iddle-class Americans have long regarded retirement as the end of a lifetime financial race. They have viewed this time as their “golden years,” a well-earned rest filled with hobbies, family visits and travel – and untroubled by the daily demands of the workplace. But that view may be coming to an end.

Beginning next year, the first wave of Baby Boomers will turn 65. Over the next two decades millions of Americans born between 1946 and 1964 will reach our society’s time-honored age of retirement. What can we expect from the members of this giant demographic bubble when they reach the end of their full-time careers?

We recently surveyed 400 Boomers regarding their vision for an ideal retirement. What we learned is they have no intention of quietly leaving the work force. Three-fourths of Boomers who have not yet retired say they are likely to consider working after retirement. When we asked them why, the current economic turmoil emerged as an obvious factor for many respondents. Some of these people expect they’ll need continued income from part-time work to fund their retirement lifestyle. Some have sufficient retirement savings, but they want to delay tapping into their nest egg so they can preserve their assets for a retirement that may last 30 years or more. Still others want to maintain valuable workplace benefits like health insurance.

But the most common reasons Baby Boomers say they are likely to consider working past retirement have nothing to do with a need for money. The No. 1 reason cited by survey respondents is the desire to “stay busy.” Running a close second is the wish to “stay intellectually engaged.” Almost half of respondents said they “want the sense of fulfillment” they get from working. One in five want to “keep the community aspect of the workplace.”

Even in the midst of a recession, Baby Boomers are thinking beyond immediate financial challenges to imagine a very different kind of retirement. Their dream is not to exit the work world but to reinvent it, to radically redefine the meaning of retirement. They’re not looking forward to the end of their work lives, but rather the beginning of the next stage.

We should expect nothing less from Baby Boomers. Due to its overwhelming size, this generation has continually shaped and redefined American society. They started by redefining the traditional meanings of childhood and youth in the United States. During the 1950s and early 1960s, they sent communities across the nation scrambling to build enough schools and classrooms to educate them. In 1967, they were collectively named Time magazine’s Man of the Year. Since then they have continued to make their presence felt in and assert their influence over the nation’s political, cultural and economic landscape.

Now Baby Boomers are preparing to reinvent yet another American tradition. The stakes are high. The decisions they make now may well affect the quality of their lives for decades to come. Certainly there is no demographic group that has a greater need for the assistance of a trusted financial advisor.  They’ll need knowledgeable professional support to capitalize on the new opportunities that lie before them.

Consider the dream of self-employment. Many Baby Boomers have a strong entrepreneurial drive. Roughly one in four of our survey respondents said they are likely to consider starting their own business during retirement. But when asked how they will finance it, one third said they didn’t know or were unsure. That’s a sizeable gap between dream and reality.

In short, this new type of retirement is not simply about planning for the end of the financial race. It’s about creating a beginning. And First Command is ready to help. Your Financial Advisor has the training and experience to help you make the most of your resources so you can realize your ideal retirement and pursue an abundant and fulfilling life.

First Command Financial Services, Inc.