Watch Out Gen X & Y

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Think you’re going to be left holding the bag, paying for your parents’ and grandparents’ Social Security-subsidized retirement, leaving no money to save for your own? It’s a legitimate concern for generations X and Y.

Sure, you’ve read all of the advice about contributing as much as you can to 401(k)s and IRAs. You try to keep your consumer debt down and if you’re lucky enough to be able to afford a home, once in a while you even pay extra on the principal — knowing it will bring a payoff day closer in sight.

But there’s another way young people need to prepare for the “new” retirement. They need to think like a new-era retiree now. Many folks over 65 will have to work — at least part-time — to help fund a 30-plus year retirement. And many others will simply want to work part-time. The crucial question for young people then becomes, “How can I bring in extra money in my retirement years doing something I enjoy?” Then they need to ask themselves how they can prepare to do it.

“Generation X and Generation Y are more in sync with this kind of thinking already. They are far more apt to have had several jobs. They might have been laid off from jobs two or three times,” says Dan Veto, senior vice president at Age Wave, a San Francisco-based consulting firm focused on aging and retirement. “The notion of an independent contractor is more familiar to them.”

It might be a hobby that you’ve had forever that you can spin into gold. Or maybe there’s a hobby you’ve always wanted to try that could provide an income stream. If you love your currrent job, is it something that could be easily downgraded to part-time? Could you switch to another career now that might lend itself better to part-time work. Take a close look at some current retirees and what they are doing; they just might offer some good ideas about possibilities.

If you love to cook, think about expanding your expertise by taking some cooking courses. It might one day help you to open a part-time catering or personal chef business. Love yoga? Maybe you can get certified as a teacher and get paid to work out. Love animals? How about a pet-walking business or obedience school or grooming operation? Do you need coursework or certification to do that? Like to fix things around the house? How about working as a handyman someday? Are you a skilled potter? Can you teach the art to young kids? Think you might be good at travel writing? Take a course and find out. Love giving your husband a massage? Become a certified massage therapist.

“One can literally prepare for the next career without leaving one’s job,” says Michael Zey. “Drexel University and others (offer) online degrees. Will we see teachers becoming doctors at 60? Who knows?”

Case in point: Doug Leisz in Placerville. Leisz, 81, worked for decades for the U.S. Forest Service, ascending in the ranks to second in command. About 10 years before he retired, he and his wife asked themselves where they wanted to end up and how they wanted to live. Trees still called to them.

So Leisz and his wife bought land in Placerville. Slowly, they started working the land to prepare it to grow grapes and operate a tree farm. Leisz did consulting work while they worked the farm. Now, they own a working tree farm and sell grapes to winemakers.

“You need to think ahead,” Leisz says of retirement. “And it ought to be a new chapter in life. I think that’s the way you stay alive.”

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