A pension for adventure

It may be time to go out on a limb (or wing)

Forget queuing at the post office, tomorrow's senior citizens want to be off globe trotting, according to a new survey. But will the 'third age' be as exciting as some are hoping?

Half of workers in the UK intend to hit the road once they retire. One in 25 want to pen a novel, while a similar proportion say they will being reading other people's books as they head back to school.

Only 20 of 2000 people quizzed admitted to wanting to spend their retirement knitting (dwarfed by the number who want to be pensioners on the piste).

"Not as comfy as my gardening gloves"

Such ambition and adventurousness is part of the recent cultural push towards "active ageing", says Professor Simon Biggs from Keele University's School of Social Relations and author of The Mature Imagination.

Whereas people once assumed they would withdraw from "social life" as they aged, newer generations of pensioners are increasingly seeing retirement as a time to "re-engage" with society.

"Freed from work and childrearing, many older people are now using retirement to develop the parts of the self they were too busy to explore before," says Professor Biggs.

This may explain the growing trend for older people to spend their free time helping others, the Voluntary Service Overseas says the average age of its workers is steadily increasing.

Over the hill?

However, will those questioned for the new survey really be swapping slippers for snowboards when they end their working lives?

"The idea of taking up extreme pursuits is far from wishful thinking. You'd be surprised how older people who are quite disabled actually participate in sports most of us would feel are quite dangerous," says Professor Biggs.

"But I'm not so keen on slippers"

Sadly, a third age clad in Lycra may actually represent an inability to come to terms with growing old, rather than a sign of our freedom to enjoy our retirement.

"There is a fantasy that people will escape the ageing process by engaging in an active lifestyle. Our culture is still not very good at looking at death and ageing."

With Britons enjoying longer and healthier lives, there is no shortage of active ageing role models - from the Queen Mother, through Sean Connery, to Jenny Wood Allen (at 89 the world's oldest marathon runner).

Retirement blues

However, filling decades without work is a job in itself and can arguably take more thought than planning a career.

"People can easily spend a third of their lives in retirement. You can't travel the world, do DIY or gardening for 25 years," says retirement expert Gary Fitzgibbon.

"When you leave the structured environment of work you have to create a structure for yourself, with short and long-term goals and a timeframe in which to achieve them."

Swap the rat race for the yacht race?

And, of course, filling your days is not the same as enjoying them. Even if the 5% of workers hoping to buy a yacht when they retire can afford their new toys (and fears about pension provision are increasing), will they really find the purchase satisfying?

"What happens quite often is that pensioners report being busy, but not satisfied. People might embark on one of adventures but would they want to continue with them and for how long if they did? The survey doesn't tackle this."

---

Click here to add your comments

Some comments so far:

Retirement? We've never been as busy. A stint working at the local hospice, teaching "wrinklies" the basics of computers, travelling when the purse allows, vintage car rallying and meeting heaps of "young" geriatrics, so on and so on. It is a good age - enjoy it!
Olive Hebron, New Zealand

Why retire?
David Burchmore, Malaysia

Whenever people of a certain age start dressing to impress, travelling further than the post office or acting with any kind of spirit, some 'wise' person will start worrying about modern society's "inability to come to terms with growing old". It's best to ignore the 'wise' persons - they'll grow out of it.
Timothy Tylor, UK

I was a parachutist and a rock climber in my 20s, but in my 50s I became deeply involved in weight lifting, bungee jumping and competitive skiing. I plan to continue them into my 70s and beyond if age permits.
John Webster, USA

---

How do you intend to spend your third age? Have you finished work and found the freedom a chore rather than a pleasure? Is retiring the best thing to happen to you? Tell us by using the form below, or by sending them by e-mail to [e-mail]

Click here to return