Category: Column

  • Enrich Retirement With Passion, Exploration

    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…

  • The First Step for a Working Future

    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.

  • Beyond the World of Full-Time Jobs

    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.

  • The Journey Continues

    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…

  • Tips for Traveling With the Grandkids

    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…

  • FREEDOM: Working in New Ways

    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…

  • Harmonica Seniors Are Healthy & Happy

    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…

  • ‘I’ve Never Been Old Before’

    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…

  • WORK: A New Proposition for Boomers

    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,…

  • Self-Care, Self-Healing the Natural Way

    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…