Welcome to another episode of Rock Your Retirement. My guest co-host for today is Rocky Lalvani. He will be co-hosting with me for the next 4 episodes. In the first of four, we’ll be discussing an article from the NY Times called Bringing Older Americans Back Into the Fold. Some of you may know that I have recently moved to South Carolina and we have an episode that talks about it. Reintegrating older adults back into the fold, kind of falls into what exactly is retirement. What does it mean to retire? And, do you really want to retire in a true sense of the word? You've made it to your 65th birthday and the world no longer seems friendly. You are preparing to leave your career job and it's more than adequate income and stay home forever. Unless you are wealthy or have invested well, you face a decline in your standard of living plus other radical lifestyle changes. What's more, your body has entered its final countdown. You feel depressed and overwhelmed. Instead of drifting into the unknown, you need to reestablish or reinstate yourself back into society. What is Age Segregation and What Does it do to People? Age segregation is abundant in the United States. From grade schools to senior villages, we now spend much of our lives on separate generational islands. While young people go back to school separated by grades, older people gather for clubs, classes, and meals that often expressly bar the young. In other words, we are all sorting ourselves out by how old we are. In this way, age segregation is denying the young and the old crucial opportunities to serve one another and their communities. Reintegrating Two Generations Together The real fountain of youth comes from being around younger people. That's even truer as you age. If you're in your 70's and 80's and you're hanging around with young people, you tend to be younger and more hip. There was a study that was done. I think they took people in their 80s and what they did was they recreated life like it was when they were 50. They literally put them in a house that looks like the house they would have been in when they were in their 50's. The only thing on TV was shows that would have been on when they were 50. And all the reading material was from that time period. Even the furniture and everything. So they literally were putting them back 30 years in time. And what they found is just within a week those people were walking straighter, able to do more, and felt younger. There were studies where they take nursery schools and they put them into nursing homes, And you see the elderly and the young come together and it's just a phenomenal experience for both sides. Because the elderly have the time to sit there and listen to the stories and tell stories that most of us who were busy and running around don't have the time to do. It makes them feel younger. In the United States When You Get Old Your Supposed to Get Shipped Off These things happen because the whole idea of retirement is somewhat profit and power driven. If you have a bunch of people in their 70's running an area, a business, or a town and you've got young people who want to take over the only way to do that is to get rid of the old people. And the best way to get rid of the old people is to convince them that they should retire. You're Still Young, You're Still Vital. What Can You Do? Basically, you should do whatever you want. Think about it. You are now at the point of your life where you've got a lifetime of wisdom. If you're smart enough to keep up your health. You've done your job right to have money even if you don't have a ton of money, and you've got social security. Whatever it is,