I am a retired preschool teacher from Bemidji, Minnesota, and I live in Kā‘anapali, Maui, all winter. I am an active volunteer in both communities and my huge appetite for travel has taken me to many of the world’s countries. My method of solo travel affords me opportunities to explore each destination and its culture at my leisure. Often that means viewing and appreciating its art.
In my 2005 book Boom or Bust, I made the case that if you are prepared, it is never too late to do the work you are meant to do throughout the bonus years of your lengthening life. But if you’re not prepared, watch out for the storm clouds ahead.
Over 30 percent of the people who work don’t have full-time jobs. In a few years, that will increase to almost 50 percent. Working even one day a week will provide psycho-social advantages to an engaged senior. There are plenty of options.
Yes, the journey of life continues even after we retire!
How long our journey on Earth will be is one of the unknowns we must live with. In my earlier article, entitled, “I’ve Never Been Old Before,” I wrote about how lost I was when I retired from my career in the federal government. It took me quite a while to find purpose and meaning during the empty days that kept coming at me. Thankfully, I realized how rewarding it is to give back in whatever way you can.
We started taking our grandkids on trips without their parents to create shared memories and to get to know each other in a more personal way. It is somewhat of a tradition in our family. My mother took our children to Japan without us. These trips remain cherished memories. In a way, we are continuing her legacy.
For the past few months, I have been introducing you to the concept of working in new ways beyond the old, familiar routine of working a regular, full-time job in an office. Now, many ask how to optimize their independence from the old, familiar world of work. How are they doing good, making money, overcoming feelings of isolation and having a healthy lifestyle? Let’s begin a new journey by addressing freelancing — i.e., working for yourself.
Growing up in Hawai‘i, I played a ten-hole harmonica by ear, but lost interest because I could only play the same old songs and was not getting any better. As the years sped by and before I found anything interesting to enrich my life, I became a senior facing retirement. Doing nothing was not an option so I began to search for the elusive experience that would bring harmony into my life.
I’ve never been old before so this is a new experience for me. After retiring from a 37-year career, I found myself adrift. What should I do now? The days seemed very long as I pondered what I should fill them with. Life looks very different when you remove yourself from the “working world.” You feel as though you are invisible when you are with other people.
For most mature employed people, work was considered having a job with one or two companies in a working lifetime. Now retired, many may still have debt; few have the savings to take them through their remaining years. Countless mature workers believe that just one more job, perhaps much like the one they just left, is all they need to secure their futures. Unfortunately, those jobs may no longer exist or they may have been completely re-framed so that they are no longer a possibility for most mature workers.
Last school year I fell down half a flight of stairs, bruising my left hip. It was an accident where I was just happy I didn’t break anything. At age 63, I should have been more careful! X-rays indicated the need for a hip replacement but, since I’d been practicing self-care for the past fifteen years by using wellness products, I thought I already had everything needed for my body to heal itself.
The profession of social work’s claim to fame is the theory “Person-in-Environment” or PIE. Not only does the social worker relate and deal with the person but also the environment and relationships he or she lives with; those intimate realities of life that affect the “personhood.”
Let go of the past. You are both the author and central character of your Third Act. Let your imagination wander as you read about new ways people over 50, 60, 70 and beyond are having fun, making money and devoting their creativity and energy to all the areas of their jam-packed lives.
My current goal is to help Maui Arts League build a Visual Fine Arts Museum on West Maui — for our children, residents and visitors. My husband and I have always valued art and were inspired by collecting fine art. I believe art makes people happy. What could be better than surrounding yourself with family, good friends, delicious healthy food and beautiful art?
The biggest surprise about retirement is that I am busier now than when I had a regular job. My to-do list seems to get longer every day, even though I know I am continually completing tasks. Keeping busy with meaningful work is good advice to anyone contemplating retirement.
Portfolio workers are the “Jugglers” of multiple opportunities who know a diversified work portfolio increases the probability of realizing financial and personal success, improves their sense of control and boosts feelings of security.
Ageism is discrimination and negative stereotyping on the basis of a person’s age. It permeates the media and everyday conversations to such an extent and in such subtle ways that people may accept negative stereotypes of older adults (“forgetful,” “grouchy,” “less competent”) as truth, unconscious of their bias.
Seniors not only have to exercise and stay physically and mentally fit; they also need to make their money last longer. Social Security, regular investments (stocks, mutual funds) and retirement plans (401k, IRA) now have to account for an extended life span.
Find something you’re passionate about and stick with it! That’s the advice Ed Gayagas has followed for himself and the message he passes along to others.
I have learned a lot about setting goals from interacting with my smartwatch! The S.M.A.R.T. approach to setting goals has been around far longer than smartwatches, but the watches demonstrate perfectly the basic S.M.A.R.T. concepts originally created in 1981 by George T. Doran as a management tool but relevant for any type of goal.
If you are 50, 60, 70 or 80 today and need — or want — to continue to work, there is an exciting, fast-rising world emerging; a world filled with new ways of working and earning your way in Hawai‘i!
Family caregivers of older adults undergo fairly predictable stages in their caregiving careers. Each stage brings different challenges and requires different kinds of help for both the care receiver and family caregiver.
Need to work? Need to earn? If your answer is “yes” to either question, then here are three immediate actions that will improve the return on your most important investment — YOU!
What do singer Cyndi Lauper, comedian Tim Allen, wrestler Hulk Hogan, attorney Marcia Clark and politician Jeb Bush have in common? They were born in 1953 and are turning 65 this year, along with many others who may not enjoy fortune or fame. Celebrity or not, if you share their birth year and you or a spouse/partner worked and paid Medicare taxes, you may qualify for valuable Medicare insurance benefits.
Momentia (rhymes with dementia) is an arts-based movement targeting persons with dementia and their care partners
that “celebrates life in the moment.” It is a strengths-based grassroots movement to empower and energize those impacted by memory loss to remain connected and active in the community.
On a frosty winter’s morning, my fellow
seminarian, Cal Chinen, picked me up in
his old beige Volvo. We drove across the
Columbia River from Portland, Oregon, to Washougal,
a small town at the foothills of the Cascade
Mountains in Washington State. We were responding
to a senior citizen’s request to do some yardwork.
Success! The 2016 Aging in Place Workshop by Generations Magazine Staff from the DecJan 2017 issue of Generations Magazine, Hawai‘i’s Resource for Life
Veterans: Understanding Moral Injury by Rev. Jayne Ryan Kuroiwa from the Oct-Nov 2016 issue of Generations Magazine, Hawai‘i’s Resource for Life
41st Annual Senior Softball Tournament by Garrett Iwai, Recreation Specialist from the Oct-Nov 2016 issue of Generations Magazine, Hawai‘i’s Resource for Life
At Your Service…Vietnam Vets by Capt. Rona Adams, RN, US Army Nurse Corps, Vietnam from the Oct-Nov 2016 issue of Generations Magazine, Hawai‘i’s Resource for Life
Substitute Parents by Shirley and Les Ihara, Grandparents from the Oct-Nov 2016 issue of Generations Magazine, Hawai‘i’s Resource for Life
When You Gotta Walk by Stephanie Kim, Generations Magazine Intern from the DecJan 2017 issue of Generations Magazine, Hawai‘i’s Resource for Life
Serving Our Country by Sherry Goya, Generations Magazine Staff from the Oct-Nov 2016 issue of Generations Magazine, Hawai‘i’s Resource for Life
At Your Service by Rona Adams, Vietnam Veteran, U.S. Army Nurse Corps from the August-September 2016 issue of Generations Magazine, Hawai‘i’s Resource for Life
Bus or Rail? How About the Rec Parks? by Stephanie Kim, Generations Magazine Intern from the August-September 2016 issue of Generations Magazine, Hawai‘i’s Resource for Life
A Love for Hawai‘i by Sherry Goya, Generations Magazine Staff from the August-September 2016 issue of Generations Magazine, Hawai‘i’s Resource for Life
The Many Joys of Grandparenting by Shirley and Les Ihara, Grandparents from the August-September 2016 issue of Generations Magazine, Hawai‘i’s Resource for Life