Bumps ahead on Easy Street?
As the US population grows older, the needs of retirees are likely to intensify. Early lessons from the 'oldest' county in America.
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Because service-oriented jobs are plentiful here, retirees can find work, says Betty Williams, economic development manager for the county. Yet average wages are low. The county developed as a retirement community and lacks industry.
As more retirees take jobs in the county, Ms. Holtzman sees attitudes changing. In banks, fast-food restaurants, and supermarkets here, old and young work side by side, dissolving walls between them.
"Employers are getting to recognize that the older worker is a very good worker," she says. "They don't have to take time off for babies and families."
Ron Kagan, a retired government worker who moved here from New York 20 years ago with his wife, Rita, recently took a part-time position as a food demonstrator at Sam's Club. "Money always helps," he says as he hands out cups of juice. "I like to be busy, and I like people. A lot of people don't do anything. They're just retired, period."
What does all this mean for state and local governments?
Even current views of retirement will undergo a transformation as people live longer and experience extended periods of retirement, says Carl Renold, professor of gerontology at California State University, Fullerton.
That raises two key questions. The first is financial. "A person may be retired now for 30 years," he says. "As a society, can we support that? Or are we going to find new and innovative ways to keep people active in the workforce for a longer period of time?"
He and many other experts on aging expect careers to continue longer.
"People are starting to think, 'If I'm retired for 30 or 40 years, I need to have the resources to enable me to do that,' " Professor Renold says. "It's got to be quite a bit [of money], if you don't plan on working for those 30 years."
Renold's second question involves health: "Are the baby boomers taking better care of themselves, so we're not going to have this massive amount of folks in nursing homes?"
Issues concerning long-term care, Medicare, and insurance loom large.
Beyond services and programs, what do older people need?
"Friendship, camaraderie, companionship somebody to understand them," says Kidd, the administrator at Villa San Carlos.
There is also a need for intellectual stimulation. Dale Crockett, a retired minister who takes classes at the Cultural Center, speaks for others when he says, "This is what we want to do in retirement be perennial students."
Drawing on a study on healthy aging that researchers at Florida State University are conducting in the county, Smith-Mooney, Punta Gorda's mayor, says, "Probably the greatest single ingredient of longevity is having activities and facilities that enable older people to remain active and still be a vital part of the community. We've discovered and have come to truly appreciate that people in their retiring years do have a very significant purpose in the scheme of things."
Renold emphasizes the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle and a healthy disposition throughout life. That includes being active in religious groups, community organizations, and social activities what he calls "continuing to have a place."
As retirees everywhere strive to maintain their place, Mische, the Minnesota retiree part realist, part idealist sums up the challenges and potential rewards of the later years.
"One part of your life is definitely gone," she says quietly. "There are many times when I sit there and think about the past we all do. But there's another part of life just waiting to be lived."
