Researching the Plans of the 'Retiring' Boomers

Nationally syndicated columnist Scott Burns shares my curiosity about the career plans of the aging baby boomers, and he's taken the right step: asking them to contact him and tell him what their plans are! If you 55 or older, you should participate.

Link: HoustonChronicle.com - Scott Burns: The silver-haired and their silver lining.

So far, this [demographic] change [of baby boomers aging and retiring] has been discussed as though it would be a dead-weight loss [to the economy]. I think that's wrong, but I can't tell you how we will benefit. I also can't tell you how, or if, that benefit will be measured anywhere. We know how to measure formal employment. We know how to measure what people do for money. Economists do all of that pretty well. What economists do poorly, if at all, is measure the human economy that makes the money economy possible.

So, readers, help me with this. If you are 55, 60, 65 or 75 and have retired or have otherwise found a need to reinvent yourself, write and tell me what you did, how you did it, and how you think it adds value to our society and economy. SCOTT BURNS, P.O. Box 655237, Dallas 75265; e-mail can be sent to [email protected].