This month in our continuing series on eight principles for a successful retirement, we will continue with:

4. Talents : This principle asks the question, "What skills, talents, strengths and abilities do I have that I would enjoy using even if I didn't get paid?" In the New Retirement, if you want or need to work, it is often the decision to rely on your talents that leads to using them in part-time or contract positions. This is a principle where work is redefined, and where one's talents can take preference over the job as we usually understand it.

In this context, talents are those things an individual does well naturally. You may have latent talents or abilities that you have never used or that you may have abandoned during your primary career years. In the New Retirement these can now be explored and expressed in the post-career or post-working years. For many people in retirement, work is now more important, but that work now is not necessarily their job or profession. In the New Retirement, hobbies, passions, and talents can be turned into occupations or small businesses. As a case in point, one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Canadian economy is women entrepreneurs over 55 pursuing second careers based on their talents and passions.

5. Life Experience : Experiences from both work and other aspects of your life can be leveraged in retirement. If you have extensive experience in some workplace skill or professional expertise, the New Retirement is the time to direct that experience towards helping an organization or cause about which you feel strongly. In the New Retirement, this can be an application of that experience for an altruistic reason solely.

According to a new Statistics Canada report authored by Lynn McDonald, Director of the Institute for Life Course and Aging, women in the baby boom generation, having been the first cohort of women to participate in the workforce for most of their adult lives, will be retiring in greater numbers than ever before. The significance of this society-altering demographic shift is reflected in the percentages: women made up 57.4% of the population in 1998 and, of those aged 55 to 64 in 2004, 47.7% were in the labour force (compared to only 12.9% of women in 1954). By sheer numbers alone, women will have a profound influence on retirement, so much so, says MacDonald, that “the new retirement is women’s retirement, [which is characteristically] amorphous and fluid.” Because of this, this generation of women who reshaped the workforce by pushing for pay equity and work-life balance, will transform retirement for some of the same gender-biased reasons these changes transformed work. Many of today’s retiring women will have greater pension coverage than ever before, and will more readily opt for early retirement for lifestyle reasons and family caregiving reasons than men.

For women, the transition to retirement is fraught with many of the same gender issues as work. While women were in the labour force for most of their adult lives, they still managed to provide the greater part of care for the young and, now, in growing numbers for their aging parents. These women have always juggled work and family responsibilities, and they will likely do the same, opting in and out of retirement depending on the demands of caregiving...

In last month's e-zine there was an article about what Canadians expect of their retirement, based on a recent survey about retirement financial planning conducted by AXA Group. How much do you remember of the very interesting statistics this survey revealed? Take this quiz and find out:

Which of the following statements is True or False:

1. Most Canadians believe they will have to work longer before they retire.
2. Most Canadians feel that their pension benefits will not be reduced by the time they retire.
3. Most Canadians over 25 have already begun to plan financially for their retirement.
4. Most Canadians can calculate the amount of income they will receive in retirement.
5. Most Canadians are risk adverse and prefer life insurance and RRSPs as retirement income.
6. One in two Canadians will rely on stock market investments to supplement their income.