Since I remain very active in my profession, teaching radar technology, many people are surprised to learn that I am retired. Today it is often possible to reach retirement age with one's good health and youthful energy intact. When I was young, retired people seemed old and worn out, and consequently rather inactive. It is very different today.

　　I didn't think much about retirement when I was young. Each month I paid into a "retirement program" for government workers; other workers pay into a general "social security" fund that guarantees to provide helpful income when they retire. The basic idea -- the theory -- is that the money contributed is invested by the government, and the accumulated earnings are later distributed as retirement income. This theory, however, is rather far from reality. In fact the US federal government generally needs the money to finance other activities and therefore cannot invest it just in the donors' behalf. So the question arises: are the contributions made by today's workers truly being invested for the future, or is the money just being used to meet the government's obligations to yesterday's workers, those who have already retired?

　　I do not mean to suggest that it is a bad thing for people with jobs to support retired workers. In most cultures, constructive and supportive relationships exist between young and old. Parents, after all, generally support their children as they grow from infants to young adults, and often help with grandparents too. When I was a child, three of my grandparents, one widowed grandmother and a pair of grandparents, lived with us in our house. Today many younger professional couples arrange for their aging parents to move to an apartment near them, or the working couple relocate to keep an eye on them. We tend to play up the glamorous independent life of the "young professional" and you might not realize that these multi-generational families still exist in considerable numbers in America. If a government program of retirement assistance involves the young supporting the old, perhaps it is best to view it as embodying a larger and accepted principle about mutual respect between generations.

　　The effectiveness of such programs obviously depends on the proportion of active workers to retired workers. In countries with both expanding populations and increasing longevity, an approximate "balance" will exist between these two groups, those working and those retired. However, I think China, still the world's most populous nation, has a unique challenge. The one-child policy will obviously limit the size of the workforce in the future, while continued development and prosperity will bring better health and longer life to older people. Now, I can't possibly make a thorough study of the subject, but I am confident that smart people are looking carefully at these two trends and projecting ahead for better planning of China's retirement assistance programs.

　　One factor that helps offset the problem of a decreasing workforce is that many retirees still in good shape will opt to keep working in some productive way. They may wish to work only part-time or to start a small business, say a small shop. Others may choose to delay even partial retirement for a few years. In my case, teaching radar seminars gives me some income, so I am now officially self-employed and I pay contributions (taxes) into the US social security program, even while I draw a retirement pension from the government. So by working, I, though a pensioner myself, continue to help to support other old people.

　　A third point: perhaps we should consider government programs valuable help in retirement but not make them our only resource. In America many people pay off their home mortgage and achieve financial independence by the time they retire, and some have investments (stocks and bonds) that provide some income. No doubt similar good planning is increasingly possible in the Chinese system as well.

　　Retirement -- what a wonderful time of life it can be if you stay healthy and never lose your inquisitive, enterprising outlook! No longer does retirement mean going off to some quiet corner to wait for death. Constructive "family values" that keep younger and older people actively involved in one another's lives must not be undermined or lost. Government programs too can be based on such thinking, thinking like a family. Our leaders should remember that.