WAYS TO THRIVE IN RETIREMENT

  Does the conventional vision of retirement seem a little boring to you? Sure, maybe you like golf and might even enjoy an occasional trivia night battle, but those things alone won’t be enough for someone who has always been active, engaged and driven. Chances are you want something bigger: new challenges, exciting adventures and meaningful relationships or experiences. Perhaps you even want an encore career.

You’re right to want these things. Research shows that having a purpose-driven retirement can promote good health and increase happiness.

And you’re in luck. With more options than ever before, adventure awaits you in retirement. Especially with senior stereotypes being shattered thanks to healthier, longer lives. How will you make it truly yours?

Want to combine lifelong learning with your passion for travel? Road Scholar offers learning adventures across the globe, such as a trip to France to learn about D-Day or a birding adventure in remote Ecuador.

If you want to instead spend three weeks immersing yourself in Andalusia, Spain, during which you learn a few steps of flamenco, make an authentic paella with a local chef and take Spanish classes, you might enjoy Smithsonian Journeys’ Living in Spain experience. Smithsonian Journeys offers other cultural immersions, allowing you to see, feel, hear and taste how locals live in cities, such as Provence, France, and Florence, Italy. You can also work with specialists to design your own dream trip.

If you’d prefer to change your corner of the world instead, considering mentoring even if you’ve already left your 9-to-5 gig.

You can further burnish your business legacy as an advisory board member for a company, which would also provide an additional income stream, for example. Another way to share your business acumen and wisdom is through joining the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), whose members mentor small business owners.

Or perhaps you want to trade the high-powered world you occupied for service in an underserved community. If so, consider joining the AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent program, in which seniors help students with their academic goals, care for premature infants or children with disabilities, and mentor troubled teenagers and young parents.

No matter what your particular cause, you can likely find a way to support it through VolunteerMatch, which connects volunteers with local nonprofits. Or you can become a CoGenerate Fellow that works with a social impact organization that needs your skills and experience.

Not seeing exactly what you’re looking for in the options described above? Your advisor likely has walked clients through the options before and may be able to point you in the right direction. Perhaps your dream retirement is still out there somewhere – or maybe you can be the enterprising individual to build it. After you’ve spent your first career building a company or a life for you and your family, why not build the specific vision of retirement that you want to see?

After all, the village approach to retirement was built by individuals who envisioned a better way to live as they got older. You too can build the community, program or resource you want most.

• Take time to explore alternative visions of retirement and think about what your ideal retirement looks like.
• Share your plans with your financial advisor to discuss whether any adjustments to your retirement savings strategy are needed.
• Talk to family and friends about how you envision your retirement and how they can help.