How are Gen X planning to spend their time in retirement?

I'm an older Gen-Xer, and expect to spend my retirement travelling for as long as I can, staying fit (I run), and doing things which interest me.
I'd only be interested in a flexible, dip in and out kind of a group - nothing too rigid - I also think as a generation we're most likely to join special interest groups rather than a general one.

What are you wanting to know leapyearnan?

petra

*leapyearnan*Your not a baby boomer .
Those born between 1946-1964 are classed as such.
I would hope that the majority of generation x are tech savvy already.

My older DD, Gen X, doesn't consider her younger sister is Gen X as she is!
She is, apparently, a Millennial and they are quite different (apparently).
😁

Churchview

If you post your question on Mumsnet you might be more likely to get an answer from Gen X themselves.

Well, there's a sensible post! 😃

I'm 68 and still working; I rather overextended myself on voluntary activities and am going to have to drop one, or maybe two.

As others have said, make meetings accessible to those who work; schedule for evenings and add in online participation possibilities.

I’m Gen X and retirement is still a way off - both financially and in terms of what I still want to achieve. I’ll definitely think about partial retirement, so I think it is worth thinking about how you group accommodates those who are also still working part time. I definitely find out about things to do mostly via Facebook. I like things that involve good food and wine! I like to try new things.

Why I'm a boomer and tech savvy. No idea what you're getting at or why???

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

I am sorry to say that over the years I have followed many intrests and been involved with a range of things from school to brownies to gardening clubs etc etc., and people have become more interested in doing whatever but less prepared to be any sort of help in running or being an organiser for anything. Some is just their circumstances but also many are less prepared to put any effort in to help to run things. I put this partly due to the Margaret Thatcher effect, where you just look to see what you can get out of something and not what you can put into it!! The absolute lack of commitment to any committee or group is evident in lots of things.
Many years ago , my husband had to work weekends sometimes so could not commit to every weekend, but we solved this by 3 people running the youth group in our church, so there was usually 2 of the 3 available each weekend. It was a popular group which did a lot of things , having speakers and all sorts of things happening. But even though most people in the church did help in various places as the years have gone on, and we have moved and joined things like gardening clubs it is usually the older group of people running things and few people even prepared to help a little. I am 79 now, and still help out with a variety of things where I am able to do so, as do many of my friends. I dont see the next group who are retired wanting to be a part of any committe or being prepared to help out with anything. Sad but true I am AFRAID.

petra

*leapyearnan*Your not a baby boomer .
Those born between 1946-1964 are classed as such.
I would hope that the majority of generation x are tech savvy already.

petra I am assuming, from their handle, that leapyearnan was born in 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960 or 1964, possibly on 29 Feb. What gives you the idea they are not a boomer?

Indigo8

petra

leapyearnanYour not a baby boomer .
Those born between 1946-1964 are classed as such.
I would hope that the majority of generation x are tech savvy already.

petra I am assuming, from their handle, that leapyearnan was born in 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960 or 1964, possibly on 29 Feb. What gives you the idea they are not a boomer?

petra has already apologised for her wrong assumption, Indigo8.

Apologies to Leapyearnan 💐

Thank you all for your messages. A little more information, I initially didn’t want to colour your ideas so I was intentionally a little vague. I’m a member of u3a, this particular group has been running for 40 years now. There are over 1,000 u3a’s UK wide. Our membership is mixed male and female but is mainly 70-90 year olds. I’m 69 myself, so I AM a baby boomer. I’m on the committee and love getting involved as I’m on my own with plenty of time on my hands. When I worked, as a nurse, then trainer, then Training & Development Manager on cruise ships, I was totally career driven. I had to retire at 65 due to breast cancer but didn’t take to retirement at all well at first. I personally love being busy. As research shows, when you first retire, the novelty of not having to work is great but it soon wears off and you find yourself needing a sense of purpose and to be useful. U3a’s are volunteer driven, each one has many activity groups you can join. They have to have a committee as the charity commission requires it. However, many are reluctant to help in any way which causes problems when committee members, specifically officers, want or need to retire. I was thinking that perhaps Gen X might be more amenable to taking on committee roles. But because we have an ageing membership, this might put off younger people from joining. We raise a lot of money for our chosen charity the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance. I’m keen to come up with innovative ideas to remain viable in the future but Google is not much help as it seems to think that all retirees are interested in nothing more than knowing how to grow their pension pot. There’s very little to be found around leisure time and leisure activities. My own daughters are Gen X so I have some insight into their current activities. They are glued to their phones with everything seeming to happen around Facebook or WhatsApp, hence the reference to being tech savvy with social media. Thank you for the suggestion to post on MumsNet!

I think the biggest problem is the ages of the group.

If you are younger you may not want to commit to a group of significantly older people.
Logically if you have your children at 38 -42 you will still have "family" stuff going on and are probably still working.

Good luck.

I’m planning to travel and see as much of the world as I can

Thank you for coming back and providing more context. I have looked at your group’s webpages.

I am not a member of U3A but my understanding is that membership is open to anyone who is no longer in full-time employment, whether retired or semi-retired. There is no age barrier but it is likely to exclude much of the younger end of GenX other than those who work part time say due to child care responsibllities, who I doubt would be free when most U3A activities take place.

However, we do know that, as a society, there are now many more people age 50+ who are no longer working so there is scope to make U3A more attractive to a slightly younger demographic who might be willing to become part of a management committee.

I think that a fundamental issue with U3A is that activities are invariably in the daytime. I have looked at a number of groups around the country and almost everything is held on weekday mornings and afternoons. There is rarely anything in the evening or at weekends beyond say a walk or a lunch club. Why is that?

And why is membership restricted to the retired and semi-retired? I understand that the clue is in the name and the origins of the movement but, over time, it has strayed far from the idea of it being about continuous education to an organisation that appears to be more about hobbies and leisure pursuits e.g knitting, lunch clubs, board games etc. I’m not knocking those things, I love to knit and enjoy a game of Scrabble, but something has been lost along the way and may well be why younger people aren’t attracted to the movement.

I’m a firm believer in: If you build it they will come. i.e. if you create something of value, people will be drawn to it. As U3A currently operates, I don’t believe it will attract younger members in any substantial numbers.

I should add that I considered joining my local U3A but got such a negative response from the committee about the idea I pitched, to start an evening playreading group in the snug of a local pub, that it deterred me from joining. I see you have a playreading group and that it’s oversubscribed. You may have encouraged me to pitch the idea again but to a different group!