2young2retireUK

Welcome to the 2young2retire UK blog

What’s Next?

What comes to your mind when you think about retirement?  Endless days by the pool, on the beach or golf course?  Catching up on your reading and hobbies?  Travel?  Rekindling relationships you've let languish?

We're with you.  Nothing wrong with these, as far as they go.  For most healthy people in their 50s and 60s, that's about 6-18 months.  What then?  We want more out of life in the 20+ years of good health ahead.  Something to live for, like work we enjoy, at a pace we choose.  Like community service on a whole new level of commitment.  Maybe becoming a student again.

2young2retire teleclasses and workshops are a place where you get to explore what's possible for you when you realize how much time lies ahead.  Based on Too Young to Retire: 101 Ways to Start the Rest of Your Life (Plume 2004) by Marika and Howard Stone, our curriculum covers:

► Work that matters (paid or not)
► Being your own boss (you can do it!)
► Community activism (it's about time!)
► Money control (at last)
► Wellness plan (quit stalling now!)
► Intelligent travel (why to go where)

You'll get together with others eager to explore these issues, in a conversation led by a 2young2retire facilitator [that's me, Ann Harrison].

Click here for course dates...

Are you happy?

Thanks to Scott Stratten for the link to the following flowchart by Headup at Typcut.com:

Don't forget to take time off from your relationship if you want it to thrive in retirement

Do you worry about you and your partner getting under each others' feet once you both retire?

Gay Hendricks is a psychologist, writer and practitioner in the field of personal growth and relationships and is best known for his work in relationship enhancement. In his latest book, The Big Leap, he advises:

'Make sure you take plenty of time for yourself, in a space apart from your partner.  It could even be in the next room, so long as the intention is to nurture the independent part of you.  Human beings have twin drives of equal power: the urge to merge and the urge to be an autonomous person.  For a relationship to thrive, both drives need to be celebrated.

If you can learn to take time off from the relationship consciously, you won't need to do it unconsciously by starting arguments and engaging in other intimacy-destroying moves.'

How to use Facebook when you're over 50

Dorothy Sander, from the eHow website (tagline: How to Do Just About Everything), writes, 'More and more of the over 50 crowd are swarming onto FaceBook because it opens doors for communication with friends and family throughout the world. Letter writing seems to have become a thing of the past, but FaceBook can provide you with as much, or as little, connection as you want.'

And, just in case you haven't a clue how to get started on Facebook, Dorothy has written a handy, step-by-step guide to help you do just that: How to Use Facebook When You're Over 50.  Go on!  'Friend' your grandkids and embarrass the heck out of them!

15 Places to make money creating your own products

Who hasn't dreamed about making a living selling something they've created?  Maybe it's that book you wrote that's still sitting in a drawer at home, or that great fabric design that you doodled on the back of a napkin whilst you were waiting for your lunch to be served.

Nowadays, print-on-demand technology has made it possible for anyone to create and sell goods over the Internet with few or no up-front costs and without the need to turn your entire home into a warehouse and your long-suffering family members into order pickers and packers.  Mashable.com has created a roundup of 15 great print-on-demand sites that will help you create and sell everything a whole range of products including t-shirts, coffee mugs, books, skateboards, board games and fabric. 

Cruise packing advice from an expert

A recent find is the Journeywoman website which, deservedly, boasts the tagline: The Premier Travel Resource For Women.  It's packed full (sorry!) of resources, information, advice and travellers' tales and you're sure to find something useful on there, including this advice about packing for a cruise from Linda Coffman, a freelance travel writer.

The Association of Retired Single Women

It gives me great pleasure to announce that my new membership site, The Association of Retired Single Women, opens for business today!

Whether you're an 'always single' woman or, like me, you're 'single again', I want you to have the happiest, healthiest, most vital, productive, energetic, prosperous and fulfilling retirement you could possibly have. At the same time, I want you to get the resources you need to help you balance having the kind of retirement you want and deserve to have, with planning to meet your future needs. That's what The Association of Retired Single Women is all about - and the good news is, it's completely free to join! In fact, you don't even need to be retired to join - if you're thinking about retirement or if you're within a few years of the traditional age for retirement, you're very welcome! All you need is the determination to get the retirement you deserve, an enquiring mind and a willingness to share your thoughts and observations with the other single women on this site.

To join, go to The Association of Retired Single Women and. if you like what you see, simply use the sign-up box on the top, right-hand side of the page and, once we've approved your application (just to make sure you're not a spammer), you'll be able to read the blog posts, watch videos, check out the resources and get involved with the discussions.

I hope you find the network to be informative and inspirational and look forward to reading your comments and thoughts on our forum.

Stuff

I've lived in four places over the last year and, each time I moved, I made a conscious effort to reduce the amount of 'stuff' that I've been carrying around with me from place to place.  I practically wore a groove between my Manchester city centre apartment and the only charity shop that I could find in the vicinity but, now that I'm back in my own place and have no plans for moving again in the forseeable future, I sense that I'm starting to accumulate again.  And that makes me feel uncomfortable.

Do you have too much 'stuff'?  Essayist, programmer, and programming language designer, Paul Graham does and it makes him uncomfortable too.  Find out why in 'Stuff'.

Thought provokers: Regrets

If you got hit by a bus tomorrow, what would you regret not doing?  What would you regret not saying?  Where would you regret not travelling to?

What's the first step? 

Thought Provokers: About voluntary work

'Investing time in a community organization or a charity because you are a helpful and kind person is not the same as doing it because you feel passionately about contributing to a greater good or making the world more beautiful or friendly.'

Karen Gail Lewis

Do you agree with the above statement?

What kinds of voluntary work have you done/considered because you are a helpful and kind person?

What kinds of voluntary work do/would you feel passionately about?

The Get-Started-Now Guide to Becoming Self-Employed

From Leo Babauta at the Zen Habits blog:  The Get-Started-Now Guide to Becoming Self-Employed.