It all started with a fax—not your typical source for innovation today. Still, the John Templeton Foundation’s first grant for The Purpose Prize a decade ago was inspired by this question, which Sir John Templeton sent by fax: “How could the Foundation help promote a vision of purpose in retirement?” In the foreword to Dr. Harold Koenig’s 2002 book “Purpose and Power in Retirement,” Templeton wrote that, “At age 89, I am busier than ever, more enthusiastic and joyful than ever, because I am working on dozens of programs to help humanity gain more spiritual wealth.” Because he experienced the joy and benefits of living with purpose in his own “encore career,” Sir John wanted to help promote this form of “spiritual wealth” as widely as possible.
What’s the best way to pursue such an ambitious goal? Prizes often inspire innovation, ranging from Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic in The Spirit of St. Louis to suborbital space flight with the Ansari X-prize. Of course, there’s no guarantee of success. Many prizes can also be the equivalent of the gold watch at a retirement party – a gracious acknowledgment of past good work but with little impact on the future. So why did we think a prize was a good option for this challenge? The short answer: Never underestimate the human desire to leave a legacy. Most of us will not be able to fund the construction of buildings named after ourselves, but almost everyone can follow his or her passion to make the world a better place. This is why Sir John was eager to invest his financial wealth into creating spiritual wealth – the power of beneficial purpose in action.
Templeton’s investment philosophy was that trouble in the markets was also opportunity. So too, an aging population that is living longer need not portend financial catastrophe, but a golden opportunity to rethink and reshape these generative years of life for the common good. The growing pool of strong applicants to The Purpose Prize is a powerful testament to the wisdom of this view. There is an additional lesson Templeton’s investing career has for the future of encore careers: going global. The benefits of – and need for – productive lives of purpose is not limited to the U.S. The next major challenge will be to expand the vision and practice of purpose in retirement as broadly as possible. It’s an investment that will pay dividends for decades to come.
