Flexible Retirements...or Perhaps Pre-Retirement.

Time magazine had a thought-provoking article entitled, "Flexible Retirements" (Dan Kadlec) in the May 21, 2007 issue. The article made the point that the most exciting news is here now: flexible work for pay in rewarding fields for folks past 50.

I am not 50 but the way people work has always fascinated me and besides, I hope to be over 50 some day and the thought of being put out to pasture is not terribly compelling. The article mentions the pesky looming financial issue that here in the U.S. a bulge of "baby boomers are about to retire and tap Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits. To make good on the promises of these programs, the government may have to go deeper into debt or increase the tax burden. The math is suffocating. Something has to give."

The article continues, "Inside the beltway, one answer is increasingly heard: let's get a continuing economic contribution from folks after their primary career has ended and before they start draining the system's pension and healthcare assets".

Makes sense to me. I don't know anyone who wants to retire and do absolutely nothing.

This is why I have my eye on sites like Blue Chip Experts. A robust network of talent is an incredibly valuable asset and incredibly valuable to be a part of. If you think about it, movie producers have a pretty portable business model. A group of people are brought together based on their skills, talent, and availability to create a product. There's no reason why the same concept wouldn't work for a massive talent pool over 50.

What LinkedIn Is Not.

Having worked in advertising and marketing for many years it has been obvious to me for quite some time that my job is temporary. Even those that are "permanent/full time". Especially those that are "permanent/full time"! Companies get acquired, markets change, business is simply in a state of accelerated change and that tends to make all jobs temporary.

I recently heard this business environment described by the CEO of a major consumer electronics retailer as "perpetual whitewater" and that's a phrase that describes it for me as well as anything. Perpetual whitewater.

It seems to me in this environment that we are all consultants in a "Brand Called You" Tom Peters kind of way. So it makes sense that having a strong and vibrant network is more important now than it ever was. It would make sense to me that this perpetual whitewater could be leveraged by the increased buoyancy that an better network would afford you.

I recently joined Blue Chip Expert network, which is in beta but aspires to do everything that LinkedIn fails to deliver. It will be interesting to see if this initiative lives up to their mission because I am hoping that they do. It is a strong and powerful concept if it they can execute successfully. (They also have a blog here.)

Million Ready Minds explains their mission thusly :
* Bringing people together in a common cause of good for the individual and the globe.
* Providing coaching and mentoring on the secrets of adding value as a consultant – a skill that is not intuitive for people who come from typical careers.
* Providing a place where people of similar backgrounds and interests can share ideas, stories and learning, becoming a rich repository of information.