On the job past 70 – for Sharon it’s the ‘new normal’

Share

This is the last story in the Working in Retirement series that looks at people who, for various reasons, choose to remain active past the traditional retirement age in today's job market. Read earlier stories about Jim, Janet, Marion and Henry.

Even when Sharon Norman was raising her two sons as a single mom and earning a living as an artist, the Vancouver resident found a way to make things work financially. It wasn't until a few years ago, at age 67, that the abstract painter found herself taking on a full-time job.

Ms. Norman, whose artwork appears in collections across Canada and internationally and who has also taught painting privately, never imagined she'd one day be working as an insurance agent. However, the position fell into her lap at a time when she needed it most. Her marriage had broken down, and she couldn't sustain the Bowen Island home she'd purchased at the beginning of her relationship on her own.

An acquaintance who had started his own insurance company called her out of the blue and asked if she'd be interested in working for him. Feeling stressed about money, she accepted.

"I love being an artist and I love teaching, but it just wasn't steady money," Ms. Norman says over a coffee near her North Vancouver office. "I needed to keep this house going."

Ms. Norman knew that having a regular paycheque would be crucial because selling the home could prove difficult; the real-estate market on Bowen Island has been sluggish in recent years. She was right: she only recently sold her house, which she'd been renting out, at a loss after it was up for sale for five years.

Even though that financial and emotional burden has been lifted and Ms. Norman has downsized to an apartment, she has no plans to leave her job anytime soon.

"I absolutely love it," the 71-year-old grandmother of two says. "I think it's keeping me young. It was through necessity that it came about, but I feel very privileged to have this job."

Now working six hours a day, five days a week, Ms. Norman finds that her schedule still allows her plenty of time to pursue her passion and paint in her rented studio. Working toward a show she's having at Burnaby's Deer Lake Gallery this summer, she feels she's achieved the work-life balance that eludes so many. Her day job pays the bills, but she hasn't had to sacrifice the art that fuels her.

"Painting is my profession; this is my job," Ms. Norman says. "The difference is when I'm painting, I'm by myself. It's wonderful and I love it, but now I have all these people that I meet. I meet grumpy people and people who just want to be really efficient and people who want to tell you their life story. It's neat. Clients come back to say hi. It's a really good thing for me to have that personal contact. I feel very lucky to work at this age. It's a balance."

Ms. Norman admits that the learning curve at her day job was steep: she needed to become licensed as an insurance agent, a process that involved training, studying and writing exams. She also had to learn several new computer programs.

"I was already over retirement age when I started, but my boss was willing to invest in me by training me," Ms. Norman says. "It's a big job; you have to get really good marks on the exams to pass. But I really love learning."

More and more older Canadians are participating in the labour force, according to the National Seniors Council, with 34.6 per cent of those aged 55 years and older working in November last year, according to Statistics Canada's recent labour force survey. Canadians aged 55-plus, in fact, have one of the fastest rates of employment. By 2036, the proportion of the overall labour force that will be 55 and older is projected to be 18.7 per cent, compared to 16 per cent in 2009, according to the seniors council, which has a mandate to provide advice to the federal government.

Better health and longer life expectancies are two factors contributing to the rise in work-force participation. Others include inadequate retirement income, high debt levels and the effects of the recent economic downturn.

"This is a group of people that, given the low-interest-rate environment and the fact that people are living a lot longer, just don't feel okay about the projection of how much money they'll have later in life," says actuary Kevin Sorhaitz, a partner in Morneau Shepell's retirement solutions practice. "It doesn't look like enough. There's the fear of the unknown. Financial literacy is already a huge concern."

Aside from financial need, more seniors are drawn to the positive effects of so-called "encore careers," which combine continued income with personal fulfillment. According to a 2008 Statistics Canada survey of older workers, some of the reasons cited for returning to work post-retirement included social interaction and/or having something to do, as well as job satisfaction.

"More and more people are realizing that there's a benefit to staying mentally active and interacting with colleagues," Mr. Sorhaitz says. "There's a lot of evidence showing people are living longer and healthier when they continue to work. Too many people have seen friends and relatives for whom, unfortunately, things don't go so well shortly after retirement.

"I just bumped into a member of our extended family, a gentleman in his 70s who's still driving a snowplow," he adds. "He's still good at it, and he realized he just didn't want to be sitting at home all the time."

That's a sentiment shared by people in Ms. Norman's circle.

"Last year I was at a friend's 70th birthday party, and I told people I was working," she recalls. "My friend said, 'Every single person at this table is working.' It's the new normal."

Ms. Norman's boss and co-workers are all younger than she is, but she's neither intimidated nor bothered.

"I don't think about age, but I'm sure they do because they all knew it was my 70th birthday and it was a big deal," she says with a laugh. "The people I'm working with are wonderful.

"Why would I retire?" she adds. "I feel very lucky."