By Kevin G. Demarrais
When we were growing up in Bergen County, N.J., in the 1950s, 65 seemed a millennium away.
That was for old folks, our grandparents. We may have been vaguely aware that life as we knew it would cease at age 65, that we may be forced to retire and rely on Social Security. But that hardly seemed to matter to us teenage, middle class, suburbanites. Key ages for us were 17 (to drive), 18 (the draft), and 21 .
That's ancient history now, as 65 arrived for me on Friday. And it is coming soon to other war babies and baby boomers.
But times have changed.
"I'm not ready to retire," said Judy Dechert McBride, an associate vice president of a Florida investment company. Like all the people interviewed for this column, she was born in 1942 and was my classmate in the Bogota High School Class of 1960.
"I love what I do and I'm good at it," she said. "Sixty-five seems to be the new 50. We seem to be more interested in lifestyle and how we want to live our lives."
Many of our parents were forced to retire at 65. My father actually shaved a year off his official records just so he could keep working to age 66.
Now we decide when to quit, whether we have to keep working or not. I keep working because I want to, and so do some of my classmates. But others fully or partially retired years ago because they could.
Whichever way we go, money remains a consideration, with decisions on Social Security and Medicare looming. It's tougher for some of the women who spent many prime earning years at home with the children, but that doesn't seem to stop them.
"I'm not swimming in money, but I'm not caring that I'm not," said Doris Trapkin Betz of Atlanta, who is semiretired from a marketing career after 14 years as a stay-at-home mom.
Changing Demographics
The face of aging in the United States is changing dramatically and rapidly, the Census Bureau says. More than 37 million Americans are 65 or older, and that total is expected to double by 2030.
"Today's older Americans are very different from their predecessors, living longer, having lower rates of disability, achieving higher levels of education and less often living in poverty," the Census Bureau reported last spring.
"The financial circumstances of older people have improved dramatically, although there are wide variations in income and wealth."
Much of the population growth comes from longer life expectancies. In 1950, the average worker retiring at age 65 could expect to live an additional 13 to 15 years, government figures show. Now a retiree can expect to live 17 to 20 more years, with many making it into their 90s and beyond.
None of this is to say everyone has the good health and financial resources to enjoy the good life after turning 65.
But the trend is toward more people enjoying more good years.
"The bottom line: 65 is just another birthday," said Marilyn Murray, who retired as a pharmaceutical executive after negotiating a buyout a few years ago.
And it means more time with her 10 grandchildren and to travel with her husband, said Patti Germaneso Henry of Vernon, N.J., who retired in 1999 as an X-ray technician after the doctor for whom she worked sold his practice.
"I think we will both live life to the fullest in our last quarter good health on our side, of course," she says.
"War baby" is not a generational grouping sociologists and economists often use, but it is apt to describe a distinct mini-generation born between 1941 and 1945.
Our parents grew up in the Depression and started raising us during World War II, dealing with tight money and ration books for everyday necessities, and that influenced many of us throughout our lives and into our senior years.
Vietnam and the potential of the draft in pre-lottery days had a significant impact on war baby careers and family planning. Also, women were likely to be full-time moms for many years, reducing their prime earnings years and thus Social Security benefits.
Dealing with such issues prepared us for financial life after 65.
Born a few years later, boomers grew up in a postwar economy, with the GI Bill and increased reliance on credit creating a different reality, and the end of the draft and the women's movement changing social conditions.
"I'm on Social Security and I don't worry a whole lot about not having the million dollars you're supposed to have, according to the experts," said Betz.
"Since I grew up without much money at all, I've always been good at living close to the bone," she said. "And with such a creative mom as an inspiration, I've always done things around the house myself."
"I'm not swimming in money, but I'm not caring that I'm not."
When to Retire
Americans had been retiring at ever-younger ages over the past 50 years, cashing in on private pensions and Social Security, the Brookings Institution reports.
But that trend seems to be reversing, with 19 percent of those over 65 remaining in the labor force, up from less than 16 percent in the 1980s, the Census Bureau says.
Key factors in deciding when to retire, in addition to financial concerns, are job contentment and what we'll do with our new-found spare time.
"I don't feel ready for retirement just yet, said Carol Wiederman Ryan, 65 since February.
"Right now, although there are days that I would deny this, for the most part my job provides a good deal of satisfaction," said Ryan, a regional manager for a nonprofit organization in New York.
"It is quite flexible, affords a fair amount of time off, and that paycheck doesn't hurt either!"
Retire? "Never," said Harvey Silverglate, a prominent Boston attorney who grew up in Maywood, N.J., whose students went to Bogota High at that time.
First Amendment issues that led Silverglate to successfully challenge the superintendent of schools over a free speech issue in 1960 still drive him today.
"The reasons have less to do with finances -- even though retirement would surely cause some changes in the way my wife and I live -- than with a sense of a mission yet-incomplete," he said.
"I see more severe challenges to civil liberties coming from our government now than when I joined the bar in 1967," he said.
"I see the criminal justice system in many ways more unfair now than it was back then. ... I do not think I'd feel comfortable in retirement under such circumstances.
"So I guess I'll never get a chance to test whether in fact I can really afford to retire."
Can You Afford It?
Optimism about enjoying retirement is often mixed with financial concerns, but this generation is used to making do with what they have.
"I have never felt more secure," said Pam Hoeland, the deputy municipal clerk in Wayne, N.J. "It does not take much to keep me happy."
A key is assessing your spending habits and future needs and planning carefully, McBride said.
"The biggest mistake a lot of people make is they don't know what they're spending now," she said. "You don't want to outlive your money."
Sometimes that means continuing to work part time, as Betz does as a freelance marketer, teacher and model, or combining Social Security with investments, as did Eleanor Katz, who sold her house in Lodi, N.J., moved to New York and retired in 2000, a year after her husband died.
I'm fortunate that I was forced to participate in a pre-401(k) retirement plan when I was in my 20s. Money was tight then, but it gave me the financial cushion that allowed me to switch careers about 15 years ago, knowing that my financial future was sound.
But early life experiences are never forgotten, Murray said.
"Saving was always an important part of my life and retirement plan, probably because of the financial insecurity that I experienced as a child," she said.
She started planning for retirement when she was in her 30s and is supplementing Social Security with a pension and savings.
Social Security
The government allows us to start collecting on Social Security as early as age 62, but doing so permanently cuts monthly payments by as much as 20 percent. Also, benefits could be reduced if you continue working.
Even so, it can be worth it, said Murray. "I did the numbers and it made no sense to wait," she said.
Full benefits for those born in 1942, are available at age 65 years and 10 months, but the starting point climbs in small steps to age 67 for those born in 1960 or later. Also, benefits increase by as much as 8 percent (depending on year of birth) for each year you delay receiving benefits until age 70.
Stay-at-home moms like Ryan and Betz missed prime earning years, and that is reflected in what they'll get.
"It was really not until post-grad and post-divorce when I was in my 40s that I actually began earning at a full-time, work-world range," Ryan said.
Luckily, one of her children is a banking executive, and he helped her put away funds "so Social Security is not the only money to count on for retirement."
Health Care
With most financial issues we know the facts and figures; we've been getting Social Security and projections for years.
But health care concerns make us wonder if we have enough money for who-knows-how-many-years or whether we'll be wiped out by a catastrophic illness.
That means dealing with the complexities and uncertainties of Medicare -- especially the Part D prescription drug rules -- at a time our bodies are slowing down and our needs for life-extending drugs increase.
"As a reasonably well-educated individual, I was aghast at the myriad of plans offered and the bewildering, wide fluctuation of costs associated with the different plans," said Roger Colwell, a sales rep in Houston who has survived several heart "incidents."
"The bottom line is: now that I am part of the public system, my health-related costs, insurance and medication will probably quadruple to a level, I never anticipated," he said.
Even so, Medicare is a key, said Katz.
"After getting over the shock of seeing my name on a Medicare card I turn 65 in August I rejoiced," she said.
"I am now paying for health insurance in the private sector, which is outrageously expensive," she said.
"I will be happy to go on Medicare, buy a supplemental policy and a Medicare Part D policy, all at a fraction of what I now pay for health insurance. This second phase of my retirement will leave me better off financially."
Katz is glad she purchased long-term disability insurance before turning 60.
"More than anything, it has given me peace of mind that I won't be a financial burden to my daughter and her family," she said.
E-mail Kevin G. Demarrais at demarrais@northjersey.com.
Source: The Record, Bergen County, N.J. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. Powered by Yellowbrix.
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