Regardless of the word you use, people know this is what happens after your career ends. With the evolution of this stage of life come new ideas and new terms to describe them.

Bridge job, is one of these new concepts. What the heck is a bridge job? It's a job you might have during the period of time between your career and when you really retire, meaning being totally and unequivocally, unemployed.

The important thing to keep in mind is that retirement is a process, not an event. It may be a marathon, but not a sprint. It's a phase of life we can do over time. You don't have to have a long career and bam! Retire. You can, but you don't have to.

A bridge job might be the perfect transition for you, especially if you define yourself by your work. It might be a new line of work, it may be part time, it may mean self-employment or if you are self-employed you might enjoy working for someone else and letting them handle most of the responsibilities.

There are also some very hard hitting truths as to why you might consider a bridge job for yourself.

*There are many unanswered questions about Social Security and how stable it will be when it comes your time to collect.

*Many of you simply haven't saved enough during your working years to be able to retire when you thought you would.

*Too many contracted pensions and retirement plans have been a victim of over promised and under delivered.

*You are living longer and healthier than ever before. With life expectancy at an all time high, it obviously will cost you more if you wish to be self supporting and not rely on you children and/or the government.

In the United States, the average retirement age is 56 years old. That could mean 30 years living without working! Even if you have saved diligently, that's a long time to live without a pay check.

There are many statistics, available to interpretation. Generally speaking, 79% of Baby Boomers expect to work in later years. 52% work part time. Only 10% of the

Baby Boomer generation will retire in the traditional sense, moving from a full time career to a non-working lifestyle.