Retirement’s Neglected Component
By: Oliver Thomas Spedding
Tags: Planning, Retirement, Health, Smoking, Age

A happy and lengthy retirement has to have good financial backing and good health.

By

Oliver T. Spedding

Up until about twenty years ago, retirement was considered to be a male dominated financial product, but as women continue to grow their presence in the financial world and elsewhere, retirement has become an essential component for both male and female life planning.

But a successful and fulfilling retirement requires two features to be integrated whereas the vast majority of aspiring retirees only consider one of them; finance.

The other feature, the one that is neglected by many potential retirees, is quality of life.

SUSAN

Susan had one goal in life and that was to retire.

Unfortunately she never considered any other requirement apart from the financial aspect and this appeared to be daunting on its own.

Luckily, due to her family contacts, she eventually acquired a job that allowed her to earn sufficient income to enhance the probability of finally achieving her goal.

SUSAN’S FOCUS

Susan focused solely on the financial aspect of retirement and completely neglected the other vital ingredient required for a happy and lengthy retirement; good health.

Despite being constantly encouraged to stop smoking, Susan continued to smoke excessively.

On top of this she drank alcohol exceedingly, never exercised and had little regard for the food she ate.

As Susan was a keen golfer, she did at least get some exercise walking around the golf course once, and occasionally twice, a week, but as soon as golf carts were introduced at her Club, even this limited exercise ended.

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Susan was diagnosed with emphysema about ten years before her planned retirement.

At first she continued to smoke but eventually she was pressured by her family into stopping; too late though.

Susan continued to drink heavily, eat food with little nutritious value and avoid any strenuous exercise.

Emphysema is a cancer of the lungs, mainly the result of smoking, and although its progress can be slowed, it cannot be cured.

SUSAN’S RETIREMENT

Susan has now retired but her dreams of a happy, lengthy and healthy retirement haven’t materialized.

She can hardly walk twenty yards without having to rest; in cold weather she struggles to breathe, is forced to use an oxygen mask to assist her to survive at night and playing active games with her grandchildren is impossible.

Susan is also considerably overweight and this puts an extra strain on her condition.

A keen golfer all her life, Susan will soon be unable to play the game, despite the use of a golf cart; her image of a relaxed retirement playing golf regularly during the week, shattered.

EMILY

Emily has worked conscientiously and cleverly all her working life and rose to head the large company where she worked.

During this time Emily ate sensibly, drank in moderation, exercised regularly and never smoked.

Like Susan, Emily has always been a keen golfer and, despite the pressures that work placed on her leisure time, she became a top amateur golfer.

EMILY’S FOCUS AND HER RETIREMENT

One of Emily’s goals, like Susan, was to retire as soon as it was practical to do so, and about fifteen years ago, she did retire.

Her retirement has been all that she dreamed of.

Regular golfing trips overseas, golf at least twice a week when not overseas and a healthy existence are what Emily’s retirement is all about.

She still exercises regularly, and the only change in her health strategy is that she now occasionally plays golf using a golf cart.

But this is more of a social requirement, mainly due to the fact that most of the golfers she plays with are elderly and use golf carts.

Undoubtedly, Emily would be quite capable of playing golf without one if this was required.

CONCLUSION

The obvious message in this narrative is simple; retirement isn’t just about financial issues.

Good health is just as important, if not more important. But Susan’s predicament isn’t an isolated case.

Millions of people behave just as she has; their financial situation meets the requirements of retirement, their health doesn’t.

This is very likely why so many people who retire, die so soon after having retired.

An important benefit that good health brings with it is that it encourages productivity.

Healthy retirees are far more likely to become involved in some or other activity; a hobby or participation in a social group or humanitarian endeavor, resulting in a more rewarding retirement.

Having these types of goals is a vital ingredient after retirement.

Unfortunately many retirees don’t have any goals once they stop working and this results in stagnation.

A happy and lengthy retirement has to have two important ingredients; good financial backing and good health.

The important thing here is that, to achieve both these requirements, potential retirees have to work at both of them equally and from as early as possible.

For the vast majority of people, neither of these requirements is easy to attain.

Both require considerable effort and consideration. We all need to get into the habit of nurturing both as soon as possible.

Neither of them can be obtained at short notice.

Photo acknowledgements

Photo 1 — Photo by Harli Marten on Unsplash

Photo 2 — Photo by Hannah Gullixson on Unsplash

Photo 3 — Photo by AllGo — An App For Plus Size People on Unsplash

Photo 4 — Photo by William Iven on Unsplash

Photo 5 — Photo by Kenan Kitchen on Unsplash

Photo 6 — Photo by Marie-Sophie Tékian on Unsplash