Benefits Of Retirement And Volunteering Essay

Many people in the "baby boomer" generation are staying active as they age. By either jogging, swimming or becoming part of a sports team. They strive to remain youthful and mentally young and view retirement as an active period of their life. Theirinterest in health , fitness, looking young and attractive and longevity is quite phenomenal. They can expect to live longer due to medical advances however stress and burnout could impact on this expectation of longevity. They are well educated, thirsty for information interested in travel and will want to stay involved in the political processes. In addition they are optimistic, forward thinking and undoubtedly redefine old age. As the oldest of the nation's 75 million baby boomers approach the age of 60, a Pew Research Center survey finds many are looking ahead to their own retirement while balancing a full plate of family responsibilities either raising children or providing financial and other

The reason that I believe that volunteer work and work in general is vital to success in the today’s world and society is because the generation that I am apart of is lack of a better term lazy.The motto of the entitled generation is procrastination is key. The most important part in forming a generation comes from the parents. The outcome of a generation’s attitude always leads back to the source (the parents). Volunteer work in present time is very important for the youth, but is equally as important for adults too. Some local organizations in Juneau are Love Incorporation, Helping Hands-Healing Hands LLC, Saint Vincent De Paul, and Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). It is a non profit organization that provides health care for residents of Southeast Alaska. Saint Vincent De Paul is an organization that provides housing for low income families in Juneau, Alaska. Service is an essential

For this paper, two separate interviews were conducted with two retirees. One, M.Q., is a 66 year-old white woman who lives in a beach area. The other was JH, a 78 year-old African-American man who lives in a very rural area. Both interviews were conducted over the phone, as M.Q. is recuperating from a bilateral knee replacement and JH lives several states away. These two were chosen because they are complete opposites. While both currently live in the Southern United States, M.Q. was raised north of the Mason-Dixon line, while JH has lived south of the Mason-Dixon line his entire life. The only similarity they share is that they are retirees living on the East Coast. Because they are complete opposites, interviewing the two of them as opposed to a married couple, two sisters, or something of the like, I was able to get a more complete picture of what it means to be retired. This gave me more information, and a better idea of what I needed to look for in the articles I used.

Costa, D. L. (1998). The evolution of retirement: Summary of a research project. The American Economic Review, 88(2), 232-236. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/233045640?accountid=41759

Volunteering is undertaken in both organised and casual ways. Firstly, volunteering through organizations. That provided $5.9 billion to Queensland’s economy in 2004; $3.6 billion from the activities of middle-aged and older people. Australian Bureau Statistics (2007) also stated that volunteer rates were higher among older people who donated money than those who did not (30% compared with 17%). Secondly, volunteering through casual ways. de Vaus, D., Gray, M., & Stanton, D. (2003) said that Australians aged over 65 years contributed almost $39 billion per annum in unpaid caring and voluntary work ( rising to $74.5 billion per year if those aged 55 to 64 years is included) . Therefore, the unpaid work of older people as carers and volunteers saved a huge cost for the

While there are many theories within the Social Work/Gerontology discipline that is relevant to this topic, the one theory that seems most relevant is Activity Theory. Activity Theory argues that older people continue to benefit society as well as themselves when they continue to be active as they age. The theory argues that a senior’s positive perception

The United States is a country of volunteers. In 2002-2003, 64 million Americans (28.8 percent of those 16 and older) donated 52 hours a year, the equivalent of more than one full work week, to building shelters, coaching Little League, caring for the elderly, teaching literacy, and countless other community-minded pursuits. Statistics show in Source F that “groups mandatory and nonvolunteers – were less likely to volunteer 8 years after high school than persons who strongly encouraged to volunteer or did it for strictly voluntary reason (43 percent).”

Twenty or so years ago, the question of personal growth in retirement hadn't really entered the mainstream consciousness. To most people a generation ago, retirement was an ending, not a beginning. But as with everything else they've encountered, the Boomers are challenging that view of retirement.

Not everyone has the same dreams and desires; thus, no one’s retirement is exactly the same because of outside influences like previous hobbies, gender roles, stresses pertaining to previous careers, marital life experiences, and previous level of physical activity pre-retirement. As stated by Barnes-Farrell, that retirees’ demographics like age, gender, and health can shape an individual’s retirement (Barnes-Farrell, 2003). Bill prefers living a very active lifestyle that involves going to the gym, swimming, biking, running and paddleboarding. Whereas, Rose prefers to spend her retirement relaxing inside her apartment watching baseball, reading, taking naps, talking on the phone to her children, going to church and spending time with her family. The differences observed between these participants could be

Allen, S. G., Clark, R. L., & Ghent, L. S. (2004). Phasing into retirement. The Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 58(1), 112-127. Gelfand, D.E., & Bechill, W. (1991, Summer-Fall). The evolution of the older Americans act: a 25-year review of the legislative changes. Generations, 15(3), 19-22. Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2010). Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment (8th ed.). Mason , Ohio: Brooks Cole/Cengage.

Aging is described as a sequential, irreversible, progressive, and non-pathological process of maturation in an organism and that translates to a gradual decline in the ability to perform activities optimally. Aging is an individual process that can be a period of stress for individuals especially following their retirement (Hiller & Barrow, 2015). The current study sought to understand the process and experience of aging from the perspective of elderly individuals. In discussing matters of aging and retirement, many assume that women are always eager to retire, and adjust well, as compared to their male counterparts (Bauger & Bongaardt, 2016). Many people assume that since women are generally made as homemakers, they are willing and happy to retire while men, whose nature is to be the main source of family income, find it hard to be out of work (Moody & Sasser, 2014). Indeed, there exists very little literature that sheds some light on this area, particularly on the attitudes of each gender towards retirement and process of aging. Given the significance of retirement to this life stage, the study sought to understand the emotions and views of individuals regarding their retirement through the lenses of (1) Physical health and wellbeing, (2) Friends, Family, and Community, (3) Work and leisure, (4) Finances and lifestyles, and (5) Living

This research is being conducted to investigate volunteer motivation, satisfactions and dissatisfactions. As is stated by Becsi et al (2008), much of the literature in the social sciences focuses on predicting volunteering behaviour with underlying theories of resources availability.

1) The article from The Gerontologist supports the activity theory of aging. This states that as people age, it is very important for them to be engaged in various activities and social roles. As described in the lecture, studies have shown that those who stay involved have less signs of depression and have a lesser decline in mental health. In addition, they are considered more competent than others in their age group by the general population since they are actively participating in society. The research described in the article proved that those who had moderate or high participation in activities such as working, volunteering, and caregiving had a better psychological well-being. It is not necessarily just taking part in these, but the level in which one does so is also crucial. It appears that moderate participation is the best way to a better psychological well-being, as one does not want to be overworked, but should still be involved.

Although mandatory retirement is not largely popular, it still has an effect on many older workers and how they plan for retirement. "Mandatory retirement involves less than 1 percent of the work force and so opens up only a small fraction of the total jobs", because

     As and investor, you are overwhelmed with advice in newspapers, magazines, and mailings discussing what to invest in for a successful retirement nest egg, when to start saving for retirement and who to invest with. There are millions of people who realize that an investment portfolio for retirement is necessary, but do they really understand the investment instruments and the amount they must invest for tomorrow? The subject of retirement is a fascinating area but it also could be a fuzzy subject without the correct amount of knowledge, understanding and professional guidance. The number one question of concern for individuals facing retirement issues is whether or not they