Retirement is a major step in life. Because it is such a significant change in lifestyle for many people, experts emphasize that preparation in several areas is vitally important. Below are tips on finance, health, activities and families. In addition, a great deal of satisfaction can be gained from serving others. At right is information concerning missionary service and typical Church Service opportunities.
LIVING A MEANINGFUL LIFE
- Prepare to live longer. For example, "baby boomers" are the largest population planning to retire and they are likely to be the longest lived generation in U.S. history. Men now have a life expectancy of 71-72, and women have a life expectancy of 80-81.
- Attend church. Research has shown that the role of religion is an important part of aging and life satisfaction. Those who attend church experience a greater life satisfaction and are simply better adjusted than those who do not. Attending church gives a sense of well-being.
- Plan to spend extra time in service, recreation, retirement leisure, and education, which enrich the quality of life. Leisure in retirement is enriching. Retired people need to have a mental set that having more time is a positive feature.
Source: Dr. Steven W. Heiner, BYU professor of health sciences
STRENGTHENING FAMILIES
"Some of the sweetest memories I have are of our own family reunions and gatherings, said President Ezra Taft Benson. "Foster wonderful family traditions which will bind you together eternally. In doing so, we can create a bit of heaven right here on earth within individual families. After all, eternity will be but an extension of righteous family life."
- Call your families together, organize them into cohesive units.
- Give leadership to family gatherings. Establish family reunions where fellowship and family heritage can be felt and learned.
- Grandparents can have a profound influence on their grandchildren. Their time is generally not as encumbered and busy as the parents', so books can be opened and read, stories can be told, and application of gospel principles taught. . . .
- Attend graduations, weddings, temple excursions, missionary farewells and homecomings, and other special events with family members.
Source: "To the elderly in the Church," by President Ezra Taft Benson, October 1989 general conference.
COPING WITH AGING
- Recognize the reality that men and women age differently. Women are more likely to live past 85 and are therefore more apt to have diabilitating illnesses. In addition women are more apt to care for a frail, elderly person (often a man). They are also more likely to be poor. Plan accordingly.
- Be familiar with the resources available for caring for aging parents, which retired people may have to rely upon to help care for their aged parents.
- Prepare to cope with dying. Those who ignore this reality often aren't prepared for death. Along with this, older people should be prepared to assist and help with bereavement.
- Look at care centers in a more positive light because a person's health status may dictate that he or she will have to be in a care facility. When a family member has Alzheimer's disease, for example, it is very difficult for family members to care for him or her 24 hours a day.
Source: Dr. Steven W. Heiner, BYU professor of health sciences
FINANCIAL TIPS
You may live longer than you think. Either you will have to finance those extra years or someone else will, perhaps below a living standard that you otherwise could have. Will you retire in poverty or prosperity? The following are valuable suggestions regarding financial retirement planning.
- Save as much as you can before retirement both by starting early and by maximizing the actual amount you save each year. Set a goal of saving as much as possible for retirement. Some experts suggest saving 10 percent of your income each year.
- Take full advantage of any company savings programs or deferred tax investments. Reduce your risk as you get older.
- Use conservative values for expected returns on investment. Inflation is a retiree's worst enemy. Fixed pensions or fixed payment annuities are extraordinarily vulnerable to inflation.
- Include some allowance for large future purchases or an emergency fund.
- Be additionally conservative in your retirment plans if Social Security is a major part of your retirement resources and if there would be a serious reduction in pension or annuity payments for the remaining spouse.
- Invest in a balance of stocks, bonds and cash-equivalent securities before and after retirement. After retirement, you need to determine the amount you can afford to spend each year.
- Control consumer debts before and after retirement. Pay even small amounts to reduce and eliminate credit card debts.
Sources: Financing your Retirement, by Henry K. Hebler; Money in Motion, "Planning for your Retirement - why you must invest," from The Ayco Co. L.P., Albany N.Y.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ESSENTIAL
Today, major causes of death and disability are the result of lifestyle-caused illnesses that are generally preventable through proper attention to diet, exercise, seat belt usage, and periodic medical screening. Personal health practices are the vital and paramount component of preventive health. Exercise improves health and quality of life.
Being more active will enhance your health and perhaps your length of life. For every hour of physical activity, you may gain back that hour and an additional hour in length of life.
- Simply be more active! Research has shown that individuals who accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity over the course of most days of the week reduce risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease. These activities can include walking, yard work, housework, hiking, dancing or climbing the stairs. Remember, just being more active in your daily routine will produce positive health benefits.
- Some people may need to approach their physical activity program with more structured exercise that includes the following:
Three to five days per week for 20 to 60 minutes of activities that include the use of large muscle groups, (primarily the large leg muscles) moving in a rhythmic fashion (the activity is repeated) and performing in a continuous nature. Examples of these activities include brisk walking, jogging, aerobic dancing, swimming or stationary cycling. Also do one set of 8 to 12 repetitions of 8 to 10 muscle resistance exercises at least twice a week. These exercises should include the large muscles of the chest, abdomen and back as well as the arm muscles. Be certain to preceed very gradually.
- Do five stretching exercises at least three to five times per week (daily stretching is acceptable).
- Monitor the intensity of the exercise. If, while exercising, you can carry on a conversation, you are probably exercising at a safe level. While exercising, listen to your whole body, such as your breathing and how your muscles are feeling. Take your heart rate halfway through the exercise. Do not push too hard or exercise too long too soon.
- Warm up and cool down. A proper warm up will should include some light stretching.
Source: Maintaining the Miracle, An Owner's Manual for the Human Body, by Ted. D. Adams, A. Garth Fisher, Frank G. Yanowitz.
OPPORTUNITIES ARE ABUNDANT TO SERVE OTHERS
A broad range of opportunities for meaningful and rewarding service in the Church by retired couples and single sisters is available. The following are examples of opportunities to serve:
Proselyting/leadership missionaries
Length of service: Full-time, primaril for 18-24 months. Location: Wherever called throughout world. Special requirements: Good health, own health insurance, capable of supporting self financially, temple worthiness. Cost: Varies. Language: Helpful in some areas, required in others. Service description: Leadership training and/or proselyting, visitors centers, or office work.
Temple missionaries
Length of service: Full-time service for 18-24 months. Location: A number of the Church's temples require temple missionaries. Special requirements: Good health, own health insurance, capable of supporting self financially, temple worthiness. Cost: Varies, but existing housing usually available. Language: Helpful, not required. Service description: Ordinance workers.
Church Service missionaries
(Typical assignments, full- or part-time)
Length of service: 6, 12, 18, or 24 months. Location: Living at home, or where assigned worldwide. Special requirements: 36-month call available for certain positions such as hosts, or museum docents who live at home. Language: Generally no special requirements for those living at home; those away from home may have language requirements. Cost: Missionaries provide for own expenses, including medical. Hours per week: Those called to serve 32 or more hours per week are considered full-time. Service description (partial list):
Assisting in administration, clerking/general office work, admissions, assisting the handicapped, answering patron questions in Family History Library, arranging calls, assisting areas and stakes to develop and strengthen public affairs programs, locating patriarchal blessing information, helping with community and interfaith efforts, and hosting in Joseph Smith Memorial and Church Office buildings.
Opportunities also include being a committee member in preparing and writing curriculum, comparing temple records with family group records and making corrections, coordinating outside help for Church's International Sort Center and for service projects by wards and stake auxiliaries and sort center, establishing early morning and home study seminary programs, guiding and orienting first time visitors at the Family History Center, labeling and aranging photos for the Historical Department, interviewing and training job seekers, tutoring in a reading program, and inputting languages into computers.
Also asisting in proofreading and reviewing translations, directing local public affairs, adding area codes on new records, researching and writing, restoring and repairing valuable library books, reviewing stake audit reports.
Securing and copying sources, guiding tours in Nauvoo show homes, training employment specialists, handling donated equipment, updating job bulletins, and working with people who have special problems and rehabilitating workers.
In addition, the following professionals and craftsmen are typical of those needed.
Accountant, receptionist, auditor, auto mechanic, carpenter, cashier, civil engineer, computer software specialist, computer operator, courier, docent, electrician, electronic engineer, English teacher, environmental engineer, consultant in general technology, employment placement specialist, geologist, heating/air conditioning mechanic, librarian, mining engineer, nurse, filing clerk, plumber, horticulture professor, physican, programmer, quality controller, sales clerk, secretary, storekeeper, systems analyst, school teacher of most secular subjects, technical writer, telephone operator, water hydrologist, water well engineer, and well drilling engineer.
For information on opportunities now available, please see current Church Service Missionary Opportunities, available from a bishop or stake president. For more information, call (801) 240-4077, or 1 (800) 453-3860, extension 4077.
PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
Daily, many people face the painful consequences of poor lifestyle habits and of widespread failure to conduct periodic medical screening. Unfortunately, individual concern for health does not always receive deserved priority, especially in a world of tight schedules and unrelenting demands. The following suggestions will help in taking advantage of medical resources:
- Do all you can to eliminate early death and disability by detecting disease before it's too late.
- Identify and modify your individual risk factors for heart disease and cancer.
- Determine your current fitness status and learn how to implement practical exercise, nutrition, weight control and stress management.
- Learn how, why and when health tests are recommended by doctors.
Source: Maintaining the Miracle, An Owner's Manual for the Human Body, by Ted. D. Adams, A. Garth Fisher, Frank G. Yanowitz.