06 March 2009

Call for ban on use of the word 'retirement'

Again, a NostraChuckus prediction comes true:

mh Call for ban on use of the word 'retirement'
A LEADING psychologist has called for a ban on the word retirement, saying it no longer reflects the reality of growing old for the baby boomer generation …

The very word 'retirement' is from the French phrase retirer, meaning to draw back from. It no longer represents the hopes and aspirations of the baby boomer generation, according to Ms. Langcaster-James. "The third age will present something of a blank canvas for baby boomers," she said … "They do not see retirement as when they wind down and leave things behind. Instead, it is all about seizing the opportunities it presents."

A quote from my book (2005):

NyrenPB Contrary to popular myth, Baby Boomers do not believe that they are still teenagers or young adults. (Some probably do, but they need therapy.) Boomers are slyly redefining what it means to be the ages they are. Included in this new definition are some youthful attitudes - but the real change is that instead of winding down, many are winding up. We're not 'looking forward to retirement,' we're looking forward to new lives, new challenges. Only a small percentage will opt for pure retirement. (I predict that in twenty years the word 'retirement' will still be in dictionaries, but followed by the modifier archaic.)

Two previous posts about retirement:

Time to Retire the 'R' Word

This sounds familiar.

ft Dick Stroud says: “Maybe”

I wonder what a psychologist would say about my potent powers of prognostication ...

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