How to live long, happy, and well

ossian

Hi

Okay so I am 50, was made redundant last year, but on realising that I have enough to generate my pre-redundancy take home pay at less than a 3% drawdown rate (so indefinitely) I decided to retire.  However I am now thinking that I didn't plan retirement and am in an unusual environment for learning about retirement (lockdown) so need to work out how to live a good retirement.  Specifically I want to do whatever I can to postpone mental and physical decline whilst maximising joy.  Could you recommend any well written and evidence based books on living a long and joyous retirement?  The need for these books to be evidence based is due to my mind working in a highly analytical manner.  I am not a self-help book or guru kind of person (not being critical of those who are, just stating who I am).  For example a retired friend has told me that those who retire early tend to live longer.  If this was in the book it would give a reference and explain if this effect was actually a benefit of retirement or correlated with the socio-economic advantages often held by those who can afford to retire early.  (Having lost friends way before probability and lifestyle would predict this year I realise that what is true for a population may not be true for an individual).

Sorry for my rambling style   Please share your sources of wisdom.

Love,
Ossian 

DIYPhil

The Lazarus Strategy - How to Age Well and Wisely. By Dr Norman Lazarus. Plenty of references to medical research papers for you to apply your highly analytical mind to. Enjoy.

squirrelpie

ossian said:

Specifically I want to do whatever I can to postpone mental and physical decline whilst maximising joy.  Could you recommend any well written and evidence based books on living a long and joyous retirement?

The short answer is no. Slightly longer:  Postponing mental and physical decline is relatively easy to describe and well-documented anywhere you care to look - just keep mentally and physically active. Maximising joy is a very personal thing, one person's joy may be another person's hell. So you need to define what floats your boat and then find whatever evidence-based books help you do that particular thing or things. Or just go and do it and learn along the way. Of course any plans may be changed radically by accident or disease at any time, so keep some flexibility in your goals.

BritishInvestor

ossian said:

Hi

Okay so I am 50, was made redundant last year, but on realising that I have enough to generate my pre-redundancy take home pay at less than a 3% drawdown rate (so indefinitely) I decided to retire.  However I am now thinking that I didn't plan retirement and am in an unusual environment for learning about retirement (lockdown) so need to work out how to live a good retirement.  Specifically I want to do whatever I can to postpone mental and physical decline whilst maximising joy.  Could you recommend any well written and evidence based books on living a long and joyous retirement?  The need for these books to be evidence based is due to my mind working in a highly analytical manner.  I am not a self-help book or guru kind of person (not being critical of those who are, just stating who I am).  For example a retired friend has told me that those who retire early tend to live longer.  If this was in the book it would give a reference and explain if this effect was actually a benefit of retirement or correlated with the socio-economic advantages often held by those who can afford to retire early.  (Having lost friends way before probability and lifestyle would predict this year I realise that what is true for a population may not be true for an individual).

Sorry for my rambling style   Please share your sources of wisdom.

Love,
Ossian 

" (so indefinitely)"
Really?

cfw1994

DIYPhil said:

The Lazarus Strategy - How to Age Well and Wisely. By Dr Norman Lazarus. Plenty of references to medical research papers for you to apply your highly analytical mind to. Enjoy.

Out of idle Boxing Day curiosity, I perused a well known book site for reviews on this: first one reads:
      "EAT LESS, MOVE MORE. That's it. 4 words inflated into a book that is mostly vacuous self-promotion."

(in fairness, over ¾ gave it 4 or 5*)
I'm mid-50s, stepping down in 2021....my plan/hope is to have a happy combination of hobbies (cycling, walking, reading, film watching....DIY, gardening), travels (maybe from 2022 onwards.....), healthy eating & maintain/expand friendships.   Stay active (mentally & physically).  Family might take up some time too    
Not sure if there are any useful thoughts in those brief comments!

Will I manage that well & wisely?  Who knows!    
A predilection for real ale will need countering by more of the former hobbies, I suspect.   

Marcon

Simply having enough money to retire doesn't mean you would enjoy being retired, and it sounds as if you are finding that out.

Sign up to your local library for ebook and audiobook downloads. Have a look on Amazon and read some of the samples of the endless range of books on this topic, then borrow a few from your library and see if they are worth the effort.

Nebulous2

I don’t have the level of evidence you would like - but exercise is a huge benefit to almost everyone. See for some examples:-

https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=benefits+of+exercise&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart

In addition to exercise, the commonly cited move more, you need mental stimulation.  Crosswords, study, reading etc. I’m very close to pulling the trigger at my work and intend signing up to u3a, or the university of the third age. Unfortunately they aren’t doing much now because of the pandemic. 

Somebody will be along soon to tell you that staying on at work is actually better for you than early retirement........ 

squirrelpie

Nebulous2 said:

u3a, or the university of the third age

Perfectly illustrates my point about one person's joy. I went to one meeting, found it full of old duffers and vowed never to go back. My brother went to one [different] meeting and is now a keen presenter and contributor.

kinger101

You're probably looking for a unicorn.  Even where there is evidence for aspects related to longevity, the reality is this is going to be a due to a combination of several factors, each with small effects, which have mostly already happened.  As for "joyous retirement", that's purely subjective.  Just do the things you enjoy that are within your budget.

blues

This Book Could Save Your Life: The Science of Living Longer Better by Graham Lawton

enthusiasticsaver

Everyone is different so there is no set path to a joyous retirement. My husband and I both took early retirement at 58 3 years ago for me and 4 years ago for him. We were aiming for 60 but we were both getting fed up of working so after analysing the finances we decided we could afford to go earlier. Disenchantment with work is a sign that it is time to retire if the figures stack up.

Hobbies are definitely something that helps you enjoy retirement. Stagnating in front of a tv or falling into some sort of dull routine would not be for us although many people seem content with that. Our time is spent on hobbies, travelling and helping out with childcare for our grandchildren. We are both fit and active and this helps as I think exercise definitely keeps you living longer and keeping healthy. Lack of stress from working also keeps you healthy. I joined the U3a but my husband didn't find any of the groups interesting but he belongs to a club which is based around one of his hobbies. I set myself walking challenges and we both bought e bikes and use those out and about. We try and find different activities and trips to do regularly, some alone or with friends and some together. I would say keeping busy without booking up every minute of every day is important. Having some down time to just chill is important but equally sitting around doing nothing will quickly lead to boredom. Finding the right balance for you is the key. Also it is important to build in time for a social life with other like minded people. I thought I would miss my work colleagues but have met so many new people since retiring I don't miss any aspect of work. 

You are quite young still and if you don't want to go into a mental or physical decline then as I say keeping busy either through hobbies or some sort of voluntary or part time work will help you keep active. I find crosswords keep my brain active and read a lot but some take up studying or even take up a degree. That is a bit too much like work for me but some enjoy the challenge. I took up a walking challenge of walking the south west coast path so that keeps me physically active and I enjoy the sound of the sea and seeing all the coastal towns and villages so you could take up the challenge of anything which interests you. I am not sure reading a book will help you but no doubt there are evidence based books to show that those who retire earlier live longer as removing a primary source of stress (work) will help.