 2018 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

Watching| A Gap Year for Grown-Ups

> I had the pleasure of meeting Debbie Weil years ago and we’ve been able to stay in touch. She and her husband Samuel Harrington took a ‘gap year’ as part of their transition to unretirement. Now they’re starting a podcast. I love their gap year blog and can’t wait to hear more in June.

Reading| At Peace

> Speaking of Samuel Harrington, I just picked up a copy of his first book “At Peace: Choosing a Good Death After a Long Life”. Let’s face it, at some point, we have to make some very adult decisions about aging and our health care. Dr. Harrington’s book helps us look at those topics. I’m looking forward to reading it.

Remembering| Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade

> There are no words for the sad loss of these two icons earlier in June. I remember reading “Kitchen Confidential” years ago and immediately becoming a fan. And I have always loved the fun yet professional designs of Kate Spade. I own several of her totes. In remembering their legacies, I hope we can also have a frank conversation about mental health.

Working On| One List a Day

> A while back, I did a little journaling experiment. I liked it, but the idea of writing journal essays just didn’t appeal to me. I loved the days my journaling prompt was to make a list. Well, I found the perfect list journal. Lisa Nola’s “Listography: One List a Day” allows me to journal in a fun but thought provoking way.

Feeling| Settled

> Every day we learn a little bit more about Gainesville, FL. While we enjoy cooking at home, Keith and I have decided to have a regular June ‘date night’ on the town so we can get to know a little more about the city. Some places are hits and others are misses, but that’s to be expected. It’s starting to feel like home.

Planning| Holidays

> I know! It seems so far away. But I’m a planner so I’m trying to figure out a nice Plan B in case we’re moving from the rental house into our new home during the holidays. If you’ve moved during the holidays, please drop us some suggestions in the comments. I’d love to hear your story about how you survived. 🙂

Loving| Sneakers

> I was never a big sneaker person growing up. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed an appreciation for sneakers. Especially for slip on styles from makers like Sperry and Vans. Super comfortable and they go with everything – shorts, pants, skirts, and sometimes even dresses.

Geeking|AloeBud

> I hate to admit it, but I need and want reminders for things like taking my vitamins. I found a self-care app called AloeBud (FREE in iTunes, with in-app purchases for premium features). I’m enjoying the ability to set regular reminders with custom messages. And it pushes notifications to my Apple Watch.

What’s UP with you in June?