Archive for April, 2009

Who’s the Most Screwed Generation?

Lina Ko April 29th, 2009

I read with interest the Globe and Mail article yesterday about the Most Screwed Generation. During this worst economic crisis in the last six decades, seniors and long-time pensioners are the most hurt as their investments have been decimated and they don’t have enough years left to recoup their losses. Meanwhile, their grandchildren, Generations X and Y, are shouting out their pain as well – no job prospects, no houses and no more fine dining. We baby boomers are also complaining about everything – avoid looking at our RRSP statements; putting our retirement plans on hold; our houses have gone down dramatically in prices; and our pensions are in the toilet. Plus the sandwiched boomers who are worried about grown kids and senile parents.

Let’s face it – for boomers, we’re really not that bad. Most of us may not have fat pensions, but we have our houses or condos; we have our RRSPs and what comes down must go up one day. We can complain until the cows come home, but life is tough and only cautious optimists will survive the storm!

Health is Wealth

Lina Ko April 21st, 2009

According to the Toronto Sun, forget a degree in business administration, finance or economics. And don’t bother with an MBA – at least for now.

If you want a job, health is wealth. A trend forecaster, Gerald Celente of the Trends Research Institute, predicted that with all the baby boomers going deaf, blind and out of their minds, they will need help.

According to a study by the U.S. Labor Department, 13 of the 20 fastest-growing occupations between 2004 and 2014 are related to health care. Canada is not far off either. Home health aides, medical assistants and physician assistants are in the top five. “The university system is very much geared to the 20th century, not the 21st century,” said Celente. “It’s been decades since a college degree served as an automatic passport to a good job.”

Among the top future jobs are: the health, nutrition and fitness fields – meeting spiritual, emotional or physical needs will provide employment opportunities at all levels, from services to products. The whole developing world is ageing and they are not in good shape overall – they are overweight, stressed out and addicted to prescription drugs. It looks like they are prime candidates for extensive care.

I don’t envy young students who are about to graduate from universities or colleges this year. The economy is still looking vulnerable and finding a permanent job is challenging. Jobs in education and health care seem to be good bets since they are recession-proof. When all else fails, start a business geared towards boomers, and you’re in the right direction!

Living Life As It Comes

Lina Ko April 8th, 2009

According to The Edmonton Journal, whatever our stage of life is, we all fight battles with fear or despair. But ageing gracefully nowadays means ‘living life as it comes’. Sister Joan Chittister, author of The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully, says one function of ageing is to become comfortable with the self we are now rather than to mourn what we are not or to regret paths chosen.

For many years of our adult lives, jobs and other roles give us a measure of status and power. The challenge is to avoid the hollowness that comes with stripping away of that status that comes, inevitably, with age. We are more than what we do, or did, for a living. Our meaning in life comes in being, not doing – being interested and being available, being honest and being helpful.

I see some baby boomers withering away after retirement. Most of them do not have any passions in life other than their work, and when stripped of their jobs, they become clueless as to how to live. A determination to continue to enrich our lives and the lives of others is important during our Fall and Winter years. As Sister Chittister pointed out, our moral obligation as we age is to stay as well as we can, to avoid abusing our bodies, to do the things that interest us and to enrich the lives of those around us.

The greatest danger in one’s 60’s, whether you’re a boomer or a senior citizen, is to be trapped in one’s body and one’s habits, not to recognize those supposedly sedate years as a time to discover new choices and to act upon them.

Remember how we always talk about certain old people as grumpy old men and women? The risk for people who look upon this phase of life as bane, not blessing, is that they grow sullen, listless. I have to conclude with Chittister’s sound advice, “They bring no joy to the world because they have no joy to give… They become grumpy old men, whining old women – not because that is what old age is about, but because they have chosen to be less than they are meant to be.” It’s important that as boomers age, they should continue to be relevant, interesting, warm and positive towards living their daily lives.