1. Plan Early for the golden years
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Planning for retirement and aging is crucial. It is also the responsibility of all mature adults in order not to add financial strain to their children who will eventually need to give care to elderly parents when needs arise.
Hence, it’s
never too early to plan for retirement and golden years. The planning can begin
as soon as one start working. We must have enough saving, insurance policies,
investment, other passive income in order to live through golden years and at the
same time cope with elevated cost of living and healthcare. Bear in mind that human are
living longer. If you intend to tour around the world after retirement, all the more that you should start saving early.
a)
Saving
takes time to accumulate. Don’t forget as you grow older and have a family of
you own, you will have more commitments, such as buying a house, raising your
children and looking after elderly parents etc. All these need money too. Hence,
saving should start as early as possible.
b)
Taking
up insurance whether it is life insurance, endowment plan, investment plan, so
on, can help us to secure a sum of money when we retired. Health insurances are also important in order ensure that medical or surgery bill can be paid during onset of age related illness or other diseases.
c)
Passive income can be a form of money you earn
from share, stock or investment, online marketing.
2. Live a healthy lifestyle
All of
us know that we can have a better quality of life if we are healthy. Similarly,
if we are healthy, we will be able to age in grace and dignity in our home. The
concept of healthy lifestyle is so familiar to everyone. It is all over the magazines,
radio and television. But how many of us are actually living by it.
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a)
Eat
Healthy
- Reduce
intake of saturated fats and carbohydrate
- Reduce
intake of salt and sugars
- Increase fibre intake
- More
vegetables
- More
fruits
Seniors are more
vulnerable to illness. By maintaining a healthy diet, seniors can prevent aliment
caused by unbalanced diet. Furthermore, unhealthy diet also give rise to overweight
problem which leads to higher risk for high blood pressure, heart disease,
diabetes, stroke, cancer and so on. In addition, well-balanced, nutritious and
healthy diet does help to slow down the effect of aging process.
b)
Exercising
The most effective
way to maintain or improve your health is by exercising. 15 to 20 minutes of
exercise everyday helps to keep the muscle and joint flexible and agile thus
lower the risk and effect of arthritis. Exercise also helps to improve blood
circulation and boost our immune system. Brisk walking is an example of good
exercise for elderly.
Depending on one’s
physical ability and mobility, one can choose an exercise that is manageable
and suitable as well. Arrange to do exercise with friends or neighbours so that
one will persist to do so regularly.
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courtesy of kozzi.com"
c)
Refrain
from smoking
Smoking
causes lung cancer, pneumonia, heart disease just to mention few. Smoking is
also related to many other health problems. For senior who smoke, the best
thing to do is to quit smoking. Those who have difficulty quitting should at
least reduce in number. By just cutting back on the number, a smoker can
actually save a lot of money.
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courtesy of StockFreeImages.com"
d)
Refrain
from alcohol
Drinking
can be healthy in moderate but one must never cross the line. Senior with
drinking habit should be limit to minimum amount or totally refrain from drinking for optimal health reason. Alcoholism can lead to liver cancer and other disease.
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3. Staying mobile and engaged
If a
senior is healthy, taking up a part time or full time job after retirement should
be encouraged. Working helps them in staying mobile and make senior feel that
they are independent and in control of their life. Furthermore, earning an
income make them feel financially stable.
Senior
can consider looking after grandchildren after retirement. These are most
common in extended family. The senior may or may not be the sole
caregiver for the grandchildrens. Some of them assist to oversee the domestic
maid in managing the children and housekeeping. Engage them in day to day activities
like this gives them a sense of dignity. But beware that, other than care
giving, senior must have time for own entertainment, such as chit chatting or
playing chess with old friends, take part in senior activities at the community
centre and so on.
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courtesy of StockFreeImages.com"
4. Stay positive and optimistic
Senior need
to overcome the emotional fear of losing one’s spouse or best friend. When this
happens, senior will be in denial at first. They are too overwhelmed to face
the reality. Then frustration, anger and grief will invade into their emotion. Finally,
acceptance will come. But this can be very long for some people.
How to
help senior to overcome this fear:
- Let
them cry themselves out if need arises. But do remember to lend them your
shoulder and let them know that they are not alone.
- Let them know that
grieving is just a process to let you get to the other episode of your life.
- Let
them know that the deceased is watching over them and want them to happy.
Please
ensure that the senior does not illustrate any symptom of depression as
prolonged grief can lead to depression. Depression is not by-product of aging
as it can be treated.
Learning
to relax and embrace the present but let go of what is gone is the key to
happiness.
5. Find new purpose in life
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a)
Engage
in activities that one is interested and good in, for example:
meditation, yoga, cooking, etc.
b)
Keep
on learning new things like how to use internet, how to use smart phone etc. This is to keep up to the pace of the society so that one will not be left behind.
c)
Pursuit
a new hobbies. For example: flower arrangement, gardening, jewellery making, photography
and etc.
d)
Participate
in volunteer work such as care giving to needy seniors.
e)
Get
to know new friends by joining senior activities in the community centre.
All
these help senior to open up a new chapter of life thus finding enthusiasm in
living a life of longevity.
6. Stay active and mobile
The
senior should go out door at least 3-4 times a week to mingle around in the
neighbourhood. This is to prevent the senior especially the disabled one from
drifting into isolation. A sound mind is definitely critical for aging gracefully.
Staying
active and mobile is also one way to slow down the rate of deterioration of our
bodies. Just as the car engine will not start if it is left unused for a long
time, our body part also resist to function properly when it is not fully
utilized.
With the advance in technology, even senior who is physically immobile can travel to any place they want with the help of mobility aids like power wheelchair, mobility scooter, walkers and etc.
7. Live with no regrets.
If there are things
that one wishes to accomplish while they were younger, but never have a chance
to do so, why not go for it now if you think you are still able to do so. There
are people who started learning ballet after the age of 60. It’s never too late
to try. Don’t leave the world with regrets.
