Not all tips about retirement have to do with money or saving money or working...throw in grandchildren and it makes everything perfect! While I worked some this week, I also took time for a sleepover with Savannah, a movie with hubby, spending my Groupon at Barnes and Noble, dinner and a fast trivia tournament, not to mention cleaning out the closet and a snow storm. Busy, busy, busy! Sometimes you just have to play.
While moving through retirement, don't forget to have fun. We get so focused on managing our dwindling portfolios or working to make up shortfalls, that we forget that retirement is supposed to be fun. Like many of you, I graduated from nursing school on a Friday night and went to work on Monday, rapidly followed by marriage, children and more school! When our kids graduated, we encouraged them to run and play for a year...sort of like a gap year that so many of our European friends' children do between high school and college...our one hippie like daughter really embraced it...truth be known....she still does! The other two work a lot but do have a bit of fun along the way. We love our kiddos but we really love our grand-kiddos! They are so much fun to play with, shop for and just all around spoil. So plan on spending some time with your grandkids and rediscover your inner child. Life is too short not to have fun!
Have fun with your spouse! Woody and I truly are best friends and would rather be with each other than anyone else...well, most of the time. When I make him clean out his closet, he might rather be somewhere else! Remember when you fell in love and before the kids and bills and stress and work...try to recapture that feeling if you've lost it. If you're single, consider your options. I have a friend in her late 50's who just got married to a wonderful man she met through an online dating service...I think it was eHarmony. Another friend is a perpetual volunteer. In addition to seeing everything from plays to football to basketball free, he's met a few cuties along the way. Hasn't settled down yet, but at 70 he says he has a few years before he has to grow up.
Don't be a couch potato. Get out...have fun...remember why you wanted to retire in the first place! Volunteer. Join a dating service. Find a club or group to join. Do all those things that you always complained that you never had time to do!! When all else fails, go to a funny movie and just laugh. You are responsible for making life what you want it to be...I can't imagine a day without laughter...can you?
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