A successful business executive, Bill Zollo knew all about knocking down
problems through hard work. Then he began seeking help for his aging
parents.
“That’s not what we do, Bill,” he recalls one non-profit professional
telling him. “I have a big education department, but we’re not answering
questions related to aging, what people should be doing, how they should be
living. The kind of education we have is if you were going to Greece, you
could learn more about Greek culture and history to have a better trip."
Zollo supports many of the non-profit organizations and research institutions he found. But he was deeply disturbed. Society, business and government clearly were not ready for his parents to be 80 or 90s years old.
“Sadly, it was too late for my parents,” Zollo says. “What needs to
be done needs to be done long before you get to that stage of life.”
Understanding his parents weren’t alone, Zollo established the non-profit Full Life Association in 2001 after he had turned 60 and his parents had passed away. Then, retiring from a career leading direct marketing firms in 2004, the Norfolk, Mass. resident devoted himself to becoming a certified senior advisor and preparing a life planning education program. His goal is to help Americans start planning earlier to avoid his parents' fate.
Now 69, Zollo is committed to expanding the Full Life Association's work. He
will lead the first Full Life Association's classes at Northeastern University
in Boston, Mass. in fall 2008.
People are spending more years in retirement than ever. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the average American now
lives to be 77 – up 30 years from 1900. Millions of people are now in
their 80s and 90s and centenarians are the fastest growing segment of the
population.
The number is sure to rise, too. With a big push from the 78 million Baby
Boomers now starting retirement, government analysts predict the over 65
population will surge to 72 million Americans by 2030 – twice as many as in
2000.
“Anybody can muddle through for 3 to 5 years, but when it comes to 20 or 30
years, it’s a serious, serious problem,” Zollo says. “Because no one was meant
to be retired as retirement is understood in our system for 20 or 30 years.”
The problem is retirement doesn’t usually bring immediate depression, Zollo says. People often enjoy the first 3- to 5-years, the so-called honeymoon period in which they immerse themselves into hobbies, he notes.
“But they wake up one day and say, ‘I don’t want to golf everyday or I don’t want to travel everyday'," he says.
People then feel worthless and lack for direction at the same time age often brings medical complications and financial challenges, Zollo says.
He still cringes when he thinks about his own parents reaching this stage.
“Seeing them sit around the house doing nothing and thinking they had nothing to
do was a disaster.”
Another common problem is people are often afraid to reassess their retirement plans in light of changing economic conditions, Zollo explains. One example is the couple who always planned to sell their home and move to smaller quarters nearby. He says they may end up being priced out of the local market if they go through with the plan and have to move out-of-state where they don’t know anyone, a situation that may fuel feelings of depression and helplessness.
Copyright © 2008 by the Full Life Association, 16 Stilwell Ave., Norfolk, Massachusetts 02056