Microsoft Word - vailtrail_retirement.docx

Co ontact Kenton Hopkins MRE E, CRS, GRI oor David McHugh M e-PRO O for Addition nal Information n (970) 8445-8053 - (9700) 376-7171 - khopkins@slife k er.net & dmch hugh@slifer.neet

Th he age of o chang ge Rettirees find the Vail Va alley is the perfect pla ace to swittch gears Sarrah L. Stew wart Jun ne 25, 2008

Wh hen Sheri Mintz and herr husband, Michael, M moved from Ne ew Jersey to o the valley y full-time fo our years ago o, she knew w a laid-back k retirementt wasn’t in her h immedia ate future. She S was ready for the more m stru uctured, dem manding career that ha ad taken the e back burne er to raising g her two so ons and worrking as a priv vate practice social worrker. w to co ommit to my profession n,” says Min ntz, Eagle Co ounty mana ager of adultt, family and volunteerr “I wanted serrvices. “I wa as not feeling that I was s ready for the t retireme ent stage off my life. Th here was deffinitely work k tha at I felt I nee eded to do.”” ntz, 49, is on ne of many baby boomers choosing to settle in the valley y. In the nex xt decade or so, Eagle Min Cou unty’s population over 50 is projec cted to grow w far faster than t the gen neral popula ation — incrreasing 94 perrcent by 202 20, as oppos sed to 36 pe ercent for th he populatio on at large. dle-aged arrrivals, moving here sign nals a signifficant chang ge in lifestyle — a secon nd act, so to o Forr many midd spe eak, in the production p of o their lives s. Some leav ve behind hectic careerrs, long hours and big city c living to o find d new purpo ose voluntee ering in theiir adopted community; c others conttinue to worrk, either by y tele ecommuting g or, like Min ntz, by findiing a differe ent career path here. her way, Bo oomers who choose to uproot u them mselves and make the valley v their new n home are a bucking Eith the e trend of th heir peers.

M Dieh hl, professor and “When people retire, only a minority make drastic changes,”” says Dr. Manfred ector of the Center on Aging A at Colorado State e University y. A small pe ercentage opts to live in n two places s, dire he says, and an a even sma aller percenttage move somewhere s permanently. ese 50-plus residents who w have ve entured into a drastically different phase of the eir lives? An nd So who are the why y have they y chosen the e valley as a place to do o so?

The e ‘young old’ Two o main facto ors distinguish those who do make e a major ch hange later in life from those who don’t, d Diehl say ys: affluence e and adven nture. uldn’t be surrprising — anyone who lives here knows k it tak kes some he efty resource es to relocatte Afflluence shou to the t valley. And A an activ ve, adventuresome lifes style may no ot be a prerrequisite forr living here, but it cerrtainly make es it a lot mo ore fun. hen Herb Luh hman and his h wife, She erry, moved d to Singletrree 10 years s ago, they came for the recreation n Wh tha at makes this area unique: skiing, hiking, h fly-fishing. After working 10- and 11-h hour days as s vice pre esident for human h resou urces for Lockheed Marrtin in Orlando, Fla., Luhman says it took just a few hours s to adjust a to his s new moun ntain lifestyle.

Luhm man, now in his 60s, is an example e of the “you ung old” tha at Diehl says s is the mos st likely grou up to make drasttic changes later in life. The group,, which rang ges in age frrom 60 to about a 75, tends to be healthy and finan ncially well off, o he says.

y of these pe eople who end e up in the valley are en’t satisfied d just being here, says Bob Morone ey, director Many of the e Arrowhead Alpine Clu ub, a social organization n that has seen s an influ ux of older residents r loo oking to make e a differenc ce. y have a lott of time and d a lot of talent,” Moron ney says. “T They have a desire to be b a real local, if you “They will.””

Mountains of possibility p w was in her late 50s when she s visited Dr. D Meredith h Ringler, a Vail psychologist, and she s was The woman depre essed. She had been to old that once e she hit 50 0, it was all downhill fro om there, an nd she took it to heart — un ntil Ringler told t her she had just co ompleted a Half H Ironma an triathlon to t celebrate e her own 50 0th birthday. as the first step s on the journey j to a new life fo or the woma an, who beg gan skiing an nd biking, and found It wa happ piness, love and marriag ge. elped her rea alize living here h can be the beginning of a new w life, no ma atter what your y age,” Ringler R “I he says.. “You can come c here fo or a whole different d way of life.” p of whatt makes the e valley an ideal place for f older res sidents to tu urn a new le eaf. For That attitude is part many y, that means the traditional conce ept of retirement — sittting on the porch, p playing a few ho oles of golf and watching w yo our golden years y tick by y — is a thin ng of the past. w knew it two t decades s ago will co ompletely diisappear witthin the nex xt five to 10 years,” “Retirement as we Diehll says. e will contin nue working part time to earn some e extra inco ome and hea althcare ben nefits. Otherrs may Some leave e their jobs entirely, but will find re enewed purpose within their comm munity, as many m Eagle County C retire ees have. whead resident Bob Nolan spent 33 3 years in Michigan’s M au uto industry y, becoming g a Ford exe ecutive who Arrow work ked more ho ours per wee ek than he now n cares to o count. Wh hen he and his h wife decided to live in the valley y full time, he says the ey were swept away by the amountt of activitie es offered he ere. porate world d behind, No olan wanted d to find a way w to make e a differenc ce that would stick, he Leaving the corp oined the me en’s group at a his church and severral other org ganizations, including one o at says.. He soon jo Arrow whead Alpin ne Club that is committe ed to comm munity servic ce. c I affect people’s live es in a posittive way so they will “I basically wantt to be a serrvant,” he says. “How can d experience the difference?” aps as impo ortantly, Nollan found lik ke-minded people p who also were re eady to starrt a new pha ase in their Perha lives.. hen we move ed here) we e really felt that t people left their sttripes at the e door,” Nola an says. “W What they “(Wh achie eved in life in the past is not talked d about.”

Seco ond-act strruggles Startting anew in n the valley — or anywh here, for tha at matter — isn’t alway ys easy, how wever. pping out off work into retirement, r it’s a traum matic experie ence,” Nolan n says.

“Step

Mostt, like Nolan n, make the transition pretty p smoo othly: Only a small num mber, fewer than t 5 percent, “sort off fall into a black hole” after retirement,, Diehl says.. an arise between couple es when one person’s paradise p isn’t necessarily another’s s, Ringler But problems ca s. says She fairly often sees couple es in which one partnerr is thrilled about a the op pportunities s the mountains have to offfer, while the other jus st tags along g. This can create a con nflict, partic cularly when n the spouse e who isn’t as excited about living here e also misse es the friend ds and familly they’ve le eft behind.

Othe ers may find d the area’s small, close e-knit comm munity a little difficult to o break into o if they aren’t willing to make m the firs st move to meet m people e, Ringler sa ays. Her adv vice for boom mer’s (or an nyone else’s s) best chan nce at happiiness here: First, be sure they’re coming c beca ause they re eally enjoy the area and d aren’t tryin ng to escape e an intrinsic c unhappine ess, and sec cond, take advantage a o ways to meet of m other people. p orked for he er: Ringler, who moved d to the valle ey from Den nver in 1996 6 at the age e of 44, calls s it a It wo fabu ulous move that t enables s her to enjoy the athle etic activities she loves..

On winter w morn nings with six or more in nches of fre esh powder, her clients know they have to reschedule appo ointments.

Mak king a new life During his 50-year career as a a trial law wyer in Clev veland, Ohio o, skiing in Vail V was Keith Spero’s escape e from m work kplace stres ss. When he and his wiffe, Karen, visited the va alley in the summer, ho owever, they decided this was where they wanted to settle.

“It was w diametrically oppos sed to my liffe in Clevela and,” Spero says. “We thought t it would w be terrrific.”

The transition frrom working g six days a week to liv ving in Singlletree and volunteering v g as a Beave er Creek mou untain host and a on the board b of the e Vail Valley y Institute was w easy, 74 4-year-old Spero S says.

Sperro also found a welcoming social network here e, quickly making m friend ds and joinin ng Vail Club b 50, a socia al organizattion for the valley’s v 50-plus population. The grroup, with Herb H Luhman as preside ent, is just one way that pe eople who move m here to o start theirr second actt can more quickly q beco ome a part of o the community.

Luhm man has als so found new w friendship ps and satisffaction throu ugh his man ny volunteer activities, from the Vilarr Center to passing p out chocolate chip c cookies s at Beaver Creek C Moun ntain. Betwe een helping out in the community and taking adva antage of th he cultural offerings o here, none of Luhman’s worries w that retirement wouldn’t be inte ellectually sttimulating enough e have e come to frruition.

“The ere is no rea ason not to be stimulate ed here,” he e says.

As th he valley’s over-50 o pop pulation grow ws, that sho ould come as a reassuran nce to those e looking to move into the next n phase of their live es here.

“This s is a place to get youn nger rather than t older,”” Ringler say ys.

To learn more about a the availaable real estatee opportunitiess here in the Vail V Valley pleaase contact Beaver Creek k’s #1 Real Esttate Brokerage Team with Sliifer Smith & Frampton F Reall Estate

Keenton Ho opkins MRE, M CRSS, GRI an nd David McHugh M e-PRO (970) 84 45-8053 - (9700) 376-7171 - khopkins@sliffer.net & dmch hugh@slifer.neet