From Chapters Indigo ~ Are you ready to live a long time, or do you dread it? Author Lyndsay Green has interviewed forty successful seniors to talk not just about the problems of old age but its strength and benefits.These seniors were from all walks of life and from all over the country, living in Victoria, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, Kingston and Halifax, aged 75 to 100. They have been identified as the self-reliant seniors we would like to be and they share their wisdom and strategies for independent and happy living. The book combines their advice with cutting edge research, to arrive at specific suggestions for what we should be doing now to prepare for old age, and includes resources to help us implement the advice, including:
Money isn''t everything, and won't cure ill-health or loneliness. Cultivate new friendships now. To keep your dignity, give up your pride. You need a work plan instead of a retirement plan To keep a home, consider leaving your house. If you push too hard to stay young you''ll get old faster.
The unique message is that we should not try to avoid old age. Instead of trying to do the impossible to stay forever young, Green comes to the radical conclusion that in order to get as much as possible out of our old age we will need to embrace it.
I work in the retirement industry as an educator ... I conduct seminars encouraging participants to sign up for their company-sponsored retirement plan so financially they can have the retirement they hope for. As such, I like to read books about retirement planning.
This was a unique book in that there was only one chapter on saving for retirement and being financially stable at that time ... and it's towards the end of the book.
The majority of the book is focused on how to have a happy retirement. This includes cultivating friendships now so you'll have them then, deciding ahead of time whether you'll stay in your house or downsize, giving away things you don't need now so there won't be that burden after you're gone, volunteering and feeling needed, hanging out with younger people to keep you younger, staying active and exercising, etc.
I liked that it gave a different twist on retirement planning ... its a good book for everyone to read, no matter what age you are.
2 comments:
That sounds like a good book that can help to wade through the many challenges of getting older. I like how it's all Canadian seniors too.
Sounds like a good read. Thanks for the suggestion.
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