Retirement Talk for Boomers, Seniors, and Retirees

Transportation can be a serious problem as we move into retirement years. Getting to the store, post office, restaurant, etc. can be challenging. How do we cope with getting around as we age?

Can we choose to be happy and have it really happen? Here is a story of one person who did just that. K. Eileen Allen has written a book entitled, "I Like Being Old". Not that I'm "old" or that you are. But we can all learn something from her. Here is what I took away from her story concerning happiness.

Retirement offers us a chance to do things we have never been able to do. One of the big ones is to slow down and change our attitude towards what we can and cannot do. We can reassess our skills, abilities and our self-confidence.

Is there such a thing as a retired state of mind? What might it be? If there is and if we bring it to the surface perhaps it will serve us well.

We all have a tendency to look backward occasionally. Sometimes we romanticize that glance. We like to remember only the good. But it isn't honest nor accurate. Our attention might better be focused on appreciating the present.

Making a life list works well for some. Considering what you want to do in life and writing it down can be good at any age. Sharing that list can make it all the more worthwhile.

Heather Leach is a writer living in a hill town in the Derbyshire Dales area of England. Her retirement has included relocating and living for a year in France. Here is my first Skype to Skype interview.

When do we loose the ability to dream? When does our ability to imagine a different life disappear? We need to recover this ability when we retire. This can be a magical time.

Retired people need vacations I told my grand-daughter. If we don't need a rest, we at least need a change. There are many benefits for retired people in getting away from the routine.

We know our muscles, lungs and cardiovascular system needs to get some exercise. We may not connect this exercise with the best thing in the world we can do for our brain. But, it seems to be true.

Spring is time for new growth - rebirth. It is time for new thoughts. For the retired it is time to move our dreams from the inside to include possibilities in the great outdoors.

Could it be that there is no such thing as "senior moments"? At least not nearly what we think. Or, perhaps I'm forgetting something.

Being a caregiver is not a role that most retired people seek. But it is a role that many of us assume. We might want to give this some thought and ask a few questions.

Retirement means we are free in many ways we have never experienced. We do not have to follow - the crowd or anyone else. Coming to this realization is necessary to reap the benefits.

This is the first in what I hope will become a regular part of Retirement Talk. Interviews with people from various locales concerning their experiences with retirement: what worked and what didn't.

Taking time to experience life is available to the retired. All we have to do is make the effort. "Stop, look and listen" might be a great mantra for us. We may be amazed.

Things change. People die. Interests evolve. We sense we need a change. Our mind goes round and round. Here is an example that might stimulate consideration of your own issues.

This is the beginning of a book that is based on all of the previous podcasts numbers 1 through 263. Chapter One deals with the question: When Should I Retire?

Retirement is a time of change. We have to be able to change direction and speed. When we need a little help it is understandable - and available.

Retirement gives us time. Time to think and time to act. Taking care of ourselves is one thing we may consider more than we have. Taking care includes taking care of our feet. Think about it.

How many crisis can we handle? Retired people have one advantage over younger people. We have had more experiences. We have lived longer. We have lived through lots of "end of the world" scenarios.

Dreams don't have to end in childhood. I mean dreams about what we are going to do in life. Retirement is a great time to go to the well and look for something new.

Retirement affords us a special time in life when we can pick and choose how we spend our time. One could do worse than make movies a big part of retirement.

Retirement is a time of freedom for many. It is a time to "do it my way". Why not take advantage and poke around at whatever.

Retirement gives us time to do something with our lives that we never managed during our working careers. Working with our hands can be a wonderful change for some of us. We can learn something new and enjoy the end products.