- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- grandparents today articles
- grandparents today q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Creating an Active Retirement
Nurturing Your Hobbies and Interests
By Shannon McKelden
, providing blankets for children in need. She later learned how to spin and dye wool. Boredom isn't a problem for Reffalt. "I personally think for someone with no interests or hobbies retirement would be difficult," she says.
Don Bracken, former retiree and author of Career of Gold: Defeat Age Bias by Re-Careering for the Second Half of Your Life (Today's Books, 2006), believes this is a great time to retire. "It can be more of a transition to a fulfilling experience than to one of idle passivity," Bracken says.
One of the ways to take your interests to the next level is to start a business. "Many retirees with a hobby are finding that the age of information is at hand and that their hobby is actually valuable information to many," Bracken says. "[Even] if it is something as simple as pet photography, book illustration or making rustic garden furniture, it is not simple to many, and there are those who would pay for the information that would give them quick results."
Getting family involved in activities after retirement can be a bonus. Where once it may have been difficult, now retirees may be able to make time for their families by sharing their interests.
Reffalt found that buying a fifth wheel was the start of new adventures for her and her husband. "Two of my sisters are also RVers," she says. "We do trips with them [and] also solo trips." Reffalt's husband finds that he gets to share one of his hobbies with two sons who live nearby. "They love the fact that they can do woodworking with their dad."
Bracken believes that grandchildren can also make wonderful business partners, making the business a bonding process and educational for both child and grandparent. "While the grandparent can teach the fundamentals of business to the grandchild, the grandchild, in turn, can bring the grandparent up to speed on the computer, current communication technology and current trends." he says. "It becomes a symbiotic relationship from which both benefit – one predicated on mutual respect."