While growing up on a farm in southern Indiana, I don’t recall ever hearing the word “retire.” Farmers just kept on until they dropped. Well, that isn’t exactly the truth-there was often a son who took over the actual farming while Dad and Mom continued to live out their days in their old farm home.

Nowadays, retirement is on everyone’s lips if they are heading into their 60s. Recently an article from US News listed the seven secrets of a happy retirement. No surprise that good health is No. 1. Without it, nothing else matters very much. Here is the rest of the list:

• A significant other; married or cohabitating couples are happier than singles in retirement.
• A social network; having friends was reported to be more important than having kids or grandkids.
• Not being addicted to television; happy retirees have a variety of interesting activities to fill their time.
• Maintaining intellectual curiosity with brain stimulators; bridge, reading, etc.
• Not addicted to achievement if your job defined who you are; you will probably have more difficulty in retirement.
• Enough money to support your retirement lifestyle. More than that does not seem to increase happiness.

I will add one more thing to the list. Become a volunteer or work part-time. It will help fulfill many of the requirements on this page.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 3rd, 2011 at 11:17 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

It isn’t a secret that obesity often has deadly consequences. We’re all aware that there is an increased risk of diabetes as well as heart disease. But the bad news doesn’t end there. Obesity now costs 17 percent of the total health bill amounting to at least $2,800 more per year for an obese person.

The actual cost of obesity may be as high as $8,000 for women because they may earn less in the workplace than their “slim sisters.” (more)

While growing up on a farm in southern Indiana, I don’t recall ever hearing the word “retire.” Farmers just kept on until they dropped. Well, that isn’t exactly the truth-there was often a son who took over the actual farming while Dad and Mom continued to live out their days in their old farm home.

Nowadays, retirement is on everyone’s lips if they are heading into their 60s. Recently an article from US News listed the seven secrets of a happy (more)

Have you or a loved one ever had to deal with a medical crisis? Lucky you, if you haven’t. Most of us older citizens have had this experience.

Mine was when my husband awakened me early one morning to tell me that he was suffering severe chest pains. He was already dressed and told me that he was driving himself to the emergency room.

We all know that the ONLY way to handle this situation is to call 911. Never, under any (more)