Thomas Jefferson was 76 when he founded the University of Virginia.
At 67, George C. Marshall received the Nobel Prize for designing the European Recovery program after World War II.
Jessica Tandy was 79 when she won an Oscar for her portrayal of Daisy Werthan in Driving Miss Daisy. She was two years older when she was nominated again for her role as Ninny Thread good in Fried Green Tomatoes, where she taught a much-younger Kathy Bates how to find joy in life.
Perhaps it's just an accident of fate or some extraordinary talent that led these go-getters to produce such memorable late-life accomplishments. However, it's hard not to note the myriad ways in which their attitude toward life and aging inspired them to achieve.
Instead of believing that there's some biological watershed when everything starts to deteriorate and go downhill, these productive adults worked in ways that kept them actively involved participants in the business of life.
Each of these high achievers fit a category sociologist Bernice Neugarten called the "young-old." Rather than cave into some chronological divide, they parlayed their wisdom and experience into meaningful achievements that added years and dimensions to their lives, What they all had in common was a vision or a dream - an unwillingness to be held back by preconceptions, misconceptions or fears.
At 45 years old, boxer George Foreman was more afraid of "not having a dream" than he was of climbing into the ring again with a much-younger opponent. The result was boxing history when he knocked out 26-year-old Michael Moorer in 1994 to regain the title he'd lost 20 years before and become the oldest heavyweight champion ever.
Thought-Starter Worksheet
- How old are you now?
- How much longer do you plan to work?
- Are you looking forward to retirement? Or do you dread it?
- Do you know what you want to do after you retire?
- Do you plan/need to work after retirement?
- If you plan to work, do you know what you want to do?
- Is there anything you need to do now to make sure you can do what you want post retirement?
- What is your stereotype of an "old person"?
- How do you plan to combat that reality?
- How healthy are you?
- Is there anything you can do now to take better care of your health?
- Are you open to learning new things?
- When was the last time you tried something totally different? How did it feel?
- How well do you function in an unstructured environment?
- How do you plan to structure your time after retirement?
- Do you have friends who plan to retire when you do?
- If you don't have friends retiring with you, where do you expect to find community?
- Is it important to you to feel like a productive, contributing member of society? How do you plan to fulfill that need after retirement?
- Have you ever participated in any volunteer or community activities? What was that experience like?
- Do you have a formal retirement plan?
- Have you considered working with a retirement-planning counselor to create one?
- Do you have any creative instincts? If so, how do you plan to fulfill them?
- Will you need extra income after retirement?
- Are there any skills or experience you should be getting now to ensure your marketability later?
- Is there anyone over age 65 you really admire?
- Why do you admire this person?
- Is there anything in this person's attitude or behavior you can work to emulate?
- How long do you plan to live?
- How are you going to make your later years fulfilling?
