Retirement: the starting point to the rest of your life
Retirement these days is not what it was. Long gone are the days of pipes and slippers. Better health and, for many, greater wealth, mean that today’s retirees are more likely to be walking in the Pyrenees, going back to college or helping to run a local volunteer group.
And now a new guide has been published to provide a ‘road-map’ for what could be the next 20, 30 or even 40 years of your life.
The author of ‘The Mature Guide to Retirement Living’ is West-based Tony Watts, editor of Mature Times - the UK’s biggest circulation newspaper for the over 50s. The guide, he says, is based not just on input from the experts who write columns in the paper, and his own 20 years of writing and editing titles for this market, but from the paper’s 500,000 readers.
"Ageing is a frame of mind," says Tony, "and we all deal with the prospect of retirement differently. That comes over loud and clear in all the feedback we get from readers. For some, failing health and an inadequate private pension will signal a time to batten down the hatches. For others it’s an opportunity to apply all the knowledge and experience they have acquired – and making the very most of the opportunities that lie ahead.
"Many of the letters we receive are totally inspirational.
"But whatever your situation, you should be sitting down and taking your bearings – and then planning for the future. The Guide steers you towards some of the key elements you should be considering, such as your money, where you live, and maintaining your health and social life."
