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Some People Are Worried About Getting Near To Retirement Age, But If You Take Time To Contemplate Your Plans Before It Happens Getting Used To It Can Be A Lot Easier Than You Might Think

18th March, 2011 - Posted by health news - No Comments

As individuals near retirement there are many who fully embrace the idea of having countless days to pass doing exactly what they want when they decide to, whilst some will worry about being listless or feeling lonely. There are a lot of options of course, and if you have always kept busy and interested in life beyond work there is no reason to worry.

As most people in the UK will be aware, the compulsory retirement age is to be removed during 2011 and so the simple choice for keeping active is to seek a part time position, which won’t just keep you occupied but bring in a little extra cash as well. Your present employer or someone who had contact with you because of your job could be very happy to utilise an extra pair of hands, even if it is only on an occasional basis to cover holidays and sickness.

However, such a option still leaves you responsible to someone else, so instead you could look for voluntary work. A quick look on the internet will show that the opportunities for carrying out jobs such as this are merely limited by health constraints and any list of Health & Safety or insurance restrictions which may have been dictated by the organisation you want volunteer for. But in general terms, the choices available should not be much different from the list of ideas for a person of any age.

Sadly, there are some people approaching retirement who are also the principal carers for disabled parents or other members of the family. This can make the situation harder to deal with, but if there is already outside help assisting with the care process during the hours when you are at work, don’t just cancel it straight away when you retire. You may think that you can cope, but if you are used to having time for yourself or for participating in particular events elsewhere other than the house, it quickly becomes a drag to always need to get someone else to help you if you need to go out, and this can result in resentment and a falling out within the relationship – not an pleasant situation when you are residing in the same property.

Obviously, if you are the sort of person who has always been involved in interests and activities away from the house in your own time, then the probability is that you will carry on with them, subject to any age related health complaints which may develop and make physical activity more difficult. But if the joints are starting to creak and the focus isn’t as good as it used to be, there are many other things you can get do as an alternative. And obviously, once you get to a ‘certain’ age, there are opportunities to have replacement joints so that arthritis is no longer a problem, and conventional surgery for cataracts and also, more importantly, treatment for other eye issues which can be resolved with Laser eye surgery are offered on the NHS if they are thought to be necessary – a massive result when Laser eye treatments are usually costly procedures carried out as a private treatment.

Many people may simply choose around the house but gardening, reading, knitting, sewing, doing things with the family, and if that is what you are looking forward to then that is what you should do. Naturally, jobs including gardening may also be influenced by aching limbs and close work along the lines of sewing and reading can get to be a chore if your eyesight is failing, so once again, see your doctor and get referred to the appropriate medical experts to find out if you can get surgical help to improve your mobility and the appropriate conventional surgery or Laser eye treatment to enhance your sight.

The most essential thing of all is to sort out a routine that suits you and to ensure that you keep active and cheerful. If you discover that you spend too many days lazing around in your dressing gown or doing nothing but watching repeats on television, it’s time to review what is going on and ask if that’s genuinely all that you ask for from your life. It seems that hardly any of us really wants to have that sort of existence, so talk to friends, neighbours and family and set about identifying something that you would like to do. And if you are still on the waiting list for your hip replacement so that you can go back to gardening, how about cultivating a window box or indoor plants and herbs? Or while you wait for that Laser eye surgery, don’t sit and gaze at a blurry television screen, but listen instead – music, talking books, radio comedy shows, news and politics – they can all broaden the mind and help keep it active, which really is a great idea.