Hello World! (click here)

This is the first edition of Hello Pension Good Bye Tension, a Guide to Engaged Living in Retirement.

I'm Alan Momeyer, the retired Chief Human Resource Officer at Loews Corporation. I'm in my third month of retirement, and you may well ask, "What do you know about the subject, anyway?" and you would be right. But I’ve thought a lot about it in an effort to be prepared for a very different life.  And, I’ll be making this up as I go along, which is kind of what I did with my career and the rest of my life, and none of that turned out too badly, so I'm sticking with it.

As the head of HR for a big Company, a lot of people came to me for career guidance, particularly at the point where they were considering a change in jobs.  Over the years, I noticed that some people were driven to change jobs by something they wanted to go From, like a bad boss . . . while others were driven to change jobs by something they were attracted To, like a passionate pursuit of a new development in their field.  Those that made the decision based on From were more often than not unhappy with their choice, and those that made the decision based on To were more often happy with their new choice.

Retirement is a lot like that.  If you spend too much time thinking about where you came From, you're likely to end up feeling the emptiness that comes with the end of a career. If on the other hand you focus your time and your energies on To, you are far more likely to reinvent and kindle up new and exciting experiences that make life into the joy and purpose we all seek and deserve after a lifetime of work.

This blog is about the To side of life in retirement, and the photo above captures it perfectly: out of the office, into what I hope will be a very long springtime of my life.  But I’m not leaving New York City as my home, in case any of you were wondering.  I live in New York City and always will.

There is no one thing that replaces the role that a job plays in your life, except another job, and then it's not about retirement at all.  The challenge of this point in life is finding the many corridors or activity that are fun . . . stimulating . . . adventurous . . . meaningful . . . and did I say fun?  You didn't work for nearly half a century without earning the right to have a real blast in life.

That's what I hope to write about on these pages, and as I think about it I have a few general rules for anyone either currently retired or will someday be retired, which in other words is everyone, with any luck.  In no particular order, here is what to expect and what not to expect from these postings:

I'm not doing this every week . . . only when I have something worth saying;

Have a plan.  My first year plan includes going to cooking school in Tuscany, hanging out in Rome for a week afterwards, going to the college World Series of baseball in Omaha on a 3000 mile, 3 week road trip, going on a 375 mile bike-ride-without-a-red-light along river valleys and railroad tracks from Pittsburgh to Washington DC with my friend Joe, joining 2 book clubs, going to the Bavarian city where the original Momeyer boys departed from in 1753, bound for the United States, and from which all Momeyers here have descended, and preparing for my first and hopefully not last Moth Radio hour performance;

This blog is part of my plan.  It’s a challenge, and it helps me focus more as I get engaged with things.  I like to write.  And obviously, travel is part of my plan.  But your plan will be whatever you embrace as the To part of life. Maybe you want to become a docent. . .or learn to paint. . .or get involved with your community in a way that enhances the quality of life for everyone.  The list is endless, but my observation is that those without a plan quickly grow bored.  People don’t wear out, they rust out;

Have a pension.  I'm really lucky that way and I give all tribute to Loews.  But since you may not, start saving 30 years ago, which I also did and which makes so much more possible in life, especially now;

Just because you don't have a job doesn't mean you don't need the satisfaction that only work can bring.  So I'm planning on finding out about the joy and aggravation of work from a very different vantage point: that of the worker.  I sat in or near the C-Suite for much of the last 36 years, so I know how that feels.   I really don't know how it feels to be on the receiving end of the policies we create, but I have a very curious need to find out;

Toward that end, I'm in the middle of getting my Uber license.  Don't be shocked if you open the door and I'm behind the wheel.  Tipping is allowed.  As I'm fond of saying, I'm an old age pensioner living on food stamps;

But I'll be writing about other blue collar jobs I apply for, hopefully get, if for no other reason than to write about the way our outlook changes dependent upon our perspective.  It could be anything, but I hope I can use these experiences to make observations that I write about and make work life more satisfying for others that do the jobs for real.  My children Jack and Lily cringed when I told them I might apply for a job at the local 7 Eleven, and I think I was kidding….but maybe not!

One of the first lessons I've learned is how much more there is going on once you have time to act on it.  I saw The Ramones at CBGB in 1977.  Did you know there is an exhibit on The Ramones at the Queens Museum, and it's closing July 31st? I never would have known and never would have taken the time if I was still working. But I was there in 1977, and I'll be there in 2016!

So that's all for now, friends, family, and anyone else who will take the time to comment on my posts, make suggestion or nasty remarks. Click on the “Subscribe” button and you’ll receive all future postings.  If you know others who might enjoy or benefit from the postings, please invite them on. . . admission is free!