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| Do we have enough money to retire? How to respond? Luck will play an important role. Wise decisions must be made. Are we looking in the right direction? | |
| Retiring brings with it many changes in our life. Some we must accept. Others we can reject and refuse. Tenting and biking are two activities that I have seen lasting well past entering retirement. We might want to give them a try. | |
| Technological change covers us like an avalanche. We may feel buried at times. What to do? Climb into a shell or try to stay on top and ride it out. Choices have to be made. | |
| Many of us face the task of down-sizing. We may even face it more than once. What are some of the factors we may be missing when we give it consideration? We would be well advised to think carefully on this one. | |
| Reunions are a fact of life. We get invited. Some of us enjoy them and other avoid them like Ebola. Perhaps our own attitude is the deciding factor in whether we enjoy them or not. We might want to give it some thought. | |
| This is the second in the series concerning reflecting on past experiences and our recent road trip. For the first part of the series listen to Episode 399. | |
| What might we do with our retirement or our life? The choices are many. The time is passing and it important that we make a choice. We can't just sit and wait for a magic moment. | |
| We want to enjoy the present moment, enjoy the anticipation of coming days and enjoy reflecting on past experiences. Taking a road trip offers all of these opportunities. This is an example of reflection. And it was enjoyable. | |
| Routines are part of our daily life that are often only tolerated. Is there something we can do to move them into being an enjoyable part of our day? | |
| Having heroes is kids' stuff some would say. But when we get older we find our own personal heroes coming with us. We still have people we hold up as more significant to us than others. We still have hope that what we admire in a few could yet have impact if we spread the word. | |
| Retired people have their indulgence: a cocktail, dahlias, naps, etc. We have several and one is coffee. We indulge. A good coffee shop has a magnetic attraction for us daily. It provides us with much more than just good coffee. | |
| We get the bug in the fall. It is time for a road trip. Occasionally leaving your beautiful home surroundings for a different location my seem foolish but it isn't. We have found our appreciation of the seasons expanded when we venture down the road. | |
| "You just need to get organized" has become a common phrase. In most cases for me it is true. We need all the help we can get to keep on moving. Projects work for me. | |
| Retired people tend to be around the house when not traveling. We linger by the mail box and talk to neighbors of weather, recent trips or cars on the street. Having good neighbors doesn't happen by accident. We have to work at this. | |
| "I'm from the government and I'm here to help": frightening or comforting words. We need to think a bit about that. Truth is stood on it's head by cliches all too often. | |
| New studies indicate physical exercises do more for the mind than we might have imagined. Sure we can do crosswords or study a foreign language but perhaps we would be better off walking quickly around the block. | |
| We would all like to follow our bliss. It would be nice to be paid for doing what we love. Retirement may offer us this opportunity. It works for some. | |
| Ending one's own life is a choice we all make. We either do or we don't. The twists of life events sometimes make that choice shift in value. It is something we might do well to consider rather than ignore for our own good as well as others. | |
| In this podcast I read a letter from a Sherri Robinson telling of her retirement experience. She is a listener and has given retirement some serious thought. Here she shares some of her ideas and suggestions. You are welcome to do the same. | |
| Life has a way of throwing frustration into our life that is well grounded and frustration that has no basis. Regardless of cause frustration has to be confronted. | |
| Creating and maintaining a retirement of one's own choosing isn't easy. Outside forces assault our own thoughts, intentions and actions constantly. Retaining a sense of self requires constant vigilance. | |
| Staying fit has come to be associated with physical fitness. But that isn't the only thing for which we need to be fit. We might want to keep that in mind as we add the years. It might make us feel better about ourselves. | |
| Retirement brings with it time to Indulgence in what we like best and for many of us that is eating. Our health can suffer dramatically. We find ourselves unable to do much other than eat some more. What to do? | |
| Sometimes there are subjects we just don't want to face. Death is one. We have a hard time considering or discussing our own death. There is a new approach that might be worth investigating called the Death Cafe. | |
| Retirement comes with getting older as does a changing body. A dermatologist checks our surface for signs of hazards. The results of their check can result in a few temporary changes in our appearance. With only a little thought we know it is worthwhile. | |
| Is it worth keeping up with technological changes as we age? We learn how to use one thing and then there is another that is suppose to do it better. How do we keep up? Are there any tricks? Or should we just stop? | |
| Friends make life. We wouldn't want to live alone. Sometimes we just drift apart, or one of us move or they die. At any rate we find ourselves wishing for some new friends. What to do? | |
| Upkeep is something that we must maintain throughout life. It isn't easy. Change can come so slowly that it escapes notice. Our life and everything around us can easily shrink and deteriorate around us. We must be ever alert and assertive. | |
| The Land of the Midnight Sun attracts like a magnet. It is like a universal lifetime dream. After living there for twenty years and traveling back and forth over another 25 I can't understand why people don't just go. It is easy. | |
| Communicating across generations is always a challenge. What can we do to stay connected to our children and children's children? We might have to change our ways. That is always a challenge. | |
| Habits are what gets us in trouble. Or habits are what save us. They can be take us to where we want to go. Or they can lead us into the valley of misery. New habits can be established at any time in life - retirement is no exception. | |
| Getting from one place to another can be a problem for all of us. The difficulty can increase as we age. What to do? It might be very wise to choose our place of residency very carefully. Getting around can become a joy instead of a problem. | |
| We men either grow a beard or shave. One or the other. There are no other choices. In many areas of our life we do have options. It is important to realize where we do and where we don't. We retired people have choices - about some things. | |
| Retirement gives us time to do many things we have never had time to do previously. One of them is to gamble or visit casinos. We might want to think that one over before we swing open the doors. | |
| Retirement allows time to reflect upon our experiences and try to make sense of our world. Sometimes personal experiences make all the rationalizing we find in the news appear more than a bit absurd. | |
| We can all use a bit of unconditional love in our lives. Dog owners realize this. Thus we have the committed relationship. Benefits flow both ways. | |
| We all want the world to be a better place for future generations. Is it? Have we left it better or worse? Do we share blame or credit? We certainly hear about lots of problems today. | |
| Loneliness is part of the human condition. Without workplace connections we can find ourselves even more isolated. We need other people in our lives and that doesn't happen without effort. | |
| We could have died quite easily - but we didn't. The rest of life is sort of a bonus. We may turn it into a true learning experience. It can be life changing and may lead to an early retirement. | |
| What does freedom mean to you now that your retired? A friend recently asked me that question. I had to give it some thought. It was worth the effort. | |
| How fast does technology change our lives? How many times do we have to relearn how to do something? It isn't easy to keep up. Maybe we should dig a hole and crawl in? On the other hand, maybe we just need to keep on learning. It may be worth it. | |
| We retired people spend a lot time traveling to see either parents, children or grandchildren - love trips. Many times these trips are made via airplane. Now we find out that traveling in this manner may have a short future. What to do? | |
| Worry seems to be one of the constant conditions of living. We worry about big things and little things. We may be wise to establish 'worry free zones' in our lives. We do want to enjoy part of our time revolving around the sun. | |
| Some of us dream of getting more involved in the political process when we retire. We will have time to attend meetings or help work on campaigns or issues that are dear to us. What can we do? Here is a perfect example of one man's effort. | |
| Planning for our funeral is something we can choose to do or not. There are many choices. It might be wise to give it some thought while we still can. | |
| It is hard to get anything done if we don't know where we want to go. Where we really want to go. Priorities become imperative. It is to easy to get pulled off course by an invasive whim or momentary thought. |
A resource from a listener: Best Free Online Degrees for Seniors guide is designed to assist seniors who aspire to enhance their intellect or consider starting a new career path. It features an overview of the top online degrees for seniors, emphasizing their numerous advantages, and a broad range of subjects to choose from. A friend's website: Terra Firma Designs: Fine Furniture, Stained Glass and woodworking workshops. Copyright 2010 RetirementTalk.org |
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