????今年早些時(shí)候，嬰兒潮第一批出生的人已經(jīng)達(dá)到了65歲的高齡。這曾經(jīng)是官方規(guī)定的退休年齡，在過(guò)了65歲生日之后，人們可以在周二一整天都無(wú)所顧慮地在高爾夫球場(chǎng)上打發(fā)時(shí)間。而且，人到了這個(gè)年齡，在職場(chǎng)上也開(kāi)始不受待見(jiàn)了。

????實(shí)際情況也確實(shí)如此。一大批老年工作者曾經(jīng)面臨強(qiáng)制性的退休年齡政策，就在今年開(kāi)春之前，英國(guó)還一直將65歲定為“常規(guī)退休年齡”（Default Retirement Age）。過(guò)了65歲，雇主可以直接以員工年紀(jì)大為由把他們解雇。

????但目前，英國(guó)的DRA基本上已經(jīng)被逐步取消，而且社會(huì)規(guī)范也在不斷變化。美國(guó)勞工統(tǒng)計(jì)局（Bureau of Labor Statistics）的統(tǒng)計(jì)顯示，在美國(guó)，65歲至74歲的勞動(dòng)力參與率從1988年的16.1%上升到2008年的25.1%。雖然這種上升趨勢(shì)從經(jīng)濟(jì)繁榮時(shí)期便開(kāi)始，而不是在近期經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退期間突然出現(xiàn)，但毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，老年工作人口的增加在很大程度上是生活所迫。但即便老年人衣食無(wú)憂，或者可以輕松應(yīng)付基本生活負(fù)擔(dān)，但老年工作人口的增加卻引發(fā)了新的問(wèn)題：如果沒(méi)有社會(huì)規(guī)范或法律，最理想的退休年齡應(yīng)該是多大？哪些跡象表明你應(yīng)該繼續(xù)工作，而哪些跡象則表明是時(shí)候開(kāi)啟新生活了？

????專家表示，最大的變數(shù)是老年人對(duì)自己目前工作的感受。貝琪?維爾利是轉(zhuǎn)型網(wǎng)（Transitions network） 的執(zhí)行董事，該公司的客戶主要是50歲以上的女性，她們希望尋求個(gè)人和職業(yè)生活的新方向。她說(shuō)：“大部分時(shí)間都是消極的感受。早上醒來(lái)，一想到要去上班，就痛不欲生。”

????如果是這樣的話，那還是干脆退休吧。但如果老年工作者并不厭惡自己的工作，專家建議，在寫(xiě)辭職信之前，需要問(wèn)自己三個(gè)問(wèn)題：

????1. 工作之外，我是否還有個(gè)人生活？馬克?米勒是退休規(guī)劃網(wǎng)站Retirement Revised的負(fù)責(zé)人，他說(shuō)：“職場(chǎng)生活是組成個(gè)人社會(huì)生態(tài)的一大部分。”

????即便你并不喜歡自己的同事，但因?yàn)槿祟愂巧鐣?huì)性的生物，需要定期與人進(jìn)行交流。如果老年員工在工作之外沒(méi)有社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)，應(yīng)該在提出辭職之前搭建一個(gè)這樣的體系，否則，可能很快就會(huì)懷念與同事相處的時(shí)光。

????2. 退休對(duì)我的家庭有什么影響？你的配偶是否準(zhǔn)備退休，或者已經(jīng)退休？或者，可能你的配偶還沒(méi)有任何退休的打算，這時(shí)，如果你希望與對(duì)方共度時(shí)光的話，可能會(huì)造成關(guān)系緊張。你可能寧愿去與客戶吃工作餐，也不愿意孤零零地在浪漫的加勒比風(fēng)格餐廳獨(dú)自用餐。

????當(dāng)然，如果兒孫輩需要時(shí)間和照料，這也會(huì)影響辭職的決定。如果成年的子女正在鬧離婚，很少有公司會(huì)允許員工請(qǐng)假八周，去照顧自己的孫子輩。

????最后一個(gè)問(wèn)題……

????3. 退休以后做什么？悉尼?拉吉爾表示：“如果你有一大堆事情迫切希望能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)，說(shuō)明你的精神狀態(tài)適合退休。如果打算只是看看電視，那肯定會(huì)厭倦。”悉尼?拉吉爾在剛過(guò)40歲的時(shí)候，便從一家風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司退休，目前在撰寫(xiě)一個(gè)博客，名為“悉尼的退休生活”（Retired Syd） 。

????職業(yè)在人的身份認(rèn)知中占據(jù)著很大的一部分，一旦離開(kāi)工作，人們就需要重新進(jìn)行自我定義。退休后在聚會(huì)中如何介紹自己的身份？如果到現(xiàn)在為止還沒(méi)有找到答案，應(yīng)該先花點(diǎn)時(shí)間好好想想。

????《退休不逢時(shí)》（Too Young To Retire） 一書(shū)的聯(lián)合作者、退休事務(wù)導(dǎo)師霍華德?斯通建議，以五年后自己的角度，給自己（或朋友或?qū)煟?xiě)一封信。假設(shè)在未來(lái)，你已經(jīng)創(chuàng)造了一種理想的生活。斯通表示：“想象著這種生活已經(jīng)到來(lái)，然后把它寫(xiě)下來(lái)。”

????如何利用額外的時(shí)間？許多人想到旅游，或者作為志愿者參加他們關(guān)心的事業(yè)，但令人吃驚地是，現(xiàn)在許多人竟然希望能做一些付費(fèi)的工作——比如在一些一直夢(mèng)寐以求的領(lǐng)域（釀酒或在獨(dú)立書(shū)店工作）做兼職，偶爾在之前從事的領(lǐng)域提供顧問(wèn)服務(wù)，或開(kāi)創(chuàng)自己的公司。

????斯通認(rèn)為，不論打算做什么，都要盡可能地具體化。因?yàn)椋綍r(shí)候，“為了實(shí)現(xiàn)五年后的理想生活，你可以從現(xiàn)在就開(kāi)始努力，提前做一些必要的準(zhǔn)備工作。”描繪的未來(lái)圖景越誘人，動(dòng)力也就越大。

????他說(shuō)：“當(dāng)你認(rèn)為生命中那些未完成的事業(yè)比手頭的工作更重要時(shí)，便是理想的退休時(shí)間。”

????譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓

????The first wave of Baby Boomers turned 65 earlier this year. Once, that was the official retirement age, the birthday after which you could spend entire Tuesdays on the golf course with no judgment. It was also the age at which people would start to look askance at the office.

????Indeed, a broad swath of older workers once faced mandatory retirement age policies, and until this spring, Great Britain had a "Default Retirement Age" (DRA) of 65. Past that, an employer could dismiss an employee simply because she was getting on in years.

????But Britain's DRA has now been largely phased out, and social norms are changing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the U.S., the labor force participation rate among people aged 65 to 74 rose from 16.1% in 1988 to 25.1% in 2008. To be sure, the increased participation among older workers is at least partly due to financial necessity -- though the increase began during good times, rather than simply spiking during the recent recession. But even if you are financially comfortable, or if you can be flexible with living expenses, this increase in working seniors raises different questions: in the absence of social norms or laws, when is the right time to retire? What are the signs that you should stay, and what are the signs it's time to move on?

????The biggest variable, experts say, is how you feel about your current job. "A lot of times, that can be something negative," says Betsy Werley, executive director of the Transitions Network, an organization for women over age 50 who are exploring what's next in their personal and professional lives. "You wake up in the morning and can't stand the thought of going to work."

????Then it's definitely time to pick a quit date. If you don't loathe your work, however, then here are three more questions experts recommend asking before penning your resignation letter:

????1. Do I have a life outside of my job? "Your work life is a big part of your social ecology," says Mark Miller, who runs the website Retirement Revised.

????Even if you don't necessarily like your colleagues, humans are social creatures and need people to talk with on a regular basis. If you don't have a social network outside of your workplace, then you need to build one before you give notice, or else you'll wind up missing the water cooler fast.

????2. How will this affect my family? Is your spouse ready to retire, or is he or she already retired? Or perhaps your spouse has no intention of retiring, which can cause tension if you assumed you'd spend all your time together. You may prefer work dinners with clients to eating in a romantic Caribbean restaurant, all alone.

????Of course, if your children and grandchildren need time and attention, that can affect the decision as well; few jobs let you take off for eight weeks to care for your grandchildren while your adult child is going through a divorce.

????And finally…

????3. What else can I see myself doing? "If you have a big list of things you're dying to get to, you're in good shape," says Sydney Lagier, who retired from a venture capital firm in her early 40s, and now pens a blog called Retired Syd. "If you are just going to watch TV you're not going to like it."

????People get a big chunk of their identity from work, and in its absence, you need to redefine yourself. How would you identify yourself at a party? If you don't have an answer to that question right now, spend some time coming up with one.

????Howard Stone, co-author of Too Young To Retire and a retirement coach, recommends writing a letter to yourself (or a friend or mentor) from the perspective of you, five years from now. In this future scenario, you've created your ideal life. "Write about it as if it's already happened," says Stone.

????What would you do with the extra time? Many people have visions of travel and volunteering with causes they care about, but a surprising number these days are also envisioning some form of paid work -- either a part-time job in a new field they've always fantasized about (wine production, working in an independent book store), consulting occasionally in their previous fields, or starting their own businesses.

????Whatever it is, try to be as specific as possible, because then, you can "start to work on what needs to be done to get to that ideal life five years from now," says Stone. The more alluring the image is, the stronger the pull will be.

????"The ideal time to retire is when the unfinished business in your life begins to feel more important than the work you're doing," he says.????