Prime Time Living 6.14.26 - Flipbook - Page 19
| Sunday, June 14, 2026
a link to a PDF explaining the program:
www.usmd.edu/usm/academicaffairs/
golden-id/GoldenID_About.pdf
What is really fascinating are the varieties of activities people take on. Mike H.
decided it was time to stop working. He
had joined an investment club years earlier and learned what made good investments, so he and his wife were comfortable. What did he do? He became
the physical education teacher for his
grandchildren with all kinds of activities
that no El-Hi school ever included. Twice
a week, his grandkids came over and
helped prepare meals. When a former
business partner contacted him to help
out with marketing, he said yes. He had
the time. He’s revived part of his former
profession.
Alan M. practiced law for years but
there was an entrepreneurial gene in
his body that reared its head often.
The first time he started a video store.
When he got tired of practicing law, he
joined a young friend, and they opened
a speech pathology practice. Now in his
early 80s, he’s still working there. He’s
added, however, his role as president of
his condo association and serving on the
board of an art gallery.
Susan W. went to the CIA: the Culinary
Institute of America. After she graduated, she and her partner started managing their local Meals on Wheels. Twice a
week they would cook. She also built a
network of farmers who donated crops.
Jonathan T. was delighted to move
to a retirement community. He started
taking language classes (and teaching
one) and, with his wife, would travel to
countries where he could try out his new
language skills.
As for Trafford, she’s been writing plays/
musicals that have been produced at an
amateur theater in Boston. Bouncing
between Maine and Massachusetts, she
has taught journalism at an island school
in Maine and loves spending time with
her grandchildren. She hasn’t slowed
one iota.
Sometimes there are too many options
or nothing says, “pick me, pick me.”
Take your time in choosing. Both Akchin
and Trafford will tell you these bonus
decades of Longevity can last 20 to 30
years, so there’s no rush.
“A lot of people have trouble going
from working to not working,” says
Akchin. “Transitions are tough – and
men have it worse. They have a much
more difficult time when they don’t have
a schedule to adhere to.
“For me, I enjoy not having the hassles; however, when you stop working
at a company, you have no structure,
no (work) social life, and if your partner is still working, you have to work
around her or his obligations. For four
years, I wrote novels. Now I write on
Substack and post weekly. When I wrote
for a newspaper, I got two letters a year.
Maybe. Now I interact with my readers
almost constantly.”
In this novel stage, “retirement coach”
is a new job title. Such coaches, really
life planners, can help people who stop
working and can’t quite identify the
pluses in their lives. It’s especially true of
Independent Living Assisted Living
Memory Support Comprehensive Nursing
For more than 35 years residents have chosen us
for the connections, community and opportunities
our downtown Columbia location offers.
They’ve stayed for the vibrant lifestyle,
peace of mind and a plan for a secure future.
CALL NOW TO LEARN MORE
410-992-1241
vantagepointresidences.org
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men. Go ahead; ask for assistance.
The Gerontological Society of America
(GSA) has podcasts, seminars, panel
discussions and research reports on
this new life period. Higher Education
in an Era of Longevity and Health and
Wealth in the Era of Longevity are just
two. AARP published a book titled, The
Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big
Questions of Midlife and Beyond.
A seminar on Longevity discussed
future generations and how they would
cope with the extra years. One panelist
asked her students what they wanted to
be when they reach 80. Middle age is
when most people start panicking and
take actions to protect themselves in the
future, putting money away and taking
better care of their bodies. Imagine starting that in your 20s or 30s!
This is just the beginning of generations benefiting from Bonus Years. Baby
boomers are already leading the charge.
Keep your eyes open. The best is yet to
come.
