Work on - or Change your Life? It's Your Choice!

We're expected now to disregard that magic 65th birthday - and work on.

That finds a positive response from many who regard retirement as a double-edged sword.

Miffed at being dismissed for so long as reaching its sell-by date, Grey Power is actively courted by government in the national drive for economic recovery.

Far too fit for the scrap-heap, the edict that older workers should no longer be forced to retire at the traditional birthday is a welcome gift.

Some value security and, using the right to appeal, stay on. Others prefer the freedom to seek new horizons, examine alternative challenges and and consider options in lifestyle planning. Focus for Change continues to present the options with their in-house and open executive retirement planning programmes.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission recognises what could amount to thirty years of inactivity - virtually an almost endless holiday, courtesy of health care and expanding opportunities - is unattractive to men and women determined to live their longer life to the full.

Research shows the state retirement age - to be extended over the next few years to cut government spending - is considered by more than half older workers to be too young. In its survey of 1,500 people aged between 50 and 75 the Commission found 62per cent of women and 59 per cent of men wanted to continue working beyond the present default retirement age http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/)

They recognise the likes of Joan Bakewell, champion for the elderly at 75 and Katharine Whitehorn, dispensing wise words in the media, well into her eighties, are dynamic examples of iconic older folk.

Had he retired at 65 David Dimbleby would not, six years later, be presenting demanding TV series. Betty Driver would not be celebrating her 90th birthday behind the bar at the Rover's Return. And the mental dexterity of octogenarian Nicholas Parsons hosting radio's Just a minute encourages us all.

Delegates on our retirement planning courses have a mixed view of their right retirement. Some are keen to continue work, others look forward to embracing a new lifestyle.

Ready to retire? Working on? What do you think?

The CV - your Passport to Success

I was - well, yes - horrified to discover the cost of creating a jobseeker's cv could be as much as £499 plus VAT! That such a vital tool in the struggle to catch the attention of a potential employer should be such a financial burden at a time of deep insecurity is nothing short of shocking.

You may have been watching the BBC TV show Jobless, about four families and the efforts of the laid-off breadwinner to find new jobs.

It was a bleak story of frustration, insecurity and fears doubtless shared by many viewers and which will sadly become familiar to many others in the months to come as casualties in the fight against the recession increase.

The best chance of returning to the workforce is an effective cv - passport to the successful interview.

One of the fathers featured was offered a cv service demanding more than £500 from his unemployment benefit.

The Curriculum Vitae needs to be a carefully constructed document, designed to showcase the skills and experience of the individual for whom it is prepared with a format that should almost at a glance present the qualities and required qualifications and experience. It should answer most of the questions a prospective employer might have in order to select for interview this application from the host of other hopefuls.

Focus for Change www.focus4change.co.uk have for many years been creating cvs for jobseekers, successfully supporting a vast range of clients from executives and academics to workers from the shop-floor.

Anyone can write a cv. But it takes experience, application of the right words and understanding of the requirements both of the likely employer and the jobseeker to craft a powerful and effective document with the potential to progress through the interview to secure the goal.

And it really doesn't cost the earth.

Does yours work for you?

Stress: Don't Suffer it - Manage it!

Stressed out? Hot and bothered? Can't cope?

You hear it every day. And you may be among the one in five who suffer from stress at work, accounting for more time off than a cold.

And when there is so much insecurity, talk of redundancy and voluntary severence particularly in the public sector, it's no wonder so many of us feel more than a bit jumpy.

To be brutally honest, as a buzz-word 'stress' can be pretty meaningless. It might better translate as challenge or just being forced to do something we'd rather put off for later.

Yet as many as 13.5 million working days are lost each year to stress according to the Health and Safety Executive -not a comfortable statistic for an ailing economy.

It's rated the number one reason for going sick with a cost to Great Britain plc reckoned at nearly £4 billion.

However real stress, the stress capable of inducing serious illness, is the psychological response to pressure or events that seem threatening. Often involving change.

What's more, like the common cold, it can be infectious through close contact with stressed-out carriers.

But the good news is that short-term stress can be a positive element in our daily lives.

Because too little can indicate life without purpose; skills and talent going to waste. A reasonable, tolerable amount of stress helps pump up the necessary adrenalin fix to sharpen responses.

Stress-release mechanisms, understanding personal limitations and acquiring the ability to switch off, relax and recover from uncomfortable situations are among the subjects covered in Stress Awareness workshops created by Focus for Change www.focus4change.co.uk which have reduced sickness and increased efficiency for emergency services and other organsiations.

Interactive one-day courses, tailored to suit the particular circumstances and led by two experienced facilitators highlight practical approaches, identifying personal triggers and developing effective strategies to deal with stressful situations.

As one firefighter said: "I found the workshop stimulating and helpful; my life has changed dramatically. I had thought I was dealing with stress in a positive way but can now see some actions were having a negative effect on my kids."