Thriving in the Third Age
Opinion
By Kathy Martin
Retirement is changing. We are living longer. We are more active. We can continue working — if we want to — well into our retirement years. We can go on adventures, start new hobbies, volunteer, or continue our education. Getting your AARP card is no longer a dreaded milestone, but access to great discounts. Birthdays are celebrations of possibility and opportunity, not a sign that you are over the hill.
One only needs to compare advertising campaigns from the 1980s to today to see that the retirement experience has been entirely reframed by the choices and behaviors of those in retirement now and those expected to retire in the next three to 10 years — the Baby Boomers. Medicare subscribers increase by 10,000 every day, and that number is expected to double by the end of the decade.
You’ve heard that 40 is the new 50? Well, the truth is that 80 is the new 60. In the landmark Age Wave study, the definition of ‘old’ has been pushed back 20 years. In this study, 83% of adults reported they want to be useful in retirement (compared to the 17% that want to be youthful). In that same study, 66% said retirement is a ‘new chapter’ in life, and 97% said it’s important to ‘stay curious’ and be willing to ‘learn new things’ throughout life.
This data reflects what has been called the Third Age — age 60 and up — when the focus is on personal development and reinvention through a lens of growth and purpose. According to Dr. Ken Dychtwald, goals that once seemed cliché and almost mythical — fun, contentment, and happiness — peak during the Third Age.
We arrive in the Third Age during a time of unprecedented medical innovation that leads to longer lifespan, an understanding of the human body and mind that gives us tools to optimize physical and mental health, and a societal openness to self-reflection, centeredness, and peace as worthwhile individual endeavors. The pressure to produce has been replaced with the freedom to choose.
When we started to explore the idea of honoring individuals in their Third Age, it quickly became clear that so many in the 60+ community are embracing this time in their lives. Glenmeadow’s inaugural Age of Excellence Awards were born out of the desire to recognize and celebrate those who serve as models for us all staying open-minded and seeking fresh experiences.
Isn’t that what we are working toward? The opportunity in retirement to embrace self-determination and spend time on things we enjoy — whether that means hiking the Appalachian Trail, traveling the world, starting that business we’d always dreamed of, reading books, or serving the community — the Third Age is a time to put yourself first in a way perhaps you never have before.
In the best of circumstances, though, retirement isn’t just about doing. It’s about being. It’s not about retiring. It’s about contributing. In “The Summer Day,” poet Mary Oliver asked, “what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Perhaps now it is relevant to ask, “what is you plan to do with your Third Age?”
Kathy Martin is president and CEO of Glenmeadow, which recently announced seven winners of its inaugural Age of Excellence Awards: Lawrence Akers, Debbie Gardner, Jeffrey Greim, Ethel Griffin, James Lagodich, Maria Roy, and Karen Tetreault. Learn more about them at glenmeadow.org/age-of-excellence-awards.
