You’ve probably heard plenty of advice over the years about the benefits of working longer and delaying retirement. I write about this often, and I do believe it can be one of the best strategies for improving your retirement outlook. Working longer can help pay for living expenses while you wait to claim Social Security, boosting your annual benefits. It also can mean a few more years of retirement saving – and fewer years relying on savings.
But working longer isn’t always an easy thing to pull off. Research shows that about half the time, job loss, health problems or just plain burnout push people out of the workforce sooner than they expected.
On today’s podcast, we explore that last point – burnout. . . and how to go about adjusting your mindset about work toward the end of your career. The key elements of success include expanding your horizons, being flexible and open to changing your mindset about what kind of work is possible and satisfying.
One of my guests today has a great deal of interesting guidance to offer on this topic, because he’s a career coach, and he also operates Career Pivot, an online network for people navigating careers in the second half of life. Marc also has a terrific book, Repurpose Your Life, and he also hosts a podcast that carries the same name as his book. That’s the good news. Here’s the bad: his name is Marc Miller. I kid you not – on this podcast, Mark Miller interviews Marc Miller. So it goes – just try to follow the bouncing ball.
Also joining me is Russ Eanes. Russ worked for several decades in the book publishing business, and also has worked as a minister in the Mennonite Church. Around the time that he turned 60, Russ decided to bail out of his job after tiring of the tumultuous changes hitting the publishing world. He felt that his effectiveness on the job was falling, and he was getting very unhappy with all the downsizing of colleagues that he was being asked to do by his employer.
Then, a couple major life events shocked Russ into taking action that included a year-long sabbatical and a 500-mile trek on the Camino De Santiago in Spain, which is the subject of his recent book. Russ recently transitioned his career to full-time freelance work as a writer, editor and consultant in publishing. He also is a member of Marc Miller’s Career Pivot network.
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