People all across the spectrum are experiencing a new way of defining what the later years of life should be like. One high-profile example is John Glenn, whose early career shot him into space in manned space missions. After retiring from the military and flying into space, Mr. Glenn ran for public office and served in the U.S. Senate for the state of Ohio. Of all his contributions to society, he may best be remembered for his decision to apply for permission to train for, and join, the crew of a space flight in his seventies. He is quoted as saying “Just because you're up in years some doesn't mean you don't have hopes and dreams and aspirations just as much as younger people do.”

Other examples of older people continuing to contribute to society despite being the age of most retirees are at least three past U.S. Presidents. Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush teamed up at the request of President George W. Bush to lead a worldwide relief and rebuilding effort for the areas devastated by a tsunami in South Asia. Jimmy Carter, who left office in 1980, went on to create the Atlanta Project, bringing rich and poor together to serve the community as a whole. He probably single-handedly put Habitat for Humanity on the map by donning a work apron and grabbing a hammer and nails. He and his wife, Roslyn, established the Carter Center. He became a diplomat “without portfolio,” stepping into some of the stickiest political wickets on the planet, and was able to bring warring parties to peaceful compromise, earning himself the Nobel Peace Prize along the way.

If President Carter felt he had left office with a job unfinished, he found new spheres in which to express his many talents. In the process he has, with his wife, shared his experience of reinventing himself later in life by authoring two books:Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life and The Virtues of Aging. His view may best be summed up with his quote “retirement has not been the end but a new beginning.”