A Simple Successful Retirement Test

By: George Wallace

Everyone who is on the long, slow glide path toward “the Golden Years” needs to plan ahead in many ways. One that is rarely talked about is the emotional-sense-of-self that simple activities adds to a person’s life. My lifetime of observation is that a person who retires to a rocking chair dies mentally or physically very soon afterwards. The active ones with various interests stay around much longer. This test is intended to help people do some simple planning for their future.

Directions: Read the questions and try to circle one answer for each question. When finished, calculate (add up the “yes “ answers and subtract the “no“ answers) your score, using the directions below, to determine your ability to successfully retire and stay alive to enjoy it. “Yes” is important at this time of your life, but “no” is also important and carries a very real penalty. It is important that you realize that you must actually “do something“ to overcome the negative.

Question #1. Do you have an active hobby where you participate by spending at least $300 a year on hobby material and which you use regularly throughout the year? You need a mixture here: one where you sit a lot is OK, but for every “sitter”, you also need one where you are physically active- a “get-up-and-goer“: square dancing, swimming, biking, hiking, rowing, etc. Other Examples: modeling, collecting, gardening, quilting, fishing, hunting, coaching. Yes No

Question #2. Are you an active member of a community service club, attending meetings, participating in club service or fund-raising events, or participating in the governance of the club? Examples: Lions, Kiwanis, Rotary, a dance or exercise group. Yes No

Question #3. Do you regularly attend/ serve on a community/ charitable board/ foundation that you find personally important and to which you devote at least 15 hours per month? Examples: eye bank, blood bank, a food bank, a charity kitchen, United Way, Sisters of Charity, the park, or school board. Yes No

Question #4. Are you an active, participating member of a special interest group and to which you devote at least 15 hours per month? Examples: NRA, ACLU, your political party, spelunkers, hang gliders, the local museum. Yes No

Question #5. Are you an active member of your church; attending regularly, working on special projects, teaching classes, or otherwise volunteering at least 4 hours a week? Yes No

Scoring: Add {Yes} answers, subtract {No} answers = Final Score

Example: 4 - 1 = 3 final score

What your score really means:

A score of less than one: It is highly questionable that you should ever retire. If you are working for a corporation and facing mandatory retirement within two years, start planning now on starting your own entrepreneurial business the day after you get your gold watch. Begin writing your business plan today. Be prepared to get out of the house every day after retirement from your corporate job to preserve your marriage and life expectancy. If your wife wanted a large ugly lump in front of the TV all day, or bothering her in the kitchen, or telling her how to run her house, she could have bought a large ceramic pot years ago and cracked it on purpose with a hammer.

A score of 1, or 2: You have a choice: (a) Begin now (two years prior to retirement) to do one more of the items listed in the questions above, or (b) carefully read the directions following "a score of less than one". You have a chance, but a slim one. You need to start to work on several of the items listed in the question now. You will need the practice for when you actually retire. This is a serious issue. The measure of the quality of your life is what you do for others.

A score of 3: Chances are that you are within the bottom 50% range of persons who have successfully retired. However, you need to carefully monitor your behavior after retirement. If your level of activity in any one of your {Yes} answers above slows down, it is extremely important that you quickly add another activity or risk falling into the trap clamped on the leg of those who score "less than one". This is particularly important if you experience a lengthy illness that enforces inactivity. It is very difficult to get started again.

A score of 4, or 5: Your chances of a successful retirement are "good" to excellent. However, you should periodically monitor your behavior after retirement. Christmas time is a good time of year for this. If your level of activity in any one of your {Yes} answers above slows down significantly, it is important that you add another activity unless this decrease in activity is due to poor health, or advancing age. The goal is to be active as possible, for as long as possible. This gives you a reason to want to go to bed, to get up refreshed, and ready to take on the world. Well, at least, that part of it that you want to wrestle. So put on your tights, flex your muscles (mental and physical) and step into the ring. Every day that you wake up breathing is a good day.

Article Source: http://www.retirementlivingarticledirectory.com

(c) Copyright 2006: George Wallace recently published a book on religion which lashes out at nearly all of the comfortable ideas about God, the trappings of organized religion, and the priesthood. His pithy comments and suggestions for a return to a God-centered personal religion will interest everyone. This article may be freely reprinted so long as all copyright attributions, and the full content of this resource box are included. www.OhGodIsThatYou.com

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