Article March 26, 1938 Issue

Retirement

JOHN RANDALL DUNN

In the attempt to devise methods for the alleviation of some of the hardships and problems of men and women no longer young in years, the human mind has, of late, been unusually active. In fact, if some of the schemes for so-called social security should be transmuted into actuality, the attainment of an age for retirement from all human activity would seem to be a most desirable goal for mortals.

How prone is the human family, in the midst of "the rush and roar of the day's machinery," to cast a longing eye toward that happy day when work will cease, and a well-deserved rest and holiday begin! And yet experience has proved, again and again, that retirement, when it comes, brings not the expected contentment and release. Thought accustomed to activity, service, and a certain amount of self-forgetfulness, is not always easily adjusted to inactivity and time for increased contemplation of mortal selfhood, its whims and desires.

Retirement from one's accustomed work and activity, therefore, even though accompanied by a certain lifting of the financial pressure, may prove to be a problem not reckoned with earlier in human experience. And what is the solution? For certainly a solution must be found if the thousands of men and women retiring on pensions, investments, or annuities are to experience a degree of peace of mind, happiness, or usefulness.

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