For some folks in the retirement age group, the prospect of being able to work on something of significance is reward enough, especially after spending a considerable amount of time watching the clock and the world go around in traditional retirement. One company that has offered retirement age workers an opportunity to collect a “playcheck”(where the chief reward desired is the satisfaction of doing good work) is the Prudential Insurance Company, which offers a couple of ways to get involved. Prudential offers both a temp service staffed by retirees and has launched Retirees Offering Community Service, a group of volunteers who meet monthly to organize such projects as food distribution and reading fairs.

“I fear that I won’t work in the theatre again. I’m sad about that. But I won’t retire” – Maggie Smith

We do not all work simply for a paycheck. There is so much more to defining the rewards of work than in strictly monetary terms. Currently, a vast array of experienced and eager individuals over 60 want to put their skills, their wisdom, and their hearts to work as well as their hands. All the companies and individuals I have mentioned thus far who are working past the traditional retirement boundaries are doing it, in part at least, to collect a playcheck. They derive a sense of satisfaction from the work, a sense of familial fraternization from the workplace and a sense of personal identity from what they accomplish. It is soft-pedaling to simply call the ultimatum of retirement unnatural, for in some cases it is cruel. When the ultimatum of retirement removes an individual from the identity, satisfaction, and fellowship that brings a sense of purpose simply on the basis of age, that is indeed cruel.

Clearly the time has come for all companies to read the demographics, accept the fact that retirement should not be an either-or-proposition, and begin offering its workforce the more natural and flexible phased retirement. The either-or-approach to work and retirement does not work well for most retirees, and considering the demographics of the next 20 to 30 years, it will not work well for the corporation.