RETIREMENT? NO. REFIREMENT! "Stay Active"

Stay Active

‘Think of retirement as the opposite but equally unhealthy extreme on the other side of being in a perpetual state of high stress and anxiety. Just as it’s not healthy to overwork yourself, it’s also not healthy to not work at all.’

Linda Westwood, Healthy Habits, Vol 3

Studies have shown that working into old age is associated with higher well-being.  [17]

A study by Aquino et al. (1996) found that elderly people reported greater life satisfaction if they worked more hours in paid work; possibly because within the world of work they had status and identity, and higher levels of stimulation.

‘The Bucket List’

Some retirees find it satisfying to have a list of the things they want to do before the kick the bucket,” pass away. This helps give them a sense of purpose and satisfaction.

Re-entering Employment

About 29% for men and 35% of women re-enter the workforce. [18,]

Aquino et al. (1996) found that the number of hours worked at a paying job was positively related to life satisfaction in older workers. Although older adults may experience higher life satisfaction because of the social environment of a workplace, social support did not explain this relationship.

Make a Bit of Money Online 

Retirees are more and more comfortable with the Internet, the World Wide Web, and they can use it to generate some income for themselves.

On a March day in 2017, right after a blizzard hit the north-eastern United States, expert marketer Edison Guzman (edisong@aeadvertising.com) presented a webinar (https://courseversity.com/10-things-you-can-do-to-make-an-extra-buck-online) on ways to make some money online…legitimately.

In most cases, however, one does need to have established a popular web site or blog. Edison told his snow-bound audience that right from home they could work with one or more of the following:

·      Amazon.com – their affiliate program gives those who join (free) 3-10% of the purchases from people who use a link the affiliates provide to purchase products from Amazon, which provides detailed training.

·      CJ.com – Another powerful affiliate program.

·      Clickbank.com – An affiliate program with a high commission (20-70%).

·      JVZoo.com -- An affiliate program with a high commission (20-70%).

·      Teespring.com – They create apparel and other items with your logos and designs. You sell them at a higher price than they charge you.

·      Cafepress.com – Another generous affiliate program with a wide variety of products.

·      Google AdSense – If they accept your application, they will pay you for putting ads on your site that bring customers to them[A1] .

·      Udemy.com – They post educational courses you create and they share the income.

·      WebinarJeo.com – This service and others like it allow you to present conveniently webinars (seminars or talks over the Internet), and you can use them to promote a business or can even charge for admission to the webinar.

·      Freeretirementvideo.com – They help you present and make money from educational or commercial videos.

Being a savvy marketer, Edison took the opportunity to remind the attendees of his free Internet magazine, netmarketingmagazine.com.

Finding Fulfilling Hobbies

Learning is not as stratified as it once was; no matter what your passion is, there are hundreds of equally passionate hobbyists taking pleasure in sharing their enthusiasm online, especially over YouTube.

Think of the most challenging hobby you can imagine, something with a steep difficulty curve - let’s say playing the violin. There are hundreds of people who have ‘taught themselves,’ or at least, they have been taught with the aid of books and videos.

Giving Back To Your Community

‘It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding.’

Khalil Gibran

We are all sadly all-too-familiar with the word ‘anti-social’, but unfortunately we rarely hear its opposite, prosocial; but this term needs to guide us. Even from a purely selfish standpoint, altruism (giving to others) is a consistent way of improving our satisfaction. Active and goal-directed interaction with our social and physical environment has been found to have a positive effect on mood, whilst inoculating us against negative emotions [19, 20] (These two things are not always mutually exclusive.) 

We want, above all, for you to find satisfaction. And what can be more satisfying than changing the world around you for the better, even in minor ways.

Offer Your Wealth	Givewell estimates that the price of saving a child’s life through The Against Malaria Foundation is only $3,340 USD.  For inspiring reading in this area please consult Doing Good Better by William MacAskill.
Offer Your Skills	This gives you a way to stay sharp or to pass the torch, and you might be surprised by how much you actually learn taking your experience into another context. You’ve trained a team of business professionals, but can you train a group of fourteen-year-old’s to play basketball? You’ve been a copy-writer for years, but can you teach a group to do what you do?
Offer Your Time	Recently, the singer George Michael passed away, and it was revealed that he had been volunteering anonymously in a homeless shelter - I can’t think of a gesture more powerful than that.
Offer You Attention	Kindness does not always take material form. Perhaps the easiest, financially but most difficult emotionally - Is giving a fellow human being the dignity of looking them in the eye and hearing their story.  Often even those who give time and skills are scared of giving attention - of listening to those in our society that are often neglected; the local homeless, poorly-integrated social groups. the aged, (Ageuk.org has a program in which you don’t even have to leave the house - Offering companionship to and elderly person in weekly telephone calls.)

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This is the continuation of a serialization of this new ebook on active retirement, by Ugandan Petero Wamala and American Douglas Winslow Cooper, Ph.D., which ebook is available through amazon.com for $0.99: 

https://www.amazon.com/RETIREMENT-NO-REFIREMENT-surviving-continuing-ebook/dp/B06XV52HPQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490748919&sr=8-1&keywords=retirement%3F+no%2C+refirement%21

Would-be authors are invited to see my site
http://WriteYourBookWithMe.com.