Unsolicited advice to older people |
Earlier this year, I wrote a piece titled 'Unsolicited Advice to Students'. It was addressed to students who were sitting school leaving exams or were graduating from college. It encouraged them to follow their passions. Several people suggested I also write a similar piece for older people who are retired or will shortly be retiring from full-time work.
I mulled over this suggestion for several months. Having retired from full-time work about 10 years back and having just celebrated my 71st birthday, I thought that at least some people might be interested in what I have to say and, in particular, about the things I did right and what I would do differently if I had the chance.
I need to say upfront that mine is a biased view — that of a very lucky person. I have been lucky to have good genes that kept at bay ailments such as cancer, dementia, arthritis, high blood pressure and diabetes. I am also lucky not to have had any bad accidents or falls, and, above all, lucky to have friends and family who gave meaning to my life.
Having said that, here are seven lessons I learnt from my ten years of retirement.
The first thing is to decide is whether your disengagement from work would be a radical one or not. Would you like to spend the bulk of your time doing things you always wanted to do but never had time for — things like looking after the garden, spending time with children and grandchildren, cataloguing your stamp........