Being The Go To For Aging Relatives And Adult Children
While many people consider care giving to be a privilege, there is no way around the fact that it is incredibly difficult.
Bob has it rough. He wrote about the hardest part of being retired, I have been retired 2 months and have spent 90% of my time dealing with older relatives. I suspected there would be some of this but totally underestimated the time and stress involved.
And Jeanne expressed frustration with her adult children, saying that the hardest part of retirement is, Grown children who figure I have nothing else to do now, so I should be available for whatever they need, whenever they need it. Frustrating.
Tips for keeping your own retirement plans on track as a family caregiver.
Retirement Boredom And Other Hardships: 14 Ways To Eliminate The Ennui
Figuring out if you can retire securely is hard. However, for some, being retired is hard too with retirement boredom topping the list of problems.
Below are the top hardships of living in retirement according to a recent survey on the and 14 tips for dealing with retirement boredom.
Learn To Play An Instrument
Have you ever wished you could play guitar, piano or another musical instrument? Well, maybe now is the perfect time to learn it. If you learn an instrument one hour a day, you will be surprised at how much youve learned after a year. Watch YouTube tutorials to learn your instrument.
Or learn from the best and apply for an Online Masterclass of Carlos Santana that teaches the art and soul of the guitar.
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Key Takeaways To Enjoy Retirement
As you look towards your retirement years, try to consider it as less of an ending and more of a second act. No matter what your actual retirement age, these years represent a significant part of your life.
Retirement deserves the same time, attention, and planning as any other stage of your life or career. Its an opportunity to grow, contribute to your community, enjoy your family, and have a little fun, too. Deciding what to do in retirement is a way to lean into your values and draw out the parts of your life that are the most important to you.
And if you dont know how to make the most of your time right away, thats okay too. Its a new journey, and some parts are bound to be unfamiliar and a little scary. If youre really stuck on what to do in retirement, get a mentor or a coach. Someone whos navigated a career may be able to give you the perspective you need. They can help you develop self-awareness, create a game plan, and brainstorm ideas for this new phase of your life.
Travel In Retirement: Visit The Worlds Most Sacred Places
If youve always wanted to visit some of the earths most sacred, mysterious and wonderful spaces, Machu Picchu is a great place to start. Adios Adventure Travel offers trips to this sacred site that is an iconic location of the Inca civilization, and is willing to customize the trip to meet your needs.
Also, you can go on day trips, cruises, travel to new countries, or visit each of the contiguous United states.
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Treat Yourself To Spa Day
What better way to ease yourself into a relaxing retirement than being thoroughly pampered at a world class spa? Whether it is to kick off your retirement years with some me time or to give you a boost, a spa treatment is the ultimate treat. Often our skin changes as we get older and understanding its needs can be helpful to keeping it looking fresh and healthy.
Become A Foster Grandparent
You can become a foster grandparent and be a role model for other kids. And give them life experience, wisdom, love, and attention. And you can learn from them as well. Being surrounded by young people keeps you young at heart and up to date about all the modern technologies.
And theyre many different programs out there that are always looking for new grandparents. You can google your state foster grandparent program to see what possibilities are out there. Or check out National Service for more information on becoming a foster grandparent.
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Get Out And Into The Garden
I have no green thumb, god knows Ive tried but the reality is you need time to learn and time to Sow. See how I did that? Gardening jokes.
My wifes great Aunt spent almost every minute of her retirement in the garden. Right up until she was 98 years old blazing hot she would fight my father-in-law to go out in the garden. That was her passion and loved every second of it.
If youre in the right climate you can grow most anything. I try to focus on the easier stuff like carrots, beets, and peppers but theres the flower side as well. Why not grow extra and drop it off at the local food bank they will always accept donations.
Its great exercise and good for the soul!
Go Places Youve Never Been Kind Of A Repeat
Were very lucky to live where we live and it always surprises me how few places Ive visited locally. Whether its finding a flea market or local farmers market, searching out antique shops or parks. There is always something close by that you can check out meet the locals at a coffee shop, people watch or enjoy the beautiful view.
I guarantee if you get a map and draw a circle thats the equivalent of a 2-hour drive youll be blown away at what you might find.
So get the map and go explore your backyard. Do it once a week you wont regret it.
So there you have it 22 ways to keep busy if youre retired and bored. If you have any other ideas, feel free to leave a comment so everyone can see.
As always, if you like this post or the blog please share it.
My goal is to create a retirement community where everyone can share their experiences of either being retired , preparing to save for retirement or making more money for retirement we want to hear from you.
If you are at all interested in creating your own blog I highly recommend Alex and Laurens courses at Create and Go. They have tried it all and now offer these courses on how to set up your own blog and avoid the mistakes they made.
They explain everything in a way that is easy for anyone no matter what age you are to create your own blog.
All the resources I recommend can be found on the Resources Page. I wouldnt recommend them if I didnt use them myself.
Until next time
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Follow A Cooking Masterclass
Boost your cooking skills or learn how to cook with a cooking class in retirement. You have to eat every day so why not make it a fun activity and tasteful as well?
And you can find the best cooking classes on Masterclass. From Gordon Ramsay, Aaron Franklin, Thomas Keller to Alice Waters and so many more other world-renowned and celebrity chefs share their skills, secrets, and stories on this streaming platform. You can follow an Italian cooking class, Mexican cooking class, French pastry class, etc all for one price.
On Masterclass, you can learn at your own pace, anywhere, anytime, and on any device. Whether you want to elevate your cooking skills or want to learn cooking from scratch. These classes are easy to follow and for any skill level. And the best part is when you apply for a class you get unlimited access to an endless amount of masterclasses taught by the worlds greatest all for one price. Check out a video trailer of a cooking class here and see if its something you like to do.
Did you know that cooking increases your happiness? Getting creative and working with your hands eases stress and restlessness, and enhances mindfulness. You feel more at peace after cooking a meal. Therefore a great thing to do in retirement.
What Are The 5 Stages Of Retirement
The stages of retirement almost seem to mirror Kubler-Ross stages of grief. And in some ways, retirement is a similar psychological transition. One phase of your life is ending, and your relationship to work is changing. Now, you have to redefine yourself and it can feel like a big piece of who you were is missing.
Understanding the five phases of retirement and where you fall in the process can help you prepare for the retirement you dreamed of.
1. Imagination
Starting as early as 15 years before retirement, this is the dream phase. Its close enough to be a reality, but far enough away to fantasize about. With the first half of your career behind you, you have a sense of who youll be when you retire. You know what kind of impact you want to make on your field. The road ahead seems clear.
2. Anticipation
Around five years before you retire, reality sets in. Your colleagues, coworkers, and friends are retiring. You keep realizing with a jolt that its just around the corner. You may turn a critical eye to your finances or review the specifics of your retirement plan.
At this point, many people are still daydreaming about all the freedom theyll have. Most give far more thought to their finances at this stage than what theyll actually do with their time.
3. Liberation
Congratulations youre officially retired! Youve popped the champagne, filed the paperwork, and youre sporting that gold watch.
Now what?
4. Reorientation
5. Reconciliation
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Strengthen Your Personal Bonds
During the work years, a lot of time that could be spent with family gets limited to vacations and stolen moments. Retirement gives people the opportunity to renew family ties and spend quality time with grandchildren, and meet friends for lunches that last as long as the conversation does. Rather than going out on weekends, groups of friends can visit during the week, when gathering places are less crowded.
Climb The Family Tree
Making a family tree is a chance for each member to tell their stories. The National Genealogical Society has tips on how to bring historical documents and family artifacts into the tree to make it more meaningful, and where to look for information that goes back further in time than any living member can recall.
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Things To Do When Youre Retired And Bored
So youre retired and bored now what? The last thing you want to do is sit around and do nothing when you are retired. Maybe the first few weeks fine, but then its time to get up get going. You have to stay healthy, you need to try new things and get out there and find or continue something your passionate about. The point of retirement is to do what you want to do and ensure your healthy enough for a long time to do it.
So if youre asking yourself what can I do when Im retired and bored? Here are 25 things to consider to keep you busy, motivated and interested.
Downsize Your Home: Find The Best Place For You To Retire
Maybe remodeling isnt for you. Maybe your home isnt for you either!
Most of us live in homes that we bought with dreams of raising our children. Now, most of our children are grown and gone and we can think about where we want to live for retirement. Here are some lists of the best places to retire.
Moving when you retire can be great for your lifestyle, it can also be great for your finances. If you can buy a less expensive home, then you can lower your monthly expenses and maybe even use home equity for retirement expenses.
Use the NewRetirement Retirement Planner to model downsizing as part of your retirement plan.
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Read Your Way Through Book Club
If youve always been an avid reader, or if youve never had the time to fully indulge in the hobby, nows the perfect time to get through that list of books that everyone has been raving about! Reading is a great activity to do quietly on your own, but theres nothing like getting together and delving into your favourite moments or analyzing those hidden meanings of a really great book.
Reading is one of the best ways to keep your mind sharp. Its one of those hobbies that anyone can enjoy no matter where they live, what sort of physical condition theyre in, or even what kind of access they have to a bookstore or library. In these days of technology, books can be ordered online and delivered right to you or even downloaded directly onto a reading device!
Wine Adventure At Home
In retirement, every hour can be a happy hour. So why not treat yourself to amazing wines for a wine adventure at home and become a member of the Wine Awesomeness club and get 20% off.
At Wine Awesomeness you can shop wines by type, grape, or country that are crafted by winemakers all around the world. And the fun part is that with each bottle you can read the story behind the bottle, get tasting notes, and delicious recipes to pair with your wines. It can be a fun wine tasting to do by yourself or do with a couple of friends.
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Plan To Take That Holiday When You Can
Suddenly youve gone from only being able to take just a few weeks holiday a year, to having as much holiday time as you like. Whats more, you can avoid the busy seasons that coincide with school holidays and public holidays so you may be able to snap up a cheaper deal.
But COVID-19 restrictions make international travel a challenge, and some interstate travel too may be out of the question. You may be able to travel within your own state or territory, subject to any restrictions, so now might be a good time to explore your backyard.
You may be able to get a good deal on a local holiday booking as operators try to attract what custom they can. Shop around and use your web skills to compare prices. It can pay to pick up the phone and speak directly with any tour or accommodation provider and see what price you can negotiate.
Be careful to check any terms and conditions about any cancellations as you may suddenly find you are no longer able to travel due to any new COVID restrictions. Some operators offer free refunds or rebookings if you want to swap to a later date, but some may want to charge you a cancellation or rebooking fee.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is on the lookout for any unfair or unconscionable conduct by businesses with regards to any cancellations or other dealings due to the pandemic.
Create An Online Course:
Create an online video course and earn money by teaching people around the world. On Udemy, You decide what to teach, create the curriculum using their software, and they help students find you. Maybe your familys cooking is the best on Earth, or maybe youre an expert-level knitter. In whatever youre an expert, you can be a teacher.
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Look At Life Through A Lens
For people below a certain age, photography seems to be just about snapping stuff to put on social media. However, theres a lot more to the true art of photography. Looking at life from behind a camera can help you see the world in a whole new light and keeping an eye out for a great picture makes every trip out a bit of an adventure. Photography also gives you a way to use and develop the artistic side of your brain, which has to be a good thing.
Active Hobbies For Retired People
Want to stay physically active during retirement? Heres a few ideas of what to do when youre retired and bored:
- Babysit:Spend more time with your grandchildren and give your children a break from the kids by babysitting!
- Pick Up Tennis, Softball :What sport would you like to take up, or what sport do you wish you had more time to dedicate to before retirement? Whether you take up a new sport or want to get back in to a sport you love, retirement gives you that opportunity.
- Start a Blog/Write a Book:Have you always wanted to write? Maybe you dreamed of writing the great American novel? Or you just want to put down your thoughts into an online journal.
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How Can I Enjoy Retirement
The recent study, Leisure in Retirement: Beyond the Bucket List , asked 3,712 adults about their plans for leisure time during retirement. The data collected by Merrill Lynch in conjunction with Age Wave revealed a number of insights about how to stay busy after retirement, including the top hobbies for seniors and the best ways to enjoy your freedom during your retirement years. Todays post will look over some of these key findings so you can use the information to live a happy, fulfilling retirement.
According to the study, 92 percent of retirees enjoy the flexibility of a less structured lifebut the key to enjoying your newfound freedom and staving off retirement boredom is to fill your time with fulfilling activities. Coming up with new interests to explore and hobbies to try can be easier said than done, so weve gathered the top 20 suggestions for when you start to feel like you have nothing to do. Stop boredom in its tracks using these post-retirement activities.
