Retirement comes with its own set
of challenges. Sometimes these
challenges are not solely related to money.
Misconceptions may cloud your perception of the ideal retirement. Trying to fit into a mold designed for
someone else will not help you live the retirement you were designed to enjoy. The books below highlight either specific
chapters or focus entirely on the softer side of retirement. Conversations should involve more than
determining your sources of retirement income.
Your lifestyle deserves attention too.
If someone is approaching
retirement or has already retired, you may consider giving one of these books which
will help them transition from a working lifestyle to their ultimate retirement. If you are considering retirement yourself,
you may see another side of retirement. Every person’s
retirement will be different. Some may
choose to work part-time while others will do volunteer work; some may choose
to travel while others will stay close to home.
Some may relocate to another city while others will simply downsize to a
smaller home. Certain decisions will be
easy while others will be complicated. Finding
what works now will be as important as making changes as the years pass. To create the life you dream of having, perhaps one of the following books can help.
In the book, 10 Things I Wish Someone had
told me about Retirement, one enjoyable activity which Rein Selles
recommends is to design a “retirement card”.
Business cards identify people by their name, title, and contact
information. Your retirement card, the
same size, has one notable change. It answers
the usual question people ask, “What are
you going to do when you retire?” On
the card, you will state your name, one thing you would like to do “retired” and where you hope to do this.
You may be interested in knowing if
retirement isn’t in your plans, the chapter,
You Cannot Retire from Yourself, gives
you permission to keep working if you love your present job and want to work
beyond 65. Pressure from others is not a
good reason to retire.
Retire to the Life You Love
The design on the cover of Retire
to the Life You Love shows the Six Circles of Life. At the heart of these interlinking circles is
you. You are the inner circle. Nell Smith takes the approach to help you be
who you are. Inside this book, you will discover personalized tools to create a
lifestyle which brings you joy, happiness and contentment. Her holistic approach will help you think
about certain aspects related to retirement you may have never considered.
In Daryl Diamond’s book, Your
Retirement Income Blueprint, he emphasizes that retirement is
driven by two hubs. The most obvious one
is the “Money Hub” and the other, not so obvious, is the “Time Hub”. During retirement, knowing what you will do
with your time and what you want to do, are vitally important. Your activities may be related to following
your passion or may be solely recreational such as golf, gardening, travel,
volunteer work, or helping the children.
You will need to consider whether health issues might impede your
retirement activities and where you wish to reside.The benefit of having
enough time to plan ensures you will make the correct decision. Having
a list of questions to kick start the planning process is useful.
“Flunking” retirement is a
possibility. Many people have failed
because they felt they were missing something.
Their solution may be to return to work.
The premise of this book, Don’t
Retire, Rewire was written with the understanding that you are not
retiring from something but
rather to something. To find the turn key to that “something” you
may need to rewire. A chapter in this
book helps you understand your drivers.
What motivates you to work today? The reason this is so important, as
the authors share, is that these drivers will create your new future. Their motto: use your today to build your tomorrow.
Benefit of Reading
Christopher Morley once said, “When
you give someone a book, you don’t give him just paper, ink, and glue. You give him the possibility of a whole new
life.” I sincerely believe these
authors are motivated to share ways to create a whole new life in the last
phase of life’s journey. Taking every opportunity to learn how you can
accomplish this will ensure you are not disappointed. Whether you re-discover your talents, re-ignite
a passion, or re-design your life, you want to ensure you are happy and
content. Life is too short to be lived
any other way. Take the challenge today
and dream what your retirement might look like in the future. Jeri
Sedlar and Rick Miners shared, “if you
know who you are today, you can build on who you want to be tomorrow.”
Great post Delores! Thanks for sharing. I've got a little time yet before I have to start thinking of retirement but I am sure it will go by quick.
ReplyDeleteTime always goes by quickly, Bill. It's hard to believe it'll be a New Year soon.
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