The snowbird phenomenon

Down here in Zephyrhills, the sheer number of retirement communities blows my mind. Every time I drive down a different street, I see a road leading to a trailer park or another mobile home subdivision, and the traffic is pretty solid going in and out of them. My sister Norma Jean lives in Betmar Acres, a 55-and-older retirement community with 1600 homes. She tells me that at least half of the residents are snowbirds, most of whom come from the eastern part of the country: Ontario, Canada; Maine, New York, and Michigan.

This morning before 8:00 am, we went to the pool so Norma Jean could swim laps. It's right next to one of the golf courses, and here you can see the golfers heading out in the early morning light to beat the rush. I can see why people would like to escape the cold and snow of the fall and winter, since the temperature here in February is amazing, with an average daily high temperature around 72 degrees. Right now we are having a heat wave of 80 degrees or hotter, but this community has three nine-hole executive courses and two outdoor swimming pools, one of which is Olympic size. They also boast their own library, three clubhouses, and the largest covered shuffleboard court in Florida. Lots for the old folks to do.

Norma Jean and her other early-morning lap swimmer, Midge, are engaged in their daily meditation. Nobody talks or chats until the laps are done. Midge is 80 and has been swimming for her entire life. Norma Jean started swimming after her joints deteriorated from the pounding caused by years of running. After the swim, the residents have this lovely hot tub to soak their aches and pains away. (Okay, maybe not away, but it sure feels good. I swam with NJ yesterday, soaked in the tub, and plan to join her again tomorrow.)

The other thing the residents have in common here are a lot of widows and widowers, since so many of the people here are, well, old. Many are quite fit and work hard at maintaining their activity level. Being here in the winter, though, I see why the year-rounders have trouble with the snowbirds: the population of Zephyrhills triples and traffic everywhere is exponentially increased. Everywhere we go the lines are long, and the sound of Maine accents and Canadian brogues is ubiquitous. It's interesting for me to consider how many of these people must have residences in two places and the subsequent costs incurred in maintaining two separate homes.

While I walked around the grounds taking pictures this morning, I met a very nice couple, Vera and Don, who were out for a walk, her with a walker, him with a cane, and another friend also with a walker. When I took her picture, Vera kicked the walker out of the way, since she is recovering from a broken ankle and doesn't really need it. They told me they came to visit a friend a few years ago and within a couple of days they owned a home here and just love it.

Vera and Don, Betmar snowbirds

The old oak trees with Spanish moss make a nice backdrop to this happy couple out for a walk in the early morning. I went back to the pool and hopped on Norma Jean's golf cart to head back home. Until I came to visit, I had never understood the snowbird phenomenon, and now I do. Although it takes a certain level of income to maintain it, I think if I had the wherewithal I myself would be tempted!
:-)

Retirement seminar

I just got home from the second session of a four-hour seminar about retirement. Not "how to retire" but about values regarding retirement and the psychology of retirement. This was an ALL (Academy of Lifelong Learning) event at the Bellingham Senior Center. About a dozen of us signed up for this class, taught by Helen Solomons, an interesting woman of indeterminate age who gave us some fascinating things to think about.

Almost everyone in the room was fully or partially retired.  I learned that the four generations around these days have totally different ideas about retirement, what it is and how it will play out. First, the pre-Boomers (born 1900-1945). That's me! The 75 million of us are loyal, used to scarcity, have faith in our institutions, and are patriotic.

Next come the 80 million Baby Boomers (and there were some in the seminar), born 1946-1964. Many hard-working, career-driven Boomers are in management positions today. They believe anything is possible. Following them are the Generation Xers (1965-1980): only 46 million of them, but they distrust institutions and personal relationships and have introduced a challenging dynamic into today's work place.  And the final group, the Generation Yers (or Millennials, born 1981-1999) are smart, pragmatic, realistic, optimistic, idealistic, and techno-savvy. And there are 76 million of them.

Every generation has a different idea of what retirement is (or will be for them). The pre-Boomers thought that if they played by the rules, everything would be okay and they would be taken care of in retirement. The Boomers wanted to fix the world, since they were the first generation to grow up with TV and saw Watergate, Vietnam, and the human rights movements develop. They believe anything is possible. But the Gen-Xers don't think they will ever be able to retire, while the Gen-Yers think they'd better start saving for retirement, since they've already turned 16.

In the room I heard from people who were forced into retirement and hated it, those who were voluntarily retired, some who wished they could have more meaning to their everyday lives, and those who LOVE retirement. Helen showed us that successful retirement contains a few constants:

1. Having a reason to get up every day.
2. Having a healthy spouse.  :-) :-)
3. Maintaining or developing meaningful relationships.
4. Having a sense of humor.

I think those were the most important things, I might have missed a few because I was busy writing and listening to the others. Helen told us that if we are interested in learning more, get the Second Edition of The New Retirement: the Ultimate Guide to the Rest of Your Life by Jan Cullinane and Cathy FitzGerald. So! Next book on the list.

Have you read it? Are you happy in retirement? Or will you even be ABLE to retire?
:-)