Retirement Myth #1

Retirement Myth #1: Most retirees eventually end up in nursing homes.

Not so, says Dr. John Rowe, past president of Mt. Sinai NY Hospital and current professor at Columbia. “Only 5% of people over the age of 65 live in nursing homes, and that percentage has been falling for at least 10 years.”

Rowe says the reason for such low numbers is that most older Americans are free of disabilities. “Of those ages 65 to 74, a full 89% report no disability whatsoever.” And the same is true for three of every four seniors, ages 75 to 84.

Besides, we baby boomers will change the institutions. No card-carrying boomer is going to sit in a wheelchair in front of a TV watching Lawrence Welk reruns.

We’ll put motors on those puppies, set the TV to a classic rock station, push back the chairs and play a rousing game of capture the flag.

**This piece is the first of 10 blogs that will unmask retirement myths in American culture.

2 thoughts on “Retirement Myth #1

  1. Okay, let’s tell it all, expose our-self in front of friends. Marilyn and I watch Lawrence Welk reruns and then the Gaither gospel hour most Saturday nights. We’ve talked about it and come up with a reason. To us, it allows us to revisit a happier time when we were not concerned about parent’s health, our health, politics, and other topics we really can’t do anything about. Watching a TV show that is 50+ years old also gives us a chance to laugh at the clothes, the hair styles, and the music. For us just a good time to smile at the end of the week. And Marilyn knows things about the Lawrence Welk family I never even dreamed.

    I didn’t know Joe Feeney had a drinking problem?

    MR

  2. I knew I shouldn’t use Welk as an example. I enjoy him, too, and the Otwell twins are some of my favs. Busted!

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