Barbara moved to Alaska in 1985 to work for the Municipality of Anchorage as the People Mover (Anchorage’s public transportation system) Manager of Operations and Maintenance, and she has lived in Anchorage ever since. “Previously, I’d managed San Francisco Municipal Railway operations, but I wanted to be in a smaller system where I could manage both the operators and the equipment and try out some of my ideas in labor relations,” she explained. Barbara lost her job when a new mayor was elected, so she shifted careers to work for FedEx and the Anchorage Daily News. When she had her daughter, she decided to work part-time. “Since we spent a lot of time at the library, I chose to work for the library, museum, and Parks and Rec. By then, I’d been working heavily in the P.R./public information field, so I moved easily into my position as communications officer,” she said.

Although she retired at age 55 from the PERS, she continued working for organizations in Anchorage, including Best Beginnings, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to early childhood learning. “While there, I was in charge of expanding Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (free books mailed monthly to the homes of children from birth to age 5) around the state of Alaska, as well as translating early childhood materials into Yup’ik. I also helped create ‘Babies on Track,’ a DVD-and-board-book set for families.” In addition to her work with Best Beginnings, Barbara also volunteers as a teacher for the Alaska Literacy Program and OLÉ, teaching writing in an elementary school classroom, and doing both management training and consulting.

While Barbara stays busy with her post-retirement jobs and volunteer work, retirement has given her the opportunity to explore her creative side. “While I was working, it seemed I was spending my whole day on the computer. By the time I got home, I didn’t want to face a monitor so I simply stopped writing. As a former columnist for the Daily News, this was a major drought in my creativity. I simply stopped. With retirement, not only could I write again, but I expanded into painting and illustration, adding them to my blog,” she said. Barbara wrote and published a children’s book, “Hanukkah in Alaska”, which has also been made into a video. After taking a UAA class in Fiber Arts, she organized the Anchorage Guerrilla Knitters to “yarn bomb” the trees in front of the Anchorage Museum and Loussac Library with colorful “tree sweaters.” “Now we’re mobilizing to re-cover the old ‘people chairs’ from Loussac Library,” she explained.

One of the things Barbara enjoys most about retirement is the freedom of being on her own clock, with one caveat: “It took me a while to realize that I also need to have some structure built into my days in order to enjoy my freedom. I like being able to run or ice skate in the middle of the day, to see friends in the middle of the day. I like that I have met a whole other group of friends—other retired folks who are free during the day—and have the time and flexibility to develop those friendships. I like that I can cook dinner without having to race around like a crazy person when I get home from work; our meals have gotten tastier!” Barbara has also had the opportunity to travel with her new found time. “I took a dream trip to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos and have been on many trips to places in the U.S.” Barbara’s next planned trips include New Orleans, hiking the Chilkoot Trail, and rafting the Grand Canyon.

Barbara appreciates that her State of Alaska retirement offers her the peace of mind of having health insurance. Before retiring, she “invested to the max in both my 401K, Deferred Comp, and IRA every single year. Period. No exception.”

In addition to investment advice, Barbara has this to pass along to members preparing for retirement: “The first ten months of retirement were full of boundless energy to tackle undone projects, art, travel, etc. But then I floundered. I came across an article that said everyone needs three things in retirement: purpose, structure, and a sense of community. Without the external demands of a schedule, I was feeling unproductive, which was very uncomfortable for me. Once I firmed up my volunteer commitments and established a demanding writing schedule, things fell into place. I would recommend everyone pay attention to those 'big three' things and make sure you have them in place before retiring.”

Barbara started a blog about the retirement experience called “Our Third Thirds”. “If the first third of our lives is what I call ‘Preparing for Adulthood,’ and the second is ‘Parenting/Professional Life,’ then the ‘Third Third’ is the one we create for ourselves,” she explained. “I look at how we find purpose; the questions of relocation/staying put; downsizing and decluttering; prospects of employment; and how we keep curiosity alive.” You can read her blog at 3rdthirds.blogspot.com .

If you would like to learn more about how your State of Alaska retirement can allow you to enjoy a comfortable retirement, please contact the Division toll-free at (800) 821-2251 or at (907) 465-4460 in Juneau.

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