We retire after spending three decades or more either in a demanding job or a boring job, either in a high-flying job or a nondescript job. We retire either in a senior position or in a junior position.
But all the retired folks have the same issue — how to spend the post retired life happily and meaningfully? All of a sudden you are a free bird, as free as a bird can be. You have all the time with you. No boss, no work, some retirement kitty and in most cases, no major family responsibilities as children are already settled. And you have another 15 to 20 years of active life before you.
Most retired folks spend the rest of their life reading newspapers, watching TV, logging on to social media, doing some household errands and telling sweet nothings to a bored wife. It is fine, if you have selected this way of life by choice. But if it is by default, it will be prudent to select some other better options rather than this sub-optimal stuff. Your mind will become numb after watching the same repeat news or same old movies for the entire day. You would feel dissatisfied and inferior on social media, as you have no photos to post: of receiving sundry officials, receiving a vague award or attending a paid seminar. When you were too busy in your job, your wife would have already cultivated her own friends while going to temples and parks. She has her own WhatsApp group with other home-makers. Your 24x7 company doesn’t interest.
To select the right course for post-retired life, one needs to identify one’s core competencies and the activities that will make one happy and that will bring out the best in a person.
Zero in on an activities that are compatible with your competence and passion, but does not require too much investment and are not risky to your financial health or mental peace.
To give an example — even if you have enough knowledge of the stock markets, it is not advisable to trade in futures and options or do day-trading in stock markets with your retirement kitty. It is too risky for your finances. As per some studies, 93% of retail traders lose money in stock trading, due to the onslaught of algorithm-based trading, co-location servers, professional trading firms, and so on. You may earn on some days, but ultimately you are likely to end up a loser in stock-trading. If you wish to put your stock market passion to work, one can do in-depth research on companies based on annual reports and other published information, to identify prospective blue-chip companies and invest part of your retirement kitty (balance amount in safe investments) in such potential multi-bagger stocks for the medium term. Otherwise, one can form a team with like-minded people and start giving guest lectures or training programmes at a management institute.
Retired folks with literary interests can consider publishing a book based on their work experiences. But it should have some novelty to attract readers. Recently, a retired banker has published a book containing only humorous cartoons to describe the life and times of a bank branch manager. It was well-received. If you have ideas and passion, you can always team up with a content writer and graphics guy to complement to publish an interesting and insightful book.
Folks with academic and artistic interests can think of producing some low-cost short documentary films on useful issues and subjects for students, which can be screened in schools and training institutes or which can be uploaded on video-hosting sites. Those with a rural heart can opt for organic farming in their villages and in the process can be a mentor and change agent for the entire village.
The options are endless. It is in your hands how you mould your retired self into a purposeful and happy 2.0
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