MANCHESTER, N.H. – Granite Staters have the chance to rethink retirement in Manchester next week, and advocates say age 65 is an outdated number.
The target audience includes employees, retirees, business leaders, human resources professionals, nonprofit groups and government.
Todd Fahey, state director of AARP New Hampshire, says the Rethinking Retirement program will feature experts who will discuss how the relationship between aging, work and retirement is changing – with age 65 an outdated number when it comes to retirement.
"Well, 65’s the wrong number because full retirement age really is 66,” he points out. “People are living much longer than they used to, and they're working well beyond 65.
“They may want to maximize their Social Security benefits, or frankly they are healthy and still want to contribute."
Fahey says AARP is bringing in large employers from other parts of the country to talk about successes they have had in engaging their older workforce to the benefit of their companies, older and younger workers. The event takes place next Thursday, Oct. 5, at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics in Manchester.
Workers age 65 and older are expected to account for much of the job growth in the Granite State over the next decade. Fahey says with New Hampshire's low unemployment rate at 2.8 percent and a good number of young people electing to move out of state, you end up with a labor challenge.
"So, the challenge for New Hampshire is to marry the two,” he stresses. “So, to develop and maximize an aging workforce, that needs and or wants to work longer, and at the same time to bring along the next generation – and inspire businesses and entrepreneurs to see New Hampshire as a viable place to grow and run a business."
You can register online for AARP Rethinking Retirement program at aarp.org/manchester.
