Editor's Note
Game Planning
As I gazed upon the pristine, snow-capped peaks passing by, the gentle swells of the sea and the deep thrum of the cruise ship’s engines encouraged my eyelids to droop. I was reclining on a chaise lounge after a few laps around the promenade deck as the Princess Sapphire made her way up Alaska’s Inner Passage. Thoughts of PSAs, TSHs, HMOs, and PFP blew away with the cool breeze. So this is what retirement might be like, I thought—leaning back, reflecting on a stress-free existence.
Other physicians have different ideas about what retirement is all about. In this month’s issue, you’ll meet two who left practice to help build a health care system in Cameroon. One who keeps dreaming up medical devices. Another who “practices around,” sampling medical practices around the state and elsewhere in the country by doing locum tenens. And others who never really retire, doctoring well past receipt of their AARP and Medicare cards while their contemporaries tee off or tour about.
Our society has an ambivalent relationship with retirement. The myth of the “golden years,” perpetual relaxation and enjoyment as a reward for years of hard labor, still exists. But it sits side by side a culture that celebrates and rewards workaholics. We chip away at the iconic retirement age of 65, as companies either push mandatory retirement to age 70 or eliminate it altogether. Even as many people are retiring earlier, a crosscurrent of seniors are pursuing productive work lives into their 70s and 80s.
In a recent issue of Wilson Quarterly, University of Houston professor W. Andrew Achenbaum asked “What is retirement supposed to be?” and delved into the history of retirement in America. Starting in 1890, the fraction of Americans older than 65 in the workforce started dwindling from two-thirds to the current 27 percent as they were lured out of work by the advent of pensions and Social Security. Achenbaum predicted the start of a new era, during which the improving health of aging baby boomers, the economy’s demands for skilled workers, and the difficulty of maintaining the Medicare/Social Security safety net will reverse this trend, keeping more seniors working or seeing more of them unretire.
Over the years, I have conducted an informal survey of my patients who have just retired. I ask them “Are you enjoying your retirement?” and “What are you doing in your retirement?” The answer to the first is an emphatic “Yes” in the first days after they get the gold watch, which fades to an equivocal “OK” after the realities of unstructured time set in. The answer to the second question seems to be the key to retirement success. If they say “I’ll figure it out,” they come back the next year disgruntled, looking for alternatives. If they tick off concrete plans, they return charged up about their new life.
I left my easy chair, and the remainder of my Alaska vacation was filled with one activity after the other—sea kayaking, a journey on the White Pass railroad, hiking in Denali—all laid out by my wife after well-researched planning. I hope my retirement looks a bit like that, a game plan that charts out a second career or a new life.
Charles R. Meyer, M.D., editor in chief
Dr. Meyer can be reached at
cmeyer1@fairview.org