6 Tips for a Healthy Retirement
Retirement is often associated with a sense of aimlessness while the rest of the world whizzes before your eyes. However, finding a purpose can make your post-retirement life a fulfilling journey. Read on to seek help from our six tips for a healthy retirement.
This is a collaborative post.
Get Your Finances In Order
Building up your nest egg after retirement is essential to ensure you can sustain a comfortable lifestyle and a healthy retirement. Whether you choose to live in a retirement village like those from Summerset Villages Auckland, or stay with family, money will be important.
Beyond housing and daily expenses, it’s also wise to allocate funds for personal safety and health monitoring, which can significantly contribute to peace of mind. Understanding the Canadian life alert cost is a practical step in budgeting for this essential layer of security. These systems provide 24/7 monitoring and can be crucial for maintaining independence and a healthy retirement.
Here’s how you can keep your finances in order for a healthy retirement.
Determine Your Budget
The first and foremost step would be calculating your average spending after retirement. This depends entirely upon the kind of lifestyle you wish for.
Ask yourself how much you would be roughly spending on these wants and needs to set a budget for yourself accordingly:
- Housing
- Travel
- Leisure
- Food
- Health
- Clothing
Assess Your Assets
Now that you have a budget in mind, your next step would be to assess how much you own in terms of your savings, property, and other assets.
After doing so, it would be far easier for you to establish exactly how much you should be spending out of your savings.
In this regard, living by the 4% rule is a good idea: you should withdraw no more than 4% of your savings. By leaving enough in the account, your investments will have a chance to grow in future years for a healthy retirement.
Freelance In Your Field Of Expertise
There’s a high chance your assets would not nearly be enough to sustain your expenditure after retirement, especially if your previous job is not pensionable. In such cases, a convenient way to make money is to freelance in your field of expertise.
The simplest way is to set up a profile on reliable freelancing platforms such as Upwork and PeoplePerHour.
You can also check out this comprehensive guide on how to become a freelancer in 2023. Whilst you might think it is something for the young, it might help fill time in your healthy retirement.
Create An Extensive Investment Strategy
An investment policy statement ensures your investments are purposeful and profitable. It defines your investment goals and helps you develop strategies for achieving them.
This document can help you make more rational financial decisions. Here are some tips to help you create an investment policy statement.
Focus On Social Support
You don’t have to face the challenges of retirement alone. Seeking social support can help alleviate your stress and bolster your motivation to live a meaningful life. Here are two important considerations to make in this regard for a healthy retirement.
Strengthen Your Social Network
Staying socially connected can greatly impact your mental health and happiness. Therefore, staying in touch with family, relatives, old friends, and acquaintances is important.
You must also note that fostering new, sincere friendships is never too late. And retirement communities are an excellent platform for doing that. You can learn more about retirement villages and see if they are right for you and your healthy retirement.
Join A Peer Support Group
Many community organisations offer support groups for older adults transitioning into retirement. Talking to other people who understand what you’re going through can help reduce feelings of isolation.
One I recommend is the Chatty Table scheme, a local cafe here has one, and it is a lovely way for people to meet others to chat to.
Eat Healthy
Old age brings numerous health concerns that can be easily avoided if you eat healthily. Therefore, consuming consciously is one way to ensure a healthy retirement.
One popular way to do so is to focus on a Mediterranean diet. It is an all-encompassing diet that has long been regarded as a healthy approach to eating. Here’s what it involves:
- Eat whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, herbs, spices, nuts and healthy fats such as olive oil daily.
- Add fish or other seafood to your menu once or twice a week.
- Consume dairy foods, eggs, and poultry in moderation.
- Eat red meat and sugary items only occasionally.
- Drink red wine in moderation.
Travel
One positive aspect of retirement is that it gives you all the time in the world. You can productively utilise this spare time by finally going to your dream travel destinations.
Not only are vacations a great way to spend spare time, but they also help one rejuvenate and reconnect with the world’s wonders.
To help you plan effectively, here are some tips to organise a once-in-a-lifetime trip abroad.
Look For Volunteering Opportunities
More than one in five older adults volunteer. That is because giving back to the community will give you a sense of contentment, which will help you escape the mundanities of your post-retirement routine.
Moreover, volunteering offers the added benefit of helping you engage in physical activity.
Common places for senior citizens to volunteer include animal shelters, foster grandparent programs, and community gardens. You can choose an organisation based on your interests to make the most of your experience.
Take Care Of Your Mental Health
Mental wellness is crucial to ensure a healthy life after retirement. Contentment comes from within, and here are some simple tips to help you achieve a composed emotional state:
- Get a good night’s sleep daily
- Practice yoga
- Develop a positive outlook to shape your thought process. You can do so by keeping a gratitude journal and practising self-care
Final Thoughts
Getting daunting thoughts about getting older and transitioning into retirement is quite easy. However, try to focus on the bright side for a healthy retirement.
You would have all the time in the world, which you can use for purposeful activities to bring joy to you and those around you.
And at the end of the day, it all comes down to how you view things, so opt for an optimistic outlook. Good luck with your healthy retirement!
