After work, what?
Many of those who are working today within their golden years look forward to retirement. They would picture a leisurely life without pressures with only doting after their grandchildren as their major pastime. Take note, the word is pastime not a major part of their lives.
In the Filipino setting, grandparents usually are converted into nannies as their children pursue their livelihood. Even if they could afford a house help, parents generally prefer to leave the supervision of their children to their own parents. Unless the work of watching the kids become burdensome, most of the grandparents would say that watching their grandchildren grow is something they look forward to after retirement.
How prepared is our population for retirement? Even with a large-figured lump sum from the company as a “pabaon”, money becomes volatile when nothing gets back into the coffers after one is no longer gainfully employed.
Statistics show that 45percent of retired Filipinos become a burden to relatives. Some 30percent are dependent on charity as 22percent continue to work and only 2percent are financially free and enjoying retirement (the inspired-life.com).
Notably, a good number of people who led very active work lives tend to get sick and die when they are asked to slow down after retirement. This is because their health issues are pushed to the front as they lack social and mental stimulation.
According to Bryan Borzykowski in his article “Can Retirement Kill You” people experience an improvement in their health in the first year after retirement. However after six years, there comes a steady decline in their health which could be attributed to the wear and tear of age but is largely connected with the lack of physical, mental and social involvements that engage a person and gives him a more meaningful existence. Thus 40percent of retirees end up depressed as 60percent feel their ailments in a more pronounced manner.
I recall when I was younger, I used to wonder why my dad was so whiney. He complained about his joints, his back, his lack of this or that. Only as I study all the things to expect from a retiree did I realize that all Dad needed was something more significant to do. So we bombarded him with books as he was a voracious reader. He would tutor our working student at home and my brother would take him on trips just to keep him moving.
I realize it is more expensive to keep senior citizens home with boredom than to take them around and get them busy. When the mind is occupied, there is less time to focus on ailments unless they are extremely old and sickly.
I have made a list of the sad things that happen to an active worker who ends up retired and unoccupied. First is that they become bored. Then they realize they are broke. Then next they feel broken having no more say as their economic foothold has loosened its grip. To address this retirees must be engaged in paid or unpaid pursuits. They can go into charitable work to have more meaningful activities to look forward to each day. They can go back to school to keep their minds in tune with what is happening.
In the University of North Carolina in Ashville, there is a Lifelong Learning program which allows people 55 years of age and above to enrol and continue learning. Here they can go to school without the pressure they had when they were required to study in college.
Being active in the internet also allows older folks to keep in touch with their amigas as they stay home to supervise their grandchildren. Even with less physical activity they can keep their minds active and their social lives on the go.
Other simple but relevant pursuits are getting back to hobbies. Some garden, cook, play golf, and join chess clubs or similar endeavours just to keep their minds busy.
Others give in to tutorial sessions with the senior citizens giving the younger set lessons on their different fields. Here they earn by the hour and keep their brains away from Alzheimer.
The best way to prepare for retirement is to plan for it the earliest time possible. Save and get pre-need plans while young. Insurances become more expensive when people grow old. Most are no longer accepted by HMOs. Most financial institutions also do not lend to senior citizens and if they do, the guarantees are high.
It is best to know what one would come up against after work so we would know what to do when the time comes otherwise we would be like what Mary Petersen observed “once you take the work away, people don’t really know what to do.” As equally observed by Sharon O’Brein, “when working you dream of time off, but when retired you miss work.”
Let’s work then on what to do after work.
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