Mediaboss Marketing

The official portrait of retirement has changed, and it didn't change to this.

The official portrait of retirement has changed, and it didn't change to this.

Retirement ads are everywhere these days. The Villages lures retirees to come live, love and golf in Florida. USAA offers financial counsel to retiring military personnel. Hollywood stars such as Pat Boone and Tommy Lee Jones dole out all kinds of retirement advice in 30-second sermonettes on television and the Internet.

"Thousands of seniors have turned to One Reverse Mortgage to take control of their retirement," intones Henry "The Fonz" Winkler in one earnest spot.

Old actors don't retire; they just make retirement ads.

But the more talk there is of retirement on TV, in pop-up ads, in news stories the more you begin to wonder: What is retirement anymore anyway?

Backyard Hammocks

Time was, the official portrait of a retired American included a steady, dependable pension; leisurely mornings puttering about the house in soft slippers maybe replacing the chain on the toilet tank ball or knitting a doorknob cozy; slow-driving from drug store to grocery to TV repair shop back when TVs could be repaired. Afternoons were for penning letters to faraway friends and checking on the backyard hammock hooks.

Oh sure, there was plenty to do foursomes of bridge and long weekend fishing trips. Perhaps for the more privileged a beach house, a houseboat, that long-delayed trip to Mexico City.

No mas.

Originally posted here:
Maybe We Should Retire The Word 'Retire'