Second Act

Photo by Jonathan Olson

When I was little, my friends and I spent hours in a secret closet in my house, fastidiously plotting our lives as grown-ups. Not surprisingly, our futures were always bright and full of fancy, but somehow they never involved much work. Doctor-lawyer-teacher-nurse—we were all that, yes. But then—in a snap—we were…retired! And off we were to foreign lands, big swimming pools, and a world teeming with hot dogs, caviar, and all the Twinkies we could eat.

We've since had the ol' mid-life awakening, but I don't begrudge all that dreaming. There's something to be said for musing early about life's second act—what it might look like, how you might feel in it. Makes you plan, contemplate, work hard to ensure you end up with a nest egg that allows for a modicum of financial peace and, hopefully, a lot of joy.

Unfortunately, despair is what a lot of folk, including educators, experience once they hang up their career hats. Faced with a bleak financial bottom line, many are forced to  take ho-hum jobs to make ends meet, or simply resign themselves to a post-work life that bears no resemblance to the one they'd once imagined.

That's why in this issue of NEA Today we take a close-up look at the current debate over retirement security. It may be the furthest thing from the minds of our younger members, but as the noise grows louder around President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security, everybody will—and should—find a reason get engaged. Few of us, after all, will work forever. Will your pension be enough to see you through your golden years? Will Social Security really be there for you?

The debate now raging over these questions is no picnic, but NEA Today's John O'Neil sorts through the confusion, dispels some of the ever-burgeoning myths, tells what's at stake if Bush gets his wish, and offers tips for your own activism. It's all worth noting. Face it, second acts don't come but once. Shouldn't yours be as fanciful as they appear in your dreams?

Editor-in-Chief Marilyn Milloy