It occurred to me about 15 years ago, when I was in my mid-40s, that an absolutely sure way of guaranteeing an adequate income when I turned 65 and beyond was really quite simple: Never retire. As for possibly reaching a stage where I was too broken down and infirm to work, the answer again was easy: I'd probably also be too broken down and infirm to eat at fancy restaurants, so I'd be home safe, so to speak. I've taken comfort in those two epiphanies. But my nonretiring story is not nearly as interesting as three others currently in the news. Two of the tales are encouraging and terrific, while one is anything but. Let's start with the wonderful ones. Remember C. Peter Magrath? He was named president of the University of Minnesota in 1974 when he was a ridiculously young 40 years old and wound up serving for 10 years. He left to spend half a dozen years as president of the University of Missouri before supposedly retiring after serving another 14 years as president of a major higher-education association in Washington, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. I say "supposedly," because he was just named interim president of West Virginia University at age 75. I'm familiar with all these assignments and dates because Peter is the reason I moved to Minnesota 34 fine years ago; he graciously invited me out here as his speechwriter after I had worked for him during one of his two earlier presidencies, at the State University of New York at Binghamton. The man absolutely adores American higher education, especially big, complicated and messy land-grant universities. When I heard he had been named to the West Virginia post, one of my first thoughts was how gloriously blessed and lucky he is to love his professional mission and ministry so much. I'm reasonably certain he doesn't need the bucks, but given his passion and still-crisp gray matter, why shouldn't he return to the fray at 75? Great choice, Mountaineers. Peter, though, is just about a chronological rookie compared to former Minnesota Gov. Al Quie, who will turn 85 in September. I also worked for him a long time ago, and not incidentally, I recently finished a book about him that should come out right around his big birthday. (Note subtle marketing.) What has Quie been preoccupied in doing in recent years, albeit not for compensation? He's been leading the way in assuring that the kinds of vicious and extraordinarily expensive judicial elections that afflict Wisconsin and various other states never make it across the St. Croix River. Not trivial work. For good measure, he's also a major player -- along with the equally senior Don Fraser -- in seeking to expand early childhood education programs in Minnesota. Then there's Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's old sidekick. Remember when it was said that he was actually richer than Carson? That might have been the case, but now reports say that unless he can resume working at 86 -- an unlikely prospect given that he's recuperating from a broken neck -- he's going to lose his Beverly Hills mansion. This is a sad, even bizarre story. But the more I think about it, one thing I find decreasingly strange is the idea of someone of McMahon's age possibly updating his résumé and getting back in the market. The particular circumstances here are painful and speak more to financial necessity than to enthusiastic choice. Yet why shouldn't men and women classified by demographers among the "old-old" (75 and above) work, at least part time, if they still have something to offer, if they're healthy enough, if the physical strength or dexterity of a 30-year-old isn't required, and if employers want to take a chance on them? Great, I say, for a host of reasons, one of which has powerful political and policy virtues, not just personal ones. If baby boomers like me retire at projected rates, there won't be nearly enough younger people working and paying taxes to keep Social Security and Medicare afloat. But wouldn't balance sheets for those two mammoth programs improve if instead of solely receiving benefits, larger numbers of older people were to keep working, thereby simultaneously paying into the system? That would seem so, though several key tax and pension laws and rules would have to be changed order for the idea really to fly. Older wonks and accountants of the world, unite. Mitch Pearlstein is founder and president of Center of the American Experiment in Minneapolis.
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