Betty White, America's Golden Girl, might teach us about longevity, work, and retirement. The photo was taken byVincent Sandoval.
It's WireImage.
Betty White was 100 years old when she died. Few people knew her, that's because they didn't know her as a person. We all knew her through her work. Through her long life and work life, we can draw some insight for our own futures and ideas about work and retirement.
After World War II, Betty White began her career. Depending on your generation, you may recall her from more than one game show, such as, "What's My Line?" If you're my age, you'll remember her best role as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Or, you may think of the movies. Her decades of work will be documented in the media. Bottom line? She made us happy. She was the sweetheart of America.
What living a long life might mean for us as we get older is something White gives us to think about. Are you listening to Gen Z? Half of you are projected to live 100 years.
An acting career is different than most of our professional lives. The original gig work is entertainment. Even before the Pandemic, work as a gig was becoming more common. Betty White was best known for her television roles in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Golden Girls", but over her career she acted on stage, worked in radio, became a regular on gameshows, and had roles in countless television shows. She was an ardent advocate for animal welfare while she was writing a few books. We should all plan on many different jobs over a long life and career.
It would be easy to say that all of them were acting. It would be selling Betty White short. She had to adapt to changing work environments throughout her career. Think about it. Betty White began her career on stage, then radio and television, before she became a television personality. White was part of the evolution of television. She had to adapt to the many changes of television technology, including being the voice of the toy tiger in Toy Story IV, as well as being the voice of the SpongeBob SquarePants character.
Like Betty White, we must learn to adapt. My colleagues at the MIT AgeLab found that even digital natives are likely to feel a little uncertain as tech advances. Gen Z and the Millennials were born into digital technology, but they weren't born into tomorrow's technology. Tech has changed the industries that parents and teachers thought would provide ideal occupations, making what we thought would be our career far different than we had planned.
Many of us were socialized to believe that we grew up to be something and then did something for 30 years, often for just a few employers. Maybe, but not likely. Work will be longer than you think. We will find our careers looking more like Betty White's than we do today, as large swatch of the population live longer, and 100 years old becomes more the norm than simply a reason to send a card.
Betty White was over 50 years old when she got her role on the show. Many people are told that they are approaching their retirement red zone in the same decade. Today's near-retirees need to prepare for a long retirement that is likely to be as many years as two-thirds of the average career. We need to prepare for a long, vibrant, and ever-changing life. Gen Z and the younger generation are even more so. Life in today's notion of older age may include more volunteering, continuing education, and more.
Betty White hosted SNL at the age of 88. Her appearance on the show earned it some of its highest ratings. Why would people of all ages want an old man to host a late night show? Maybe it was because she made us happy. White earned the title of Golden Girl because of her always ready smile or sarcastic line. She said she was acockeyed optimist. Life is not that short as life expectancy increases. White shows us that life is too long to not smile or to make someone else smile.
We will miss Betty White. If we only remember her for the smiles that she brought to our faces, we may have missed her greatest role, which was how to live a long life.
