Retirement Scenarios

This week's Blogging Boomers is being hosted by Nancy Mehegan at Vaboomer.com.  Here's the link.  Enjoy!

Best Places to Retire

I don't know if readers outside of the UK will be familiar with national treasure, Sir Cliff Richard, but he turns 70 in October and I'm not sure how much airbrushing or 'nipping and tucking' has gone on here (if any), but you've got to hand it to him - he's looking good for it…  Check him out here.

Update: And here's how he manages it… (apparently).

Best Places to Retire

If you live in the UK, you might be interested in getting your hands on a copy of The Care Fees Planning Guide from Informed Choice Financial Planners. 

The guide explains the financial planning considerations for funding long term care and contains information about means testing, property, asset deprivation and the various ways of funding long term care.  You can get it, free of charge, by clicking here.

Best Places to Retire

Are you thinking about ditching the hair dye and letting your natural hair colour come through?  If you haven't quite plucked up the courage to do it yet, check out 10 Reasons to Go Gray by Nancy Hall.

Best Places to Retire

From Technolog on msnbc.com: Older adults are flocking to social networks (It's all about bridging generational gaps and renewing connections as they approach retirement or embark on a new career.)

Best Places to Retire

One of the newsletters that I'm always pleased to see turn up in my email inbox is that of Sandy Dempsey, who runs The Dreaming Cafe - tagline: 'Where self-discovery. self-expression and self-employment come together'.

One of Sandy's blog posts from the last week was entitled, 'I thought I had it all figured out', and in it she talks about all the things she didn't expect when she gave up her day job to become full-time self-employed.  It struck me that a few of the things that Sandy didn't expect can also take retirees by surprise, namely:

'That I would miss the challenge of the work I used to do.

That I’d find myself so tired and so exhausted in the beginning that some days I could hardly get out of bed.

The number of hours, days and months it would take to shake the toxicity of the work environment I had left behind or to let go of the attitudes and beliefs I had adopted over the years to protect myself.

That I would miss my ex coworkers.

That I would feel alone and isolated.

That I would suddenly have to face my own surprising health issues.'

What do you think?  Have you recently retired and found yourself bumping up against some unexpected emotions?  Do you know someone who retired and found themselves struggling to cope with no longer being in the workplace?  Let me know in the comments section below…

Best Places to Retire

I'm still totally immersed in all things 'fitness and exercise' at the moment, ahead of my fitness instructor course which, officially, starts in September.  I say 'officially' because that's when the classroom part of the course starts - the 'home-study' bit has been underway for a couple of months and I live in sweat pants and trainers (sneakers) nowadays.  I'm now fully conversant with the workings of the vascular system, I can tell you where the golgi tendon organs are located and my tidal volume has never been better, thank you very much!

So, with all that in mind, I thought I'd share with you this article by Dr David Demko, gerontologist and editor of AgeVenture News Service, about matching your fitness activities to your personality.  According to this, I reckon I'm a combo of the Self-Confident and Introspective personalities.

How about you?

Best Places to Retire

A few weeks ago I watched 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly', which tells the story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the former editor of French fashion magazine, ELLE.  Paralysed from head to toe after suffering a massive stroke which left him with 'locked-in syndrome', Bauby dictated his memoir by blinking his left eye as a transcriber recited the alphabet. 

Sadly, Bauby died just two days after the publication of his book, but a British man, Graham Miles, has confounded doctors by recovering from 'locked-in syndrome' to the point where he is able to live independently and even take up motor racing as a hobby.  Read his story here.

Best Places to Retire

The Blogging Boomers carnival wheel comes full circle, back to the guys at LifeTwo, who, together with Rhea at The Boomer Chronicles, are the carnival's founders.  Find out what they have for you by clicking here.

Best Places to Retire

Mythologist Jospeh Campbell urged people to follow their bliss, but that quest usually doesn't begin until the children leave home, careers change, or a person has endured great personal loss.  These changes tend to clean out the cobwebs that veil one's true self.

Dr Mary S. Furlong

Best Places to Retire