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By Stan Hinden | February 2010
Is there life after retirement? Yes, there is. And it can be interesting, satisfying and, perhaps, even profitable. How do I know? Well, for five years I wrote a column for the magazine published by NARFE, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.
The title of my column was:"Retirement and Beyond" and my task was to find former federal workers who, after they retired, went on to do interesting and even unusual things.
During the years I wrote the NARFE magazine column, I interviewed two dozen men and women who were using their retirements to add new dimensions to their lives. The individuals differed in many respects but they had several things in common. The most important, perhaps, was that there were no rocking chairs in sight.
In a few cases, the retirees turned their interest in business into full-time commercial and profitable endeavors. But for most of these energetic folks, retirement was a gateway to volunteer opportunities and adventures.
For example, I wrote about a retired law enforcement official who had spent 24 years sitting behind a desk wearing a coat and tie. When he retired, he ditched the coat and tie, and became a team leader for Habitat for Humanity International, the global builder of homes for the poor. When I spoke to him, he had already led volunteers to dozens of countries where living conditions for the builders were often quite primitive. Despite the hardships, the volunteers succeeded in building those badly-needed houses.
Then, there was the sprightly woman who completed a 36-year career in federal service and decided to fulfill her life-long dream to join the Peace Corps. So at the age of 64, she signed up for a two-year stint in the Republic of Namibia, an African country formerly known as South-West Africa. She worked in the schools and taught teachers how to use computers.
Most of the people I wrote about found their retirement inspirations in this country, where they were involved in a variety of volunteer activities. These included setting up charter schools, creating credit unions in poor communities, helping police solve cold cases, fighting disease, counseling people caught up in the court systems and working to provide equal opportunities for Latino citizens.
What prompted these former federal workers to become heavily engaged in such meaningful activities? There were several reasons.
In almost all cases, the retirees said they were motivated by the desire to "give back" to their country and to their communities for the privileges they enjoyed during their careers. In their minds, they were using their retirements to even up the balance sheets of their lives.
But, I think there were other factors, as well. Almost all of the people I interviewed had held responsible positions in federal agencies. Their jobs gave them social standing and personal prestige. In many cases, their jobs also became their identities.
That made it almost certain that, soon after retirement, they would find endeavors where, once again, they could help direct the course of events.
It should be noted that one of the reasons most of my interviewees were able to engage in these worthwhile—and mostly unpaid—activities was that they were receiving comfortable federal pensions.
There are, of course, many people who are not federal retirees who also volunteer their services to community organizations on a regular basis.
In 2008, according to the federal Corporation for National and Community Service in Washington, 61.8 million Americans or 26.4 percent of the adult population contributed 8 billion hours of volunteer service worth $162 billion, using the independent sector's estimate of the dollar value of a volunteer hour--$20.25. 1
Indeed, the recession appears to have encouraged many new people to join the ranks of volunteers.
On November 22, 2009, Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney reported:
"There's been a remarkable surge in the past year in the number of generous souls volunteering to shelter the homeless, feed the hungry and otherwise assist nonprofit groups that serve the needy in our region.
Thousands of residents of all ages, races and income levels are showing up to help for the first time, usually for a few hours a week, according to leaders of local service organizations thrilled by the trend. The extra bodies are making it a bit easier for nonprofits to absorb the recession's brutal, double impact of falling cash donations and rising want."
"There is an incredible increase in volunteerism," said Madye Henson, president and chief executive of Greater DC Cares, which recruits, trains and places volunteers for 750 nonprofits and schools across the (Washington) region. It's on track to supply more than 20,000 volunteers this year, smashing last year's record of 12,000. Its surveys show that the majority of newcomers have not volunteered previously. 2
Even before the recession, it was clear that many Boomers were thinking about increasing their volunteer activities when they left their jobs. In a 2004 survey by Roper ASW for AARP, some 62 percent of Boomers who were then volunteering said they expected to devote more time to community service and volunteering once they retired. 3
In short, I have been delighted to learn that the men and women I interviewed for those NARFE magazine columns were not the only retirees interested in "giving back" to their communities. Thankfully, they have a lot of company. Helping make the world a better place is surely a worthy use of one's free time and talents.
Copyright 2010, Stan Hinden. All rights reserved. Reprint permission required.
The author was compensated for writing this article by AARP Financial.
