The Un-Retirement

As a busy eye surgeon I have thousands of patientssomething worthwhile for a number of years to
that are over the age of 65 and it is interesting howcome.
I have come face to face with incredible people who2. I think you need to customize the idea of
have contradicted nearly everything I have beenretirement to fit into your personality and lifestyle
taught to believe about retirement. There are arather than viewing retirement as a finite age where
number of people who are more active, vital, andyou quit doing things. I think you want to approach
energetic over the age of 65 than a lot of us are atlife as an adventure. Don't look upon anyone else's
significantly younger ages.parameters for what you should be doing at a
There is one patient that particularly comes to mindparticular age. Navigate your own life and make your
who bounds into the room with the energy of a 29own decisions about what is right for you.
year old and is still extremely active both3. Finances. I think this does matter only to the
philanthropically and with his business. He continues todegree that you would want to be able to fulfill your
do what he always did when he was younger butpredetermined goals of what you want to be doing.
with even more excitement and passion and this isSo I think it's something we need to be thinking
truly inspiring. I see people like this and I realize thatabout earlier in life.
they haven't really retired from anything, they have4. Make an even greater investment in your health to
merely moved on to another exciting stage of theirprepare for your retirement. The current baby
life. After seeing patients like this repeatedly it gotboomer generation is poised to have the longest
me thinking about some strategies and techniques toretirement on record and with life expectancies
provide us with a much richer and more rewardingskyrocketing because of advancements in medical
retirement.care I think taking good care of yourself so you can
enjoy your longer life becomes even more critical. In
1. I think we need to determine well ahead of thataddition to this, a regular exercise program along with
golden age of 65 what we really want to achievea healthy diet is known to significantly decrease the
during retirement. What larger purpose do we wantrisk of developing many known ailments. Staying fit,
to pursue and will it be so strong it will keep us vitaltrim, and full of energy will make you healthier and
and allow us to focus on contributing and doinghappier.