Shane Flait asked:


alth and activity level passes through 3 phases during retirement. And that’ll alter our living options and expenses. By recognizing this, you can modify your living expenses now to suit your wishes and happiness. I’ll outline these phases and the actions you can take to optimize your lifestyle choices by minimizing your expenses.

The 3 phases of retirement are:

1) Healthy, Active and Independent Stage: Usually you begin your retirement in this phase. Your activity and lifestyle choice determines your expense level – and the associated income you need. Choosing a satisfying lifestyle with little expense may be best for you. This stage can last as long as your money and health hold out.

2) Minor Health Problems with Slowdown and Almost Independent Stage: You’re still living independently but running into minor health issues. Hopefully you’re doing what you want but are just slowing down. This stage may present the lowest expenses – i.e. the least demand for income. Hopefully, this is the last stage for many – no matter how long they live.

3) Infirmed and Dependent Stage: Eventually, the full effects of ‘old age’ will infirm many retirees. Three out of four1 future retirees will require long term care in their homes and nursing homes. Costs2 can be substantial – rising to as much as $80,000 per year for nursing home care in the U.S.

You can control the expenses of the first two stages by optimizing your lifestyle and activity choices. That way you’ll know what retirement income you really need. And that can be far less than you think for a lifestyle you choose.

Recognizing the inevitability of our health’s progression will get you to take the action now to choose a lifestyle you’ll like and can afford.

Group your expenses into 3 categories:

1. The Basics: Housing, transportation, and meals

2. Entertainment

3. Healthcare

Throughout your first two phases, The Basics stay roughly the same, while entertainment decreases with decreased health and activity levels. Healthcare expenses trend slowly up but can dominate expenses in phase 3 especially if you need to go into a nursing home.

You can modify the expense for your Basics and Entertainment by choosing a lifestyle that maximizes your enjoyment but minimizes expenses. If you maintain living as when working – same house and location – your expense may be roughly the same.

But if you’re willing to decide what’s really important to you – and stop paying for what isn’t – then you can drastically reduce your Basics and Entertainment in a variety of ways.

Examples include lowering your housing costs by buying down, taking on a renter; selling your car for a cheaper version; moving to a cheaper region of the country; or moving offshore for further reducing expenses. I offer ideas at my website.

Choose Your Lifestyle and Act On It:

Of course, you should lower your expenses but keep them compatible to the kind of lifestyle you’d find fulfilling. But you’ve got to think about what that is and act upon it. Perhaps follow your heart or dream. Happiness often accompanies a meaningful purpose to living.

Enjoyable and fulfilling examples may include living peaceably in a low income country, painting or writing as you always wanted to do, working as a volunteer or doing low paying charity work. Hopefully, such avocations will increase your zest for life – and maintain your health and activity phase longer. But it won’t happen unless you make it happen.

So don’t procrastinate and prepare yourself for action:

1) Decide what lifestyle will bring you fulfillment and joy in your ‘retirement’

2) Search out all the ways you can modify your expenses so your income can support your lifestyle of choice.

Reducing unnecessary expenses may free up future income to pay for assistance and healthcare costs you develop in phase 2. Living offshore in a low income country often presents very inexpensive hired help for you as you get older.

And what if you succumb to the dependency and afflictions of phase 3?

If you have about $1m or more, your investment earnings can cover your care so you can leave a legacy to your children. With less wealth, you could purchase long term care insurance to protect whatever wealth you do have from going all to your long term care costs.

If you’ve given your wealth away and are broke, Medicaid will pick up the tab. So you needn’t worry about money.

Above all, don’t live your life for phase 3 – live it for phase 1.

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Kevin Sinclair asked:


Ask yourself these two questions, as you get older do you honestly think that you are likely to get sicker, have different health problems and more of them? Or will you choose a healthier lifestyle?

Since we now live in the information age, if we really want to be healthier, then it is possible to improve with age, rather than giving in to the downhill spiral of deterioration and ill health. Past research has proven it to be so.

You may have heard the saying, “An ounce of prevention is cheaper than the pound of cure.” You might be interested to know that should you continue to do things that are not healthy, you will be known as being “bad”. Things such as, eating poorly, smoking, refusing to be more active, this is commonly known as “Lifestyle *******.”

There is a much better way. Here are some of the more significant areas that involve lifestyle and our ability to make choices. Keep in mind that by choosing wisely you are focusing on a healthier lifestyle choice and will improve your health to its greatest potential ever.

Cigarettes: nicotine is a very highly addictive substance. Research shows that the average smoker makes seven attempts to quit. Ex-smokers say that it was all worth the effort although the cravings do still last for years. Quitting smoking is the most effective choice a person can make in improving their health. So if you have decided that you want to quit, then do it now!

Food is all about what you eat and how. There is a serious problem with obesity in our country. Portion size must be taken into consideration, but you must also take care to eat the right foods and exercise in order to receive the full benefit of a healthier lifestyle.

Deciding to lose the extra 15 or 25 pounds is noble, but dieting alone will just not work. The key to achieving your goal is activity. Avoiding or even eliminating completely, any refined carbohydrates such as white sugar and flour, along with regular yet moderately exerting activities will eliminate the necessity of measuring or weighing of food, and will almost guarantee that you lose one to two pounds a week.

Avoid foods with trans fats, like margarine, white sugar, flour and prepared foods. Instead eat more raw and unprocessed foods. Don’t miss out on breakfast and never eat late at night.

Eat foods rich in anti-oxidants like darker colored fruits and vegetables, purple grape juice, green tea, red wine and dark chocolate. Try to drink four or more glasses of water daily.

If you decide to start exercising remember to Keep It Simple. Start off by walking for 15 minutes three times a week; this should cause you to get a bit of glow. Gradually increase your walk, causing a bit more of a glow. Although there is no upper or set limit on how long you choose to walk for, the health benefits do get greater after 60 minutes of activity.

If you do decide to start taking better care of yourself and live a healthier lifestyle, it is recommended that you get some advice from professionals who will take care of you in a holistic way, as opposed to just treating the symptoms. Prevention of health problems before they even become symptomatic is the best approach.



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