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boomers

Flexible Job for Baby Boomers – How to Enjoy a Retirement Vibe Without Retiring

March 13, 2019 by BoomersNextStep Guest Author Leave a Comment

 beBaby Boomers – How to Enjoy a Retirement Vibe Without Retiring
My 79-year-old widowed mother has a part-time job aiding elderly people in their homes. I used to be amused by saying that; I mean, 79 is elderly, isn’t it?
The fact is, her paid work is a mere four hours a week, a small piece of her portfolio of several self-chosen activities which keep her vibrantly engaged with life. My mom is an admirable example of the “new old.”
But I’m no longer amused at the irony of her employment since I read about an 89-year-old former airline pilot who works 25 hours or more a week helping older adults find jobs. Yikes!
Meanwhile, following this great generation are baby boomers bracing for a future that will have them working beyond the standard retirement age. If it looks like you’ll be working into your 60s, 70s or beyond, here’s a twist on telecommuting that can give you a retirement vibe without retiring.
Try telecommuting as a way to get out of town and still earn a living.
Am I suggesting you take your laptop computer on your vacation? No, not that. Definitely not!
Instead, consider a seasonal escape where you do your usual work in the salubrious setting of your choice for six to eight weeks.
Imagine the following temporary work set-ups (but not all three, of course!):
•February and March at your South Carolina condo
•June and July at a vacation rental in Idaho or Ireland
•Thanksgiving through New Year’s at your son’s home in another state
Sounds lovely, you say? But how is it possible? I’ve outlined 5 steps, below.
This flexible work life tactic assumes you are a “knowledge worker,” i.e., a professional who commutes daily to reach a computer and a phone to do your job. We’ll turn it around so that the laptop and phone goes to the worker (you) instead.
It’s a progression of steps over six months.
Why not start today?
STEP 1: Change your thinking about how your job gets done.
Begin to recognize that you can work from anywhere. This may be a new idea for you so the biggest obstacles are probably in your mind. (We’ll deal with your manager separately.)
Most telecommuters work remotely one to three days a week. While not widespread, there are employees who work full time from home. Your intended gig is working full time from (a temporary, faraway) home for only a season.
STEP 2: Arrange to telecommute from your home.
First, redesign your job into telecommuting.
Don’t be put off if there are some job tasks that you can’t imagine being done from thousands of miles away. We’ll get to that further down.
Set up remote access to your work computer through your employer’s network or using remote access software.
Over a period of weeks, work an hour or so on a few job tasks in the evening or a Saturday from home. Don’t make it a habit; your goal is to prove to yourself-and eventually your manager-that you can perform your job well from home.
After you’ve proven to yourself it can be done, present a proposal to your manager to work from home two or three days of each five-day workweek.
Assuming approval of your request (most long-term, trusted employees get the green light for at least a trial period), you’ll move to Step 3.
STEP 3: Nudge telecommuting from home up to the next level.
After three months of telecommuting two or three days a week, request to work four days a week from home.
STEP 4: Arrange an in-person meeting with your manager to assess your telecommuting arrangement.
Your mission is to gauge your manager’s true comfort and confidence level about your work set-up.
With six months or more of solid telecommuting experience, you will have likely improved your output. Most remote workers see double-digit productivity increases; with fewer interruptions and no socializing, what’s to do but work?
This foundation, paired with your positioning as a reliable, well-performing employee your manager doesn’t want to lose (right?), sets you up to get approval of your request.
Yet, you need to get a clearer view of the situation from your manager’s perspective.
Is your he or she blown away at your productivity output (at which time you can reinforce the value of remote work and how it adds to your job satisfaction and achievements)?
Or is your manager suggesting that four days a week working away from the office is excessive?
What else? Listen carefully (especially between the lines). Do a subtle probe of the attitude environment so you can figure your next move.
STEP 5: Request your seasonal remote work arrangement.
Based on the outcome of Step 4, you’ll know (or sense) if and when it’s a wise move to go forward with your request.
Let’s say you have a good vibe about it and you’re planning to ask.
Make your request at least two months before your anticipated start date; given approval, you’ll need the time to make travel and accommodation arrangements.
Ask for eight weeks of long-distance telecommuting so you have room to negotiate for fewer.
If you meet little resistance and you really only want three to six weeks, confirm your travel arrangements first, then immediately alert your manager to the adjusted dates.
Fine-Tune Step 2
Looking back at Step 2, are there job tasks that can not be performed from a remote location? Let’s tackle that issue by considering the possibilities.
Could those particular job tasks:
•be skipped during the weeks that you’re away from the office?
•be deferred until your return?
•be delegated?
•be done in a collaborative way via telework tools?
•be given work-around treatment*?
If you’ve set up a job sharing arrangement, Step Two has fewer obstacles.
*Imagine you had to take several weeks of FMLA leave to be with your elderly parent in a faraway state during his or her hip replacement surgery, rehab and recuperation. Beyond your ability to access your office computer from your parent’s home to do some work, how would you and your employer manage the other aspects of your job? There’s no perfect solution, but there’s usually a work-it-out solution. Think in those terms.
Make it Happen
Is this an unusual arrangement? Yes.
Is it really possible? Yes, if you follow the steps above over a sufficient chunk of time, you may be surprised at the flexible work lifestyle you can craft for yourself that has hints of a retirement vibe.
Flexible work adviser and pay raise coach Pat Katepoo equips career professionals to negotiate for more time and money at their current job. Will your boss say YES to your request for a flexible work arrangement? Find out using this quick 3-question quiz. Find more tools and tactics for a flexible work life after 50 at WorkOptions.com.

Flexible Job for Baby Boomers

My 79-year-old widowed mother has a part-time job aiding elderly people in their homes. I used to be amused by saying that; I mean, 79 is elderly, isn’t it?

The fact is, her paid work is a mere four hours a week, a small piece of her portfolio of several self-chosen activities which keep her vibrantly engaged with life. My mom is an admirable example of the “new old.”

But I’m no longer amused at the irony of her employment since I read about an 89-year-old former airline pilot who works 25 hours or more a week helping older adults find jobs. Yikes!

Working beyond standard retirement age

Following this great generation of over 75s are baby boomers bracing for a future that will have them working beyond the standard retirement age. If it looks like you’ll be working through your 60s into your 70s or beyond, here’s a twist on flexible work that can give you a retirement vibe without retiring.

Tips on How to Start Your Flexible Job

Try telecommuting

Am I suggesting you take your laptop computer on your vacation? No, not that. Definitely not! I’ve tried that and it’s difficult and not fun.

Instead, consider a seasonal escape where you do your usual work in the salubrious setting of your choice for six to eight weeks.

Flexible work in IrelandImagine this flexible job scenario:

Working happily on your computer

  • February and March at your Sunshine Coast apartment
  • July and August at a holiday rental in Ubud or Ireland

Sounds lovely, you say? But how is it possible?

I’ve outlined 5 steps below.

Knowledge worker

This flexible work life tactic assumes you are a “knowledge worker,” i.e., a professional who commutes daily but mainly uses a computer and a phone to do your job. You could turn it around so that the laptop and phone goes to the worker (you) instead.

It’s a progression of steps over six months. Why not start today?

STEP 1: Change your thinking about how your job gets done.

Begin to recognize that you can work from anywhere. This may be a new idea for you so the biggest obstacles are probably in your mind. (We’ll deal with your manager separately.)

Most telecommuters work remotely one to three days a week. While not widespread, there are employees who work full time from home. Your intended gig is working full time from a temporary, faraway home for blocks of time.

STEP 2: Arrange to telecommute from your home.

First, redesign your job into telecommuting.

Don’t be put off if there are some job tasks that you can’t imagine being done from thousands of miles away. We’ll get to that further down.

Set up remote access to your work computer through your employer’s network or using remote access software.

Over a period of weeks, work an hour or so on a few job tasks in the evening or a Saturday from home. Don’t make it a habit; your goal is to prove to yourself-and eventually your manager-that you can perform your job well from home.

Expand your proposal.

After you’ve proven to yourself it can be done, present a proposal to your manager to work from home two or three days of each five-day workweek.

Assuming approval of your request (most long-term, trusted employees get the green light for at least a trial period), you’ll move to Step 3.

STEP 3: Nudge telecommuting from home up to the next level.

After three months of telecommuting two or three days a week, request to work four days a week from home.

STEP 4: Have a meeting with your manager to assess your flexible work arrangement.

Your mission is to gauge your manager’s true comfort and confidence level about your work set-up.With six months or more of solid telecommuting experience, you will have likely improved your output.

Most remote workers see double-digit productivity increases; with fewer interruptions and no socializing, what’s to do but work?

This foundation, paired with your positioning as a reliable, well-performing employee your manager doesn’t want to lose (right?), sets you up to get approval of your request.

Consider the manager’s perspective.

Is your he or she blown away at your productivity output?  If so this is the time to reinforce the value of remote flexible work and how it adds to your job satisfaction and achievements?

Or is your manager suggesting that four days a week working away from the office is excessive?

What else? Listen carefully, especially between the lines. Do a subtle probe of the attitude environment so you can figure your next move.

STEP 5: Request your seasonal remote work arrangement.

Based on the outcome of Step 4, you’ll know (or sense) if and when it’s a wise move to go forward with your request.

Let’s say you have a good vibe about it and you’re planning to ask.

Act strategically

Make your request at least two months before your anticipated start date for your remote flexible work to be conducted in another location. Given approval you’ll need the time to make travel and accommodation arrangements.

Ask for eight weeks of long-distance telecommuting so you have room to negotiate for fewer.

If you meet little resistance and you really only want three to six weeks, confirm your travel arrangements first, then immediately alert your manager to the adjusted dates.

Fine-Tune Step 2

Looking back at Step 2, are there job tasks that can not be performed from a remote location? Let’s tackle that issue by considering the possibilities.

Could those particular job tasks be:

  • skipped during the weeks that you’re away from the office?
  • deferred until your return?
  • delegated?
  • done in a collaborative way via telework tools?
  • completed on your return?

If you’ve set up a job sharing arrangement, Step Two has fewer obstacles.

Consider how you’d manage under different circumstances.

Imagine you had to take several weeks of leave to be with your elderly parent in a faraway state during his or her hip replacement surgery, rehab and recuperation.

Beyond your ability to access your office computer from your parent’s home to do some work, how would you and your employer manage the other aspects of your job? There’s no perfect flexible work solution, but there’s usually a work-it-out solution.

Make it Happen

Is this an unusual arrangement? Yes.

Could a flexible job really be possible? If you follow the steps above over a sufficient chunk of time you may be surprised at the flexible work lifestyle you can craft for yourself that has hints of a retirement vibe.

About our Guest Author:

Flexible work adviser and pay raise coach Pat Katepoo equips career professionals to negotiate for more time and money at their current job.

Request our free Retirement Lifestyle Guide “Create A Future You Will Love” today!

CEO of Me: Creating a Life That Works in the Flexible Job Age

Filed Under: Designing Your Retirement, Lifestyle, Your Employment Tagged With: boomers, Coach, flexible work, jobs, Retirement

Baby Boomers and Midlife Career Changes

January 26, 2017 by BoomersNextStep Guest Author Leave a Comment

Baby boomers and midlife career change

Baby boomers, are you thinking about a midlife career change?

Many baby boomers are contemplating midlife career changes for a variety of reasons. One of the simplest reasons is that there are far more job and entrepreneurial options now than there have ever been before.

People who are now contemplating a midlife change are seeing the power of online businesses. These types of businesses didn’t exist when baby boomers started their careers, and the current crop of business options is presenting a tempting alternative.

Baby Boomer Career Change [Read more…] about Baby Boomers and Midlife Career Changes

Filed Under: Your Employment Tagged With: baby boomers, boomer generation, boomers, career advice, career change, careers, midlife career change, new career

A Boomers’ Guide to Volunteering After Retirement

November 17, 2015 by BoomersNextStep Guest Author Leave a Comment

Guide to Volunteering After Retirement as Encore Career

The face of volunteerism is changing. Challenging economical conditions, advances in technology, and boomers approaching retirement age are major influences on how non-profit organizations operate differently than in the past. There are many more people seeking help from service organizations, but there are also many more people who are volunteering.

These and other social trends inspired by boomers, such as the green awareness movement and flexible work schedules, are spurring the non-profit community to respond in pioneering ways. However, some boomers are finding that not all non-profits are ready for their services. The resources below can help boomers make informed choices about their encore careers as volunteers.

Volunteering After Retirement

Today’s Volunteer

According to a five-year study by the Taproot Foundation, Corporate Baby Boomers and Volunteerism (PDF), there is an overlap in two demographics – baby boomers and corporate employees – that is defining a new kind of volunteer. These Corporate Baby Boomers (CBBs):

 

  • Consider service as a core value to be acted on continually
  • Seek clearly-defined and well managed volunteer opportunities
  • Want to see a good match between what an organization needs and how their unique skills and experience can help
  • Need opportunities that can be flexible and easily integrated into their schedules
  • Have an abundance of transferable skills in management, communications, and leadership

 

While certainly not all those retiring are corporate employees, many can relate to the above criteria as they consider entering the service industry. Boomers are expressing a strong desire to launch a new chapter in their lives that involves measurable social contribution. The kinds of contributions, though, vary greatly.

Today’s Volunteering Opportunities

As they consider volunteering post-retirement, most boomers want choices. They may consider very different kinds of experiences to be enriching:

 

  • Being part of far-reaching positive change
  • Keeping some kind of structure in their lives that gets them out of the house
  • Continuing work they’re good at but in ways that they find more rewarding
  • Simply giving back to their local community
  • Acting as their own “boss” or starting their own organization
  • Contributing online or in person
  • Feeling needed and purposeful
  • Working behind the scenes or directly with people in need
  • Pitching in occasionally when the call arises
  • Being part of a group or helping people one-on-one

 

Skills-Based Volunteering

A new kind of opportunity for volunteers is Skills-Based Volunteering (SBV), where expertise is offered for free to non-profits that need help to grow or maintain their services. It can also be called pro bono work or free consulting. Particularly appealing to entrepreneurs, this is a way to further develop expertise while giving back. For example, SCORE is a national network of business professionals (many retired) who volunteer their time to offer free advice to small business owners.

Corporations can also offer pro bono work to non-profits as a way of one organization helping another. Boomers who are looking to have extensive impact can propose SBV programs (like that of Deloitte) to their employers and other companies, or consider including an SBV program within their own business.

More information about Skills-Based Volunteering can be found on these sites:

 

  • HandsOn Network’s Skill-Based Volunteering 101
  • 10 Tips on How to Volunteer Your Business Skills to a Nonprofit
  • Corporation for National and Community Service

 

Education and Certification

In order to hone their professions toward social good, and secure the kind of volunteer position that they prefer, prospective volunteers can pursue the Volunteer Leadership Certificate Program through HandsOn University Online, a partnership between HandsOn Network and the University of Phoenix.

College-level educational programs in Social Entrepreneurship and academic projects in social good can further equip boomers for an encore career in making a difference. The Taproot Foundation maintains a list of these kinds of programs.

Fields of Service

Formal and informal opportunities for volunteer service can be found or created in virtually any area of society. General categories include:

 

  • Working with animals and in the field of ecology
  • Protecting the environment and providing nature education
  • Contributing through civic service and community-based organizations
  • Promoting or participating in the arts and cultural activities
  • Teaching and inspiring
  • Implementing and supporting technology
  • Providing health care and human services
  • Educating about and providing public safety and disaster preparedness
  • Mentoring and leading children and youth
  • Working with seniors and the disabled
  • Providing relief and recovery in disasters
  • Participating globally through international service

 

Finding Specific Volunteering Opportunities

Those looking for available volunteering after retirement opportunities can check out the following websites:

 

  • HandsOn Network
  • SmartVolunteer
  • VolunteerMatch

 

This guest post was written by Ellen Berry. Ellen writes about a variety of college and career topics for braintrack.com and has contributed expert career planning advice to the website.

Filed Under: Job Search For Older Workers, Volunteering Tagged With: boomers, encore career, encore movement, places to volunteer, turning volunteer work into encore career, volunteer abroad, volunteer organizations, volunteer work, volunteering after retirement

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