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By Jeff Westover
Steve Young practically delivered his own eulogy when he retired from the National Football League recently.
For more than ninety minutes, Young reflected upon a career of observations as one of the best football players in the world. He explained everything he loved and would miss about the game. He thanked a cast of thousands for their support. He told endearing stories about himself while never once appearing anything less than humble and sincere. Many others took their turn at the microphone in praise of Steve Young. And not since the passing of Old Yeller was a scene so touching.
It was a masterful performance. He retires with gobs of money, adoring fans from within and without his industry and all the time in the world to do what he wants. He has worked and retired exactly the way we all want to someday. And he retired like most of us never will.
Retirement Just Ain't What It Used to Be
Just as the single-company career has gone by the wayside, so too has the reality of retirement. Experts say that the advances in medical technology will prolong lives-and postpone retirement. According to the 2000 Retirement Survey from the Society of Human Resource Management a man retiring today can expect to live to age 81, women-to age 84.
But within just a few decades, projections for life expectancy call for people living to age 100 to be far more common than it is today. And that means the workers of today that will benefit from such technology are preparing for far too short of a retirement period.
This is not lost on all workers. Nearly half of all workers surveyed said they expected to work well beyond age 65, unlike most in generations past. And some, nearly 4 percent, said they would likely never retire at all.
But what is most surprising in this age of stock options and broad awareness of investing is how few people are actually saving at a pace that would sustain them after giving up full time careers. More than four in ten full time workers have accumulated less than $50,000 towards retirement and over 10 percent have saved nothing at all.
Lights Are On, But Nobody's Home
Retirement is a relatively late 20th century idea anyway.
A worker from the year 1900 could expect to live into his 70s and would likely work most of that time. If age or medical conditions warranted removal from the workforce, the network of family and grown children was expected to provide. The societal standards of the time did not provide for modern ideas of Social Security or 401k plans.
But experts warn of a time in the next 30 years where the crisis of elder care will reach epic proportions. Families of the late 20th century are nowhere near the size they once were. And standards have changed within society to the point that caring for the elderly will fall to institutions because families either do not exist or are not organized to handle the need from within.
Aging babyboomers are a crisis waiting to happen. More than 50 percent of the workforce belongs to this age group and will be retired within 20 years. A great deal of attention is generated by the challenge of replacing these people in the workforce. But the greater concern is what will happen to them once they get out. Many foresee the lines at the old folks homes to be worse than the department of motor vehicles.
A New Perk: Adult Day Care
Employers even today see and deal with this growing problem. According to a recent Hewitt Associates survey, eldercare benefits have increased 100 percent in the last six years. These benefits include resource and referral services, long-term care insurance, counseling and adult day care.
Nevertheless the demands of being a caregiver and a full time worker strain those managing a career. According to a MarketFacts study in May 2000, 70 percent of caregivers who work full time give up personal time, 55 percent sacrifice time with friends, more than half shirk home responsibilities and six in ten take time away from spouses, children and family.
No matter how great or small the demands of individual circumstances, eldercare is affecting job performance too. Over half of those surveyed reported missing time at work due to their situation and nearly a quarter had lost pay or suffered a reduction in working hours to meet the needs of their retired family.
What to do About It
Retirement looks to be a long ways off for workers in their 20s or 30s. But a dependence upon existing government programs or even employer-sponsored plans is a recipe for disaster. Retirement is more than just money, and it includes the care of more than just one. Here are some things to consider:
Steve Young likely has his retirement ducks in a row. He certainly has the money and the time to develop a plan for when he no longer has the ability to scramble without the aid of a walker. But the rest of us will not have the luxury of facing retirement at age 38. And if we wait until that day comes, we may be faced with a horror that the likes of Steve Young would never know.
-- Jeff Westover is a writer based in Salt Lake City, Utah and Managing
Editor of JobMarketReport.com.
