Revolutionize Your Retirement Radio

New Road-No Rules for Work, Love, and Play in the Bonus Decades with Dorian Mintzer and Abigail Trafford

• Dorian Mintzer

Share episode

Send us a text

The kids are grown, the mortgage is paid, and the career is topping out. Does this mean immediate settlement into old age? Absolutely not! Thanks to the longevity revolution of recent decades, today's 55-75-year-olds are living and working longer and healthier than ever before. This generation is the first to experience the period of personal renaissance between middle and old age, "My Time." It is a whole new developmental stage in the life cycle during which 50-somethings reinvent themselves as inspiring students, artists, travelers, friends, lovers, and so much more.

Longevity is imposing a "new normal" of love and intimacy that has radical implications for the definition of marriage, including committed relationships between legally married and those who are not, as well as the formerly married. It includes all the members of our intimate circle, a network of people we cannot imagine our lives without -friends, adult children, siblings, and even old flames.

In this episode, you'll discover:

  • The Second Adolescence: How "My Time" is a sort of second adolescence during which My Timers break away from middle adulthood, just as teenagers break away from childhood.
  • The importance of experimentation during "My Time," whether going back to school, going on trips, taking a new assignment, or exploring new relationships.
  • Why recovering friendships and cementing relationships from the past is a huge trend in "My Time."
  • How "My Timers" have gained enough strength from life empowerment to give truly of themselves to others, and why "Giving Back" is important during "My Time."
  • How sexuality, romance, and falling in love - in and out of marriage -is possible during "My Time" as "My Timers" rewrite the rules of what makes a relationship flourish.
  • How to deal with difficulties of love in later life: incorporating past relationships into new ones, dealing with a partner's illness, "retired spouse syndrome," sexual turmoil, and divorce.


About Abigail Trafford:

Abigail Trafford - author, journalist, and public speaker - focuses on the new life cycle stage after midlife but before traditional old age. Her book, My Time: Making the Most of the Bonus Decades after 50, chronicles the social revolution of living longer, healthier lives. In her Washington Post column entitled My Time, she explores the potential of this new stage for both individuals and society. She has been a commentator on health and social issues for Washington Post Radio, host of an online health talk program, and syndicated columnist with Universal Press syndicate. She gave a keynote address at the White House Conference on Aging in 2005.

Trafford has a bachelor's degree from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. She received a journalism fellowship at the Harvard School of Public Health in 1982 and 2002 and was a visiting scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity, Stanford University, in 2007. She lives in Washington, D.C. and Vinalhaven, ME. 

Get in touch with Abigail Trafford:

Buy Abigail's Books: https://revolutionizeretirement.com/trafford 

Visit Abigail's Website: https://www.abigailtrafford.com/ 

What to do next: