Retirement can suddenly throw several questions at people! A busy professional till then – with hardly any time to spend for other activities – now has a lot of free time at hand without knowing how to spend the same.
Why is it important to be engaged in something?
It is no surprise that a lot of people enter a state of depression when the regular income, the job that they loved, the people around and networking opportunities – all of them are taken away all of a sudden. Hence it is very important that retired individuals find some ways to keep themselves busy – preferably something that keeps them physically active.
Post retirement activities and hobbies
The following are some of the hobbies in retirement phase of your life that you may opt for based on your physical health, areas of interest and money at hand:
Digital photography: Photography is one of those amazing hobbies that you can pick as an area of interest at any age. The retired people may find it even more exciting because they have a lot of time at hand to observe the nature and objects around and capture those moments. Digital photography has another advantage that you can share your work online, get noticed and sometimes even paid.
Fishing: This is some hobby that is time tested and right up there in terms of popularity for several generations now. Fishing allows you to enjoy more time outdoors while doing an activity that is sporty but won’t tire you out. Further you have the opportunity to enter competitions as well.
Gardening: Just like fishing, gardening is a timeless hobby. If you are gardening enthusiast, you can keep yourself busy all around the year (Read: Winter gardening) and more over it can get you most of the things like herbs, vegetables and fruits for your kitchen. Gardening is also a research oriented job which needs a lot of reading and experiments.
Writing, Poetry or Blogging: Blogging or writing is a great way to put forward all those thoughts that you wanted to let the world know but couldn’t do it earlier. Even better would be poetry and being part of any poetry group. But again, this will depend on how talented and interested you are at writing related creativity.
Volunteer programs: Being a volunteer on social, community and charity related activities is probably the best way to network and get involved with people after retirement. This is something that adds a lot of value to you as an individual while serving the society.
Traveling: Well, who doesn’t like traveling? Retired life is probably the best time to do all those traveling around the world assuming that you have saved up plenty money and is sure that you do not outlive the money at hand you can take this route (Read: How much money do you need to retire?)
There are a number of other things in the sporting world, research, science or reading but at the end, it is all about what you are most comfortable with and what your health and money situation is. Most important thing to remember is to enjoy every single day of your remaining life.