ON RETIREMENT

In these days when retirement is a generally accepted fact of life in our economic order and when earlier retirements seem to be increasingly in the picture, the whole problem bulks large in our thinking, and particularly of course when we approach the deadline. All sorts of treatises develop the desirable preparatory steps and stress the necessity of retiring TO something rather than simply retiring FROM. Teaching is not exempt from the general pattern and at Dartmouth retirement which used to be at 70 is being staggered down to 65. The use of the term "staggered," as in fact the use of the term "deadline" above, has no sinister or macabre connotation but represents only an attempt at easement for those in the transitional group.

Retirement is a subject which interests and affects both town and gown, though town retirements are usually not the sharp breaks in life that academic retirements represent and are more often than not just a gradual slowing down and easing off. One hardly knows, for example, that Harry Tanzi is officially retired and that Dick Rand is officially on the shelf, for both are around their respective places of business when they want to be, and both still feel very much a part of Hanover business life. For the faculty, however, with the very few exceptions of those who are able to retain their offices or labs, there comes a day when you teach your last class and read your last blue book and write your last memo, and then except for the sad job of clearing out your office you are done. A few professors, to be sure, get called back for longer or shorter post-retirement tours of duty, often part time, but these are but the exceptions which prove the rule. With most of us retirement brings the end of any connection with the active life of the College.

The town is always very much interested in college retirements. Each year as spring approaches questions are raised as to who is retiring this year, and apt and sometimes caustic opinions are expressed by townsfolk, either as to how so-and-so has held his job as long as he has or how surprising it seems that such-and-such, obviously in full physical and mental vigor, must be put out to pasture.

One interesting fact for those of us approaching the critical step is that we are constantly surrounded by those of our colleagues who have already taken the plunge. A few professors quit the scene of their long labors and move away, sometimes with happy results and sometimes less than happy. But most of them stay put and the weight of advice in this matter is to remain where you have spent the better part of your life and where your friends will understand and tolerate the accentuation of the foibles and eccentricities which old age induces. We see the Emeriti on the street, at lectures and concerts and athletic events, and sometimes just standing in the sun waiting for someone to talk with. For the most part they make out pretty well and seem to be reasonably happy, or at least still freely engaged in the pursuit of that elusive goal which is all that the Declaration of Independence promises us.

Academic retirement, unless one is fortunate enough to have independent means, is quite apt to bring financial problems. TIAA retirement payments, plus Social Security and certain advantages tax-wise, are supposed to produce an annual income approaching 50% of salary at retirement but some of our retired friends, who taught for many years at relatively low salaries, say it is apt to come closer to 40%. This requires certain adjustments in the scale of living and a somewhat forced acceptance of the philosophy of Henry Thoreau who claimed to have made himself rich by making his wants few. Up to a certain point it is quite true that a great deal depends upon one's mental attitude, but the dog does have to have his bone.

One possibility for the retired professor is teaching on a short-term basis - usually year to year — in an institution which will employ older men. This may well offer an interesting change of scene and perhaps climate to the professor and his wife and prove as well a stimulating contribution to the other school. The new colleges which are being started - four, for example, recently in New Hampshire - sometimes offer such opportunity but commuting presents its difficulties and moving is not always easy. Such a shift to a different campus has appealed to few Dartmouth professors.

There are, of course, other possible fields of activity ranging from research and writing to a venture in the business world or various forms of public service. One of our Emeriti, for example, is finding himself very busy as a member of the local board of selectmen and membership in the New Hampshire legislature. Another is supervisor of the Hanover check list, Tree Warden, and Trustee of the Pine Park Association, and yet another is co-authoring a popular history of the College. A retired officer of the administration is giving part time to the investment business. But most of the brethren are just keeping house and indulging in hobbies. One of the most common hobbies is keeping a weather eye on all the activities of the College. And there is plenty to talk about!

One occasional topic of conversation is what has come to be called "Emeriti Hall." There are about fifty retired faculty resident in the area and they sometimes like to speculate as to how nice it would be if they had a building where each could have a cubicle for keeping business memos and correspondence and a large common room with newspapers and coffee. It would give them a comfortable place of their own in which to visit and serve the admirable purpose of helping to keep them from being too much under foot at home. Good tobacco smoke sometimes elicits such dreams!

This then is the situation which beckons those of us who face retirement this June. Some are already planning post-retirement activities and the townsfolk take an interest in these hopes and dreams. In some ways a retired person, freed of regular routine, can be more than ever a part of the community and some townsfolk are well aware that in the absence of some planned activity we may become increasingly a nuisance on Main Street. Most of us certainly feel that our lines have been laid in pleasant places and hope we can keep relationships in that happy frame of reference.