Category Archives: Keep Busy

Projects and activities for seniors to keep busy and stay engaged with life

A Retirement Plan Beyond the Financials

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From my US News & World Blog

When I used to contemplate retirement, I pictured a world beyond work where I would be free to do whatever I wanted or even nothing at all. Retirement was not about what I would be doing, but what I would no longer be forced to do: the daily grind, heavy commuter traffic, stressful meetings, and the constant battle to rise higher in the ranks. My retirement would include none of this and good riddance.

I planned to save diligently throughout my working days and pay off big debts along the way. I wanted to be financially prepared by age 65 to rest and relax, enjoy my free time, not worry about tomorrow, and just live in the moment. That wishful thinking was pretty much my plan for retirement.

The reality is quite different for many people entering retired life. No one questions the importance of providing for your financial needs in retirement. We certainly need enough money to live and enjoy ourselves after we leave the workforce. But once you have the money side of things taken care of, there are still other retirement preparations that need to be made. Consider what you will do for the next twenty or thirty years. Assuming you now have the time to do what you want to do, what exactly are you going to do?

Too many people enter retirement with no plans beyond having enough money to make it to the end. Their main goal has been to reach retirement age, while little or no thought has gone into what happens next. If you don’t plan and prepare for your retired life, you may discover yourself just existing rather than truly living. Instead of waking each morning excited about what the day may hold, you could find yourself bored, alone, confused, and unsure. Without planning for your life after retirement, are you even ready to retire? Before you retire, ask yourself:

  • What activities do I find most interesting that can occupy my days? Beyond just keeping busy, what meaningful endeavors can I undertake since I have the time to do so?
  • Are there interests that I am passionate about? Retirement provides the time and freedom to do what you have never been able to do. Pursuing a passion inspires us and helps keep us feeling young.
  • As I slow down over time, how will I adjust my lifestyle and activities to account for the challenges of aging? Our physical and mental condition will change over the years, so we need to factor that into our plans.
  • How will I balance relaxing with productive activities? Sometimes it’s great to slow down and escape the whirling activities of daily life. But there is much to be gained from hobbies, volunteer work, and other productive activities. Retirement does not necessarily mean that you withdraw completely from society, even if you want to slow down a bit
  • Is there something I have dreamed of doing, but never had the time due to work and family commitments? Is there any real reason why I can’t do that activity in retirement?
  • Should my health deteriorate, what options do I have in the area for assisted living arrangements? Will I be able to stay in my home independently? Can I possibly live with other family members? What will I do if the time comes when I need help?
  • Do I want to continue living in my current community or would a move be desirable? And, if so, where to?
  • Do I have a sufficient support network available in my current friends and family?
  • Are there opportunities in my daily life to engage my mind and body so I remain as healthy as I can?

Retirement can be a time for us to pursue passions that have excited us throughout our lives, but it does not automatically happen. We need to put effort into our retirement happiness. Beyond the financials, we must also generate ideas and an action plan for a fulfilling and stimulating retired life.

Dave Bernard is the author of I Want To Retire! Essential Considerations for the Retiree to Be. Although not yet retired, he focuses on identifying and understanding the essential components a fulfilling and meaningful retirement. He shares his discoveries and insights on his blog Retirement-Only The Beginning.

Baby Boomers Search for Second Careers

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From my US News & World Blog

Many baby boomers plan to keep working in some capacity after retirement. While some people will delay retirement because they need the money, others will take a job to ward off boredom and keep busy.

Previous generations of retirees may have envisioned retirement as a relaxing, stress-free escape from the demands of the working world. A more labor intensive and often physically demanding work typified earlier careers, and retirement was often necessary for a tired and worn out body.

However, the demands on today’s knowledge workers are more mental than physical. Many baby boomers, who have already begun to reach age 65, are far from physically exhausted and often have much more to give. Few of these active seniors have a physical need to retire from the working world. And many baby boomers are choosing to continue working well beyond age 65.

Delaying retirement doesn’t have to mean continuing on at a full-time job you hate. Senior citizens may feel they have had enough of their current career, after 30 or more years in the workforce. But many people still have the energy and drive to be active contributors to their community in a different capacity.

The challenge is to find a second career that will keep you engaged and challenged. Continuing in the corporate world may not be the best answer for people who want less stress or a more flexible schedule. Instead, retirement can be a time to explore creative new avenues, and put the skills you have cultivated throughout your career to work in new ways.

Your second career can be an opportunity to venture down an avenue that has interested you, but that you were unable to pursue due to circumstances. In retirement, you have the freedom to choose what you want to do rather than what you have to do. Consider a second career you may have wanted to be since you were a child, such as cartoonist or floral designer. Sometimes you can even turn a hobby into a second career by working in a wine store or becoming a yoga instructor.

Since you will have at least some money coming in from Social Security, a pension, or your savings, making a good salary isn’t the most important criteria for selecting a second career. Instead, you only need to make enough to cover the extras that your other retirement income sources don’t cover. This gives you more freedom to pursue fulfilling, but low paying work or take a position that helps others in your community.

Dave Bernard is the author of Are You Just Existing and Calling it a Life?, which offers guidelines to discover your personal passion and live a life of purpose. Not yet retired, Dave has begun his due diligence to plan for a fulfilling retirement. With a focus on the non-financial aspects of retiring, he shares his discoveries and insights on his blog Retirement–Only the Beginning.

6 Secrets to Make Retirement Years the Best of Your Life

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Post by Gerald Crawford

After a lifetime of working for a salary and following the corporate work ethic, the concept of retirement represents boundless freedom to most people – freedom from rush-hour traffic, freedom from stress, freedom from tiresome bosses and colleagues, freedom from schedules and meetings, and most of all, the personal freedom to spend your time as you wish.

You may have dreamed of spending more time on the golf course, or travelling, or with your family and loved ones, or pursuing new hobbies, or simply relaxing more. But handling this freedom is not always as easy as it seems. After a while, unless you take charge of your life after retirement, you may find yourself once again constricted – this time by boredom, by domestic drudgery, even by the unexpected demands of a spouse or partner on your time. And unless you plan for them, you may find the fulfilling activities you hoped would make your retirement years happy and meaningful, simply do not happen by themselves. Remember that as an employee you have had other people plan a major portion of your waking hours for many years – now it is your responsibility to schedule your day and ensure that you stick to your intentions.

Here are some suggestions to help you make the most of the riches of time that come with retirement.

Find your personal creative outlet

You may never have thought of yourself as an artist, but retirement gives you the freedom to explore entirely new directions, and you are under no pressure to make this hobby financially rewarding – you can simply do it for fun. You can start with some paintbrushes and watercolours or oils, but whatever medium you choose, it is certain that getting creative will be a very enriching experience, and may even, as some believe, lengthen your life expectancy.

Explore the digital world

The world has changed since you first entered working life: A whole new world has sprung up consisting of online communities, blogs, Facebook groups, YouTube videos, Skype, and new and fascinating websites are being added every day. With the help of your PC or laptop you can download the latest music releases, play chess with someone on the other side of the globe, or lose yourself in a role-playing game. In fact, this world is so extensive and diverse, you need never leave your home to learn new things and have new experiences.

And immersing yourself in the internet need not be the unhealthy, deskbound activity it seems at first: You can use the worldwide web to get some exercise in your living room, from yoga and various dance routines, to playing one of the many fitness video games available online.

Get in touch with nature

Technology may be mesmerizing, but reconnecting with nature can be equally enchanting. Fresh air, open skies and sunlight are healthy and good for you, physically as well as spiritually. Start by gardening, if you have access to a patch of soil, or taking a daily walk to the park. In fact, walking is one of the single most beneficial activities for all human beings, and walking in nature – the beach, a riverside promenade or nature trail – will uplift your spirit at the same time as it exercises your body.

And there are other activities to explore in the great outdoors, such as fishing, cycling, and bird watching. For years you have had to limit adventures in nature to weekends and peak holiday times – the very time when the crowds descend on resorts and nature reserves. Retirement is the time to take advantage of weekday and off-season visiting times.

Spend some time volunteering

Not working may well seem to be the whole point of being retired, but spending a little time working for others and sharing the knowledge, skills and experience you have gained over a lifetime can be incredibly rewarding, and will provide you with intellectual stimulation as well as social contact and job satisfaction, some of the things that are experienced as real losses by the newly retired.

There are many opportunities for volunteering at welfare organizations, the local library and hospital, charity shops and fundraising groups.

Lifelong learning

If you live close to a university or college you may consider enrolling for a course in something that has always interested and excited you, such as a foreign language, philosophy or psychology. Or if you have always wanted to learn and master the blues guitar now is the perfect time with hundreds of guitar classes available online. Investigate a nearby adult school where you could attend classes in subjects such as cooking, photography or any number of crafts. And don’t forget to check out the availability of the broad collection of courses offered over the internet.

Animals keep you connected

One great way of making your retirement years energetic, vigorous and enjoyable is to get a pet, or, if you already have a pet, to devote more time to it than you were able to when you were still working. The advantages of human-animal interaction are numerous: There are health dividends, as well as emotional and social benefits. A dog will demand to be taken for a walk, and a cat will provide sociable companionship to someone who is alone for most of the day; in short, they encourage involvement with other living beings and the outside world, and will richly reward all affection that is lavished on them.