Retirement planning for this generation

In North-America, it is a common practice to open a retirement account early in a person's work life to start saving and growing a retirement fund. There are a large number of investment advisors, plans, and financial instruments available on the market to invest and grow your retirement saving account. It is wise to save for one's later years. It is also essential for retirement planning to have an overall view of how the lifestyle after retirement would look like, the options to choose from, the specific needs in this stage of life, and your own lifestyle preferences. As I observe family and friends in their retirement, and from my own reading, I found I need to update my retirement planning with plans for: Health, Relationship, and Purpose.

Retirement usually begins with a downsizing to a simpler lifestyle that comes with the benefits of freedom, abundance of free time, and lower expenses. For most people, the mortgage is already paid off, the children had left home, no more daily commute, no need for business attires, no pricey lunches at the office, and no daily trips to Starbucks. For the retired population at large, health has the most impact on the enjoyment of life. And healthcare usually comes out on top as the single largest living expense.

Then there is a risk of another oversight: have you ever considered the possibility that you might not make it to retirement alive and kicking...? Neglect, poor health habits in prior stages of life burn the bridge leading to your retirement.

Similar to saving money for retirement, "saving" good health for retirement also requires to put a plan into practice early in life. As an example, a quick look at my health-saving plan: abundant aerobics exercises (I am an avid runner), a plant-based diet, occasional fasting for rejuvenation, daily meditation, and planning to add yoga for healthy joins and good mobility.

For your inspiration, this book: "Younger next year" tells the story of Chris Crowley, a NewYork lawyer who retired at 56, and moved with his wife to Aspen, Colorado to pursue his dream of living a vigorous outdoor life style for 5 years. This experience inspired him to write the book to encourage this generation to adopt an active healthy lifestyle. Chris Crowley recounts his story in this video:

At the present time, loneliness is a pervasive reality in industrialized societies, and prevalent in retirement. With retirement we loose our social connections at work without replacements outside of professional circles, and we have lost touch with family and friends over the years in the pursuit of a busy career. The impact of loneliness on physical health is reported to be equivalent to smoking 5 to 12 cigarettes a day.

Deep-seated in human nature lies the need for close relationships, they are a cornerstone of our survival, well-being and happiness. A “happy retirement” plan needs to include an ongoing practice of nurturing social connections and close relationships, to be put in place at the same time as a saving fund, and to continue on building new relationships into retirement.

Years ago, I learned that good communication is a foundation for happy relationships, on the other hand, I was not able to find information on the practical skills for good communication. Until I studied Marshall Rosenberg's "Nonviolent Communication" (NVC,) I believe it is the most well-structured approach to interpersonal communication, and to building personal relationships. Marshall describes NVC as a language of the heart that is based on empathy and a non-judgmental mindset. Its goal is to meet the needs of all parties involved, that are often blindsided by our judgments and reactions.

Watch the Master himself gave an introduction to NVC in this short video:

Humans have an innate creative drive to transform time and energy into some creations like objects, events, experiences, ideas, or processes. Each person manifests this creative drive in some particular domains that will fulfill their need to find meanings and purpose of their life. According to the Bible, God created humans from his/her image, since God is the Almighty Creator, I believe humans are creators by nature. We are more like worker bees than pandas. Prolonged idleness or leisure are hazardous to our health and happiness. Work becomes play, and brings us great joy when it is meaningful—our authentic self-expression. Khalil Gibran said it beautifully: "Work is love made visible" in his classic book "The Prophet."

A third cornerstone of post-retirement life is a conscious transition from a pursuit of wealth and success, to that of spiritual growth and meanings. As an example, here is my list of meaningful pursuits I have started to work on:

• Start a bucket list as early as a retirement saving fund, and making a habit to check off the items, and to add on new ones before retirement.

• Share the wealth of hard-earned life experiences and lessons learned with younger generations so that you will leave the world a better place in some small way on your way out.

• Pursue the dreams and interests you held dearly to your heart as a teenager, these pursuits are your self-expression, they will bring you meanings and satisfaction.

• Volunteer regularly to giveback in the spirit of service, and to reconnect with your community.

• Reconnect with nature: regular walks in nature have a rejuvenating effect on the mind and body. Or better, relocate to live close to nature. Gardening and growing foods reconnect us with the working of nature.

Congratulations, you have finally reached the end of this article. Have you discovered some new practical idea? That would make my day. My sincere wishes for you: May you dream a thousand dreams now and continuing on well past your retirement. May you be surrounded by people you love who love you until the end. May you contribute to make the world a little better on this journey.

Sister Madonna Buder is a Catholic nun from Spokane, Washington, she entered into her first triathlon at the age of 52, and still going strong in her 90's.

Fauja Singh is a vegetarian Sikhs from the UK who ran his first marathon at the age of 89 and continued into his 100's

In this interview, Dr. Jason Fung from Toronto, Canada gives a detailed account of his success in using fasting to reverse diabetes, obesity, and other chronic conditions.