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The April 29, 2005 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education included a number of short articles about things University Professors are doing in retirement. Newsletter Editor Norman Richert saw the articles, which included my retirement, and asked me to write something for “From the Origins”, say “a view from retirement”, which would be of interest to the Michigan mathematical community. This has been a difficult assignment for me. I will share my thoughts about retirement and some of the things I have done in retirement. I hope this article is of interest to all readers and generates a sharing of views from retired colleagues and those contemplating retirement. Eventually, if nothing bad gets us in our younger years, we must all retire at some time. Teaching, even if one neglects research, is sufficiently demanding so that one cannot remain in position until death.
When to Retire?
As I see it, this is an independent decision for each individual to make, dependent on health, financial resources, job satisfaction, family considerations, retirement options, and so on. I retired from the Mathematics Department at Central Michigan University in 2000, at age 65, after 42 years of teaching, the last 32 at CMU. Making the decision to retire was not easy for me. I enjoyed teaching, keeping up on current activities in mathematics education, and working with my colleagues in the mathematics department. I felt that I was always well treated and respected by my mathematics colleagues at CMU; but this is not the case in some other departments. However, I was losing energy and knew I could no longer serve as well as I wanted to. I thought that my decline in energy was part of the aging process; however, three years later I learned that I have a heart problem which also contributed to my energy decline.
I have shared my thoughts that went into my retirement. Each individual must make their own decision about their energy level, their job satisfaction, and about what they can still do. I recall my days as an undergraduate in the early 1950’s. This was the period after World War II when there was a shortage of teachers and some professors stayed into their 70’s. I had professors who had been well known earlier in their careers, but were “out of it” later in their careers. I decided then, that if I could afford it, I would not teach when that happened to me.
How Should One Retire?
By this I mean, should one completely retire or should one phase their way into retirement by taking a reduced load. For example one could teach the Fall semester in Michigan and go to a warmer climate during the winter. In my case, I had 30 years in the Michigan Teachers Retirement and felt I really did not have that option. If I retired, my take home pension amounted to more than a one semester salary. Had I been in the TIAA-CREF program, I might have phased my way out. Again, each individual must make their own decision.
Funds Needed for Retirement
Unless you are independently wealthy, this is a very tricky question. However, retirement income goes much farther. First, you do not pay Social Security-Medicare tax and the income tax on your income is at a lower rate. We do not know how long we will live, what the rate of inflation will be, or what the rate of return on investments will be. Younger individuals may not realize it, but investments with moderate risk grew at rates in excess of 10% per year in the 1980’s and 90’s. However, the bubble burst in 2000, but it does appear to me that long term investment returns will not match the 80’s and 90’s but overall will be good in the future. This is one question to discuss with your financial planner.
Another question to consider is what will it cost me to live. What are my family responsibilities? Do my children still need help with their education costs? Do I have a child with special needs? It has been my observation that most retired educators do not change their living habits very much. Many do more traveling the first few years after retirement, but other than having living facilities in a warmer climate for the winter, they settle into their old patterns. When I visit my retired colleagues and ask where they have been and they tell me city X, often they have children and grandchildren in city X. The exception is going to warmer climates during the Michigan winter.
My Retirement
For me the decision to retire was difficult, but Dee (my wife) and I have come into a very satisfying retirement. Retirement has allowed us to do things we would not be able to do before and at a more leisurely pace. For example, we like to take 2 to 4 week trips to warmer climates during the period from January through March. We have four children and eight grandchildren. Three of these families live in Michigan, but our youngest and her young family live in Minneapolis. Since I have retired we have made about five trips a year to visit them. It is much easier for us to travel than it is for them with jobs and young children. Because of health problems our activities have been limited the past two years. Last year Dee had by-pass surgery, which limited our travel. This year I had hip replacement surgery, which has limited mine.
Now for the retirement activity that caught Norman’s eye. I began as a high school agriculture and mathematics teacher in 1956. Our agriculture teaching philosophy was “learning by doing”. I applied this philosophy to mathematics. I do remember using point plotting activities to introduce rectangular coordinates in the late 50’s. Students would draw or select a picture, overlay it with a grid and assign coordinates to key points on the picture. They listed these points in a sequential order. They then traded coordinates with a classmate and each produced a picture on a grid. If the pictures were not the same as the original, the students knew some one made an error and they would find it.
In 1973, we purchased a farm near Mt. Pleasant and I returned to agriculture on a part time basis. In the 70’s and early 80’s chemicals were developed so that one could control weeds in corn and soybeans without cultivation. I thought about planting corn in a rectangular grid and making a map of Michigan in a corn field, but never had enough time. When I retired I made a map of the lower peninsula of Michigan, in a corn field which contained the major roadways that wind throughout the state. The students’ 1/4-inch graph paper was replaced with 2-1/2-foot squares. When I saw an aerial view I was surprised; it was a very good map. I also achieved good weed control.
The Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun newspaper published an article with an aerial view, which was picked up by a number of Michigan newspapers. We opened the farm to the public that fall and the response was very good. I had also planted 3 acres of pumpkins. This was my first experience with more than 10 plants in a garden. The demand for pumpkin was such that I had to locate a wholesale supplier. Some teachers asked to bring their classes and used the corn maze as a teaching experience.
After the first year experience, I decided to develop an educational recreational farm. We named it Papa’s Pumpkin Patch, “Home of the Michigan Maze”. Since the first year we have continued to improved the Michigan Maze and add other educational recreational activities. I learned how the state was originally surveyed with a Baseline and Meridian road. The most recent version contains roadways that reach each of Michigan’s 83 county seats which are labeled with a map of that county in Michigan. For an aerial view of the last maze and a list of activities, see www.papasfamilyfarm.com.
In two different years, I planted soybeans in overlapping concentric circles and lines and constructed the conic sections. I also constructed walking mazes of geometric figures and algebraic curves. These turned out to be good problems for me, but did not seem to interest anyone else so I have dropped them. Three years ago I built Michigan’s Field of Dreams, a little league baseball field modeled from Kevin Costner’s Iowa Field of Dreams with a corn field around the outfield. This has been popular with children.
In the early years my son Bill helped me on weekends. As I have aged my energy has continued to decline, and I decided to cut back. However, Bill left his job to work full time on the farm. He now manages it and has taken over the demanding aspects of the farm with my help. If things work out, I may be able to help him until the Lord calls me.
I think we now have one of Michigan’s premier educational recreational farms. When in the Mt. Pleasant area, I invite you to visit Papa’s Pumpkin Patch and Country Farm Market. We enjoy visiting with people and sharing our beautiful farm with others.
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