Why Are Boomers Still Working? Maybe We Just Don’t Know How to Retire

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I am a 68-year-old baby boomer1baby boomer美國人口出生率在二戰后激增，1946年到1964年間約有7800萬嬰兒出生，通常把這期間出生的大量人口稱為嬰兒潮一代。who still works full time.I am precisely who younger people point to when they hear the reports that more of them can’t find jobs and more of me still have ours.

我今年68歲，嬰兒潮一代，仍在全職工作。有報道說，越來越多的年輕人找不到工作，越來越多的老年人還占著崗位不走，我就是他們指的那種老年人。

[2]Even as their population numbers have swelled2swell（使）增加，擴大。from 2007 to 2015,the number of 22- to 34-year-olds in the workplace has remained the same,while the number of retirement-age workers has grown 9 percent,according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[2]美國勞工統計局稱，青壯年人口在2007年到2015年間急劇膨脹，但22歲到34歲之間的從業人口數量保持不變，而同期達到退休年齡的人口數量卻增長了9%。

[3]So why don’t I just retire and make room for someone younger to have a turn at the trough?

[3]那么，我為什么不退休，給某個年輕人騰出位置，讓他走出低谷呢？

[4]Every boomer has a different story,but as a collective group our defense has been a heartfelt “we need the money.”As a demographic,we got hit hard in the Great Recession3指2007到2009年間的全球經濟大衰退，與2007年美國次級房貸危機、金融危機關系密切。,lost our jobs,our homes and our retirement savings,and so yes,we are still working to replace what we lost more than a decade ago.We are also caregivers to elderly parents,our adult children still live with us,our names are co-signed on college loans and second mortgages,so we have expenses―many incurred4incur招致。in the pursuit of helping others.And lastly,we exist with the constant reminder that we could very well live into the triple digits whether we want to or not,thanks to modern science and rightto-die laws with more holes than Swiss cheese5more holes than Swiss cheese〈習語〉瑞士奶酪上總有很多大大小小的洞，比瑞士奶酪的洞還要多，意思是問題很多。.Too bad neither Social Security or Medicare are enjoying the robust health or predictions of longevity that boomers appear to be having.

[4]盡管經歷各不相同，但我們這代人共同的辯護理由是真心“需要錢”。作為一個群體，我們在經濟大衰退中遭受重創，失去了工作、房子還有退休金，所以直到現在還得努力工作彌補十多年前的損失。我們上得照顧年邁的父母，下得跟成年子女合住，得和他們一起在大學助學貸款和二次抵押貸款合同上簽字。所以，花錢的地方不少，好多都不是為了自己。最后，我們還時時被告知，無論自己愿不愿意，完全有可能活到百歲以上，這要感謝現代科學以及漏洞多過瑞士奶酪的死亡權法。嬰兒潮一代身體健康，預期壽命長，但糟糕的是，這令社會保障及老年和殘障健康保險不堪重負。

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[5]So yeah,we need the money.Except maybe that’s not all of it.

[5]所以啊，我們需要錢。但不退休的原因可能不止于此。

[6]People need more than financial security to make the leap to retirement,says the Boston College Center for Retirement Research.Work gives us intangible benefits―things like a sense of worth,the knowledge that we are making a contribution and a chance to be part of something.How do you replace all that?

[6]波士頓學院退休研究中心指出，要跨越到退休，人們需要的不僅僅是經濟保障。工作可以帶來無形的福利——價值感、成就感以及參與事務的機會等。這些該如何替代？

[7]It isn’t even just that my generation has “a notoriously hard-charging6hard-charging熟練且有干勁的；全力進取的。work ethic and drive to get ahead” that can“make it difficult to envision downshifting into the slower pace of retired life,” as Gallup found in 2014.

[7]蓋洛普咨詢公司2014年的研究發現，我們這一代人“難以想象放慢節奏進入退休生活”，其原因不僅僅是我們“工作非常有干勁、很想出人頭地”。

[8]No,it is something else.I don’t know how to retire.While I never thought of how to retire as something that needed to be learned or taught,perhaps it is.

[8]的確，還有其他原因：我不知道該怎么退下來。我從未想過退休還得學習或有人教，但可能果真如此。

[9]The good news is that some corporations are changing their benefits to accommodate workers age 55 and older,mostly because we will account for 25 percent of the labor force by 2020.And some of those benefits include helping people learn how to not work anymore.Lessons include the obvious things like understanding retiree health care options and financial planning,but they also delve into7delve into鉆研；深入研究。what your retirement goals are.What will you do when the alarm clock no longer rings each morning?

[9]好消息是，有些公司已開始調整55歲以上員工的福利，主要是因為，到2020年嬰兒潮一代將占據勞動人口的25%。其中一些福利包括幫助員工學會如何不再工作。所授課程不但涉及搞懂退休人員醫保方案和財務規劃等普通內容，還深入探討退休后的目標。當每天早晨鬧鐘不再響起，你會做什么？

[10]Some companies are also providing the option of a phased-in retirement,where you go from fulltime to part-time hours but keep allimportant health benefits for you and your family members who need them.Herman Miller,the Michiganbased furniture company that employs 8,000 people worldwide,has a flexible retirement program that couples the reduction of hours for pending retirees with a coaching service.You aren’t just handed a gold watch and shown the door with insincere promises made about staying in touch;you first discuss things like setting goals.And it’s a two-way street: Retiring employees put together a knowledge-transfer plan to mentor their replacements.The flex program gives employees six months to two years to phase out of their jobs.

[10]還有一些公司開始實施分階段退休計劃，員工可以從全職轉為兼職，但仍可為自己和有需求的家庭成員保留至關重要的健康福利。總部位于密歇根州的赫曼米勒家具公司在全球擁有8000名員工。公司推行一種靈活的退休制度，一面減少即將退休人員的工作時間，一面給他們提供輔導。退休不再是遞給你一塊金表，把你請出去，虛與委蛇地表示要保持聯系，而是先談談設立目標這樣的事。靈活的退休方案是雙向的：即將退休的員工制訂知識轉移計劃，指導接班人；自己則有六個月到兩年的時間逐步淡出工作崗位。

[11]Herman Miller also lets all workers take up to 12 unpaid weeks off while their health benefits continue.This provides a good taste of retired life,and we suspect that more than a few have used it to test their snowbird8snowbird冬季到溫暖地區旅居的人。wings,trading in the cold Michigan winter for a warmer climate to see if they like it.

[11]赫曼米勒公司還給所有員工提供12周的無薪休假，期間保留醫保待遇。這讓員工可以好好體驗一把退休生活。估計不少員工已選擇利用假期去試試冬候鳥的生活方式：在寒冷的冬季離開密歇根州遷移到更溫暖的地方去，看看自己是否會喜歡。

[12]I like the idea of testing out retirement before jumping in the deep end9jump in the deep end〈習語〉指在沒有充分準備或指導的情況下開始嘗試新的、艱巨的任務。.I also like the idea that retirement could be a gradual change where the balance shifts away from work and more into post-work leisure over the course of a few months or years.■

[12]我贊同在做出退休的艱難決定之前先體驗一下。我同樣贊同循序漸進地退休，在幾個月或幾年的時間里，逐步將生活的重心從工作轉移到工作后的休閑。□