If the answer is yes, are you preparing financially? If so, that means you will have enough money to do all the fun things you look forward to doing, instead of having to think twice about the smallest purchase. And, hopefully, you will plan so well that you will have more than enough money to pay for medical services not covered by insurance or Medicare. Unfortunately, many folks retire thinking, "I won't need as much money anymore." Wrong!
"Old age" is not free. Even if you have taken great care of yourself over the years, the older you get the more maintenance and repair you need and it can be costly.
But a happy retirement takes more than money.
There is something drastically wrong with the way we prepare for retirement. We are encouraged to plan financially, but who is advising us to have a plan to be healthy enough to enjoy the fruit of all the years of labor?
One thing is certain: Your employer or financial advisor will not likely help you develop a preventive health care plan along with financial planning advice. You have to do that yourself, and the sooner you do, the happier and healthier you will be in retirement.
As a pharmacist, I see many seniors well off financially, but their health is shot. They are alive but not living ? just existing. In many cases, the culprit is not "old age" but years of neglect and self-inflicted health abuse.
There is no joy in having enough money in the bank while incarcerated in a nursing home or dependent on friends and family to tend to the most basic needs.
One other thing: It's selfish not to plan to take care of yourself. Do grown children, perhaps in a bind financially, or with difficult teenagers, need one more problem?
Here are some basic suggestions to help insure a dynamite retirement:
? Start an exercise regimen. Today! No time? Invest in a treadmill and put it in front of the TV. While viewing programs that may insult your intelligence, pedal away and turn it into productive use of time. The key to making an exercise program work is consistency. It must become a habit, a "given" in your daily life.
Don't like a treadmill? Get an inexpensive Gazelle. It's a great, low impact calorie burner to use while watching TV, and it will help get your waist back.
? Love yourself enough to cut the processed stuff from your diet. You don't need the edible junk advertised as food. Start eating more fresh food. If you love to cook, prepare quick, no-fuss, no-recipe meals. While eating can and should be a pleasure, your goal should be to eat to live, not live to eat. If you can adopt that attitude, you can quickly get over a destructive love affair with food. When you can toss out the deep fat fryer, you know you've done something terrific for your health and your future.
A huge bonus: Exercise and a more natural diet will lower cholesterol and blood pressure and you won't need Pepcid or antacids. By the way, if you believe TV ads that show folks eating what amounts to dietary garbage, and then take an antacid to neutralize the ingested poison, rethink what you believe.
If you abuse your body long enough with food it doesn't want or need, eventually arteries will clog, blood pressure will soar, intestines will clog, and joints will stiffen and ache. You can't fool Mother Nature forever with Mylanta, Pepcid or other band-aids to counter dietary indiscretion.
? Drink more water. Eight to ten eight-ounce glasses a day. Coffee and tea, don't count. Nor do sodas. Water is a great antidote for "heartburn." Next time you eat something your stomach doesn't like, drink a couple of glasses of water before you reach for the antacid. You'll probably feel better because you are diluting the poison and getting it out of your body faster.
? If you are not taking dietary supplements, now is the time to educate yourself about which ones to take. You need plenty of anti-aging antioxidants. If you think your diet (even a "good" one) provides everything you need, think again. Broccoli grown in mineral deficient foreign soil, treated with chemicals to extend shelf life and stored too long under less than best conditions does not provide optimum nutrition.
Part of your re-education program should include subscribing to a newsletter published by a physician with common sense. A favorite of mine is Dr. Julian Whitaker. He has a no-cost online newsletter at whitakerwellness.com and a print newsletter I would not be without.
If you think in terms of prevention, along with wise financial planning, it's not difficult to make the rest of your life the best of your life. It's just a matter of loving yourself and having enough vision to take the bull by the horns on your own behalf while you still have the ability to do so.
The term debt refers to something being owed, which is money in most cases. Living a debt free life is jeopardized everytime you charge up credit cards, get personal loans, finance a car, or even buying a home using a mortgage. No matter what way debt is accumulated, it is money that must be paid to the bank that provided the loan.
It can be pretty easy to get into debt, especially since loans, credit cards, and lines of credit make it possible to purchase items one cannot afford to buy with cash, since they are given the luxury of being able to pay it back over time. It can, however, turn into a serious problem when interest fees and other charges take place, because the individual is then required to pay back way more than the initial purchase. More and more fees are charged each month that there is a balance remaining on the account, which can turn into a huge mess that can leave individuals struggling for money.
The best way to live a debt free life is to avoid all credit cards and loans, but this is not always possible for middle class individuals. Credit accounts should be limited as much as possible, and only used for necessities rather than material items. Having a credit card for emergencies or a car loan is ideal, but having more than two to three open credit accounts can lead to serious debt that can be hard to get out of.
Once debt has accumulated, it can be hard to get out of it. Many think that paying the minimum monthly payment is all that is required, but it can actually take years to get a credit card or loan paid off this way. If possible, it is best to pay at least double the minimum payment each month, to ensure a small portion of the loan is actually being paid off. Because interest fees are charged each month, they usually cancel out the monthly payment and actually cause the balance to increase.
For individuals with several open accounts, it is best to pay off the accounts with the highest interest rates first. Making the largest payment possible each month can save a great deal of money in the long run, by avoiding high interest fees and getting the loan paid off in a faster amount of time. Once the accounts with high interest rates are paid off, one can then focus on other accounts to get in control of their debt.
Another way to get control of debt is by using a personal debt consolidation loan, which can be used to pay off all credit accounts at once. This method is beneficial to individuals with several open accounts, since the loan will only require one monthly payment and one interest rate. It can save many a great deal of money, as long as the interest rate is lower than the various rates on the other cards and loans. It should only be considered by those with decent credit scores, since it can actually cost more in the long run if interest rates are much higher than those on the accounts being paid off.
Debt consolidation services are available to those with excessive debt, and they help individuals learn how to keep themselves out of debt in the future. The debt consolidation services actually work with the various banks and credit issuers to set up a payment plan, and reduce or eliminate some of the high interest fees that the banks charge. This option works best for those with excessive amounts of debt that they cannot control, since it can have a negative effect on credit when done this way. Most debt services will not allow the cards to accounts to be used while they are being paid off, and may even require the accounts be canceled once the process is completed. Rather than paying several monthly payments to various accounts each month, the debt consolidation service will require one monthly payment to be paid to them, and they take care of distributing the money to various accounts.
The best way to live a debt free life is to avoid debt in the first place, by only using credit cards and loans in case of an emergency. Because this is not always possible, it is best to get rid of existing debt by paying it off as soon as possible. By making large payments each month, using a personal loan to pay off the entire debt, or using a debt consolidation service to get debt in control, it can be easy to live a debt free life in only a short period of time.
Both Barbara Morris, R.ph. & Tj Nelson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Barbara Morris, R.ph. has sinced written about articles on various topics from . Barbara Morris, R.Ph. is a pharmacist and anti-aging strategist. Subscribe to her newsletter at