Looking Forward: An Optimist's Guide to Retirement 
asked by pauls on November 13, 2006 11:02 AM
"Ellen Freudenheim has written the perfect guide for people who want to make the most out of their post-retirement life. Whether you've always dreamed ot traveling, starting a new career, or becoming a late-in-life athlet, Looking Forward will help you figure it all out."
Richard Carlson, author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and it's all small stuff
Just as the best-selling job-hunt guide What Color Is Your Parachute? helped us figure out what we wanted to do for work, Looking Forward helps us figure out what we want to do with our post-career years, whether that means working part-time, traveling to China, writing a novel, or hiking the Rockies.
Thanks to increased life expectancy, Americans are living longer. Millions of baby boomers on the brink of their 60s can happily anticipate many healthy years to come, yet they're often at a loss about what to do in this new phase of life. And many of them may have an unfulfilled dream or two they've never quite been able to shake. Author Ellen Freudenheim, a boomer herself, shares her generation's uncertainty and excitement. In an engaging, encouraging tone, she tells readers how to successfully pursue everything from second careers to additional academic degrees to volunteer work. Filled with practical tips, informative charts, and revealing quizzes, as well as anecdotes from and profiles of vibrant retirees, Looking Forward is the book that will guide boomers as they reinvent this vital stage of life.
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Good insight into things to do to get ready for retirement. Humorous but insightful.
reviewed by bestseller on November 21, 2006 11:49 PM
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It's hard being old and set out to pasture. Some folks just give in and accept their lot of being pushed into a corner to live out some twenty or more years doing nothing, just existing. Why retire when you are not ready? There is no set age now for retirement. Keep on doing what you enjoy and make that money as long as you can! You will have time to enjoy it when you are ready!
If you haven't had any social life or spiritual training before the age of 65, it's a little late to start now. Oh, it is good to go to dances and church, but alone -- that is as bad as not going at all. Who wants an old, decrepit man to take you places and to tell you what to do? No one needs that!
If you don't know yourself by now, it's just plain too late to start finding your inner self through workbook studies or seminars telling you how you should think and live. No one can live your life for you. Only the losers go to Florida! Stay where you know the terrain and enjoy being yourself. Now is the time! With the white or gray hair, you are invisible to most of the populace anyway, so get out there and have fun! Raise a little hell! You will find that finally after all these years, you CAN be yourself. Perhaps young, inexperienced males will look on you as 'over the hill,' but hey! what do they really know -- they haven't been there yet and cannot judge the elderly. Their time will come sooner than they wish and they, too, will be invisible and on their own in a hostile world.
Don't hide away and wither! And, for God's sake, don't waste time volunteering. We have only a limited time to enjoy being who we are and who God created, a unique individual. If you like traveling and have the money, by all means, do so. It is never too late to learn. What we see will be temporary as there will be no one to share the experience with, so why buy postcards. That is a waste of money. Take your own pictures!
Hobbies are time-consuming and who has the time now. Get out and live. And the world will be rosier and you will be happier and more fulfilled for the day when you go to the Great Beyond. There are no 'caregivers' especially family, as they tend to desert and abandon you when you are a drag on them. So, don't be a drag! Be independent. Go places, and be yourself, warts and all. No one really cares about the old unless you have a fortune to leave them. Don't be so stupid. Spend it on enjoying life, as they will not thank you after you are dead.
Move where you want to when you want to. You have to suvive where you find yourself and if the place is bad and a prison to you, move on. Save a little money to pay the young men to move your things and life will go on as normal, more or less. It is always a challenge to move from one town to another, but it can be done. Just be sure you know someone there, or the town itself so that you won't feel lost and alone. You are never alone as long as you have God in your heart. No one can harm you when your spirit is strong. Don't let someone make you feel weak when you're not.
Retirement is a drag. It is a retirement from life not work. Don't ever give up. Always keep your chin up and look forward. Every cloud has a silver lining, and you can find your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, if you just believe.
If you haven't had any social life or spiritual training before the age of 65, it's a little late to start now. Oh, it is good to go to dances and church, but alone -- that is as bad as not going at all. Who wants an old, decrepit man to take you places and to tell you what to do? No one needs that!
If you don't know yourself by now, it's just plain too late to start finding your inner self through workbook studies or seminars telling you how you should think and live. No one can live your life for you. Only the losers go to Florida! Stay where you know the terrain and enjoy being yourself. Now is the time! With the white or gray hair, you are invisible to most of the populace anyway, so get out there and have fun! Raise a little hell! You will find that finally after all these years, you CAN be yourself. Perhaps young, inexperienced males will look on you as 'over the hill,' but hey! what do they really know -- they haven't been there yet and cannot judge the elderly. Their time will come sooner than they wish and they, too, will be invisible and on their own in a hostile world.
Don't hide away and wither! And, for God's sake, don't waste time volunteering. We have only a limited time to enjoy being who we are and who God created, a unique individual. If you like traveling and have the money, by all means, do so. It is never too late to learn. What we see will be temporary as there will be no one to share the experience with, so why buy postcards. That is a waste of money. Take your own pictures!
Hobbies are time-consuming and who has the time now. Get out and live. And the world will be rosier and you will be happier and more fulfilled for the day when you go to the Great Beyond. There are no 'caregivers' especially family, as they tend to desert and abandon you when you are a drag on them. So, don't be a drag! Be independent. Go places, and be yourself, warts and all. No one really cares about the old unless you have a fortune to leave them. Don't be so stupid. Spend it on enjoying life, as they will not thank you after you are dead.
Move where you want to when you want to. You have to suvive where you find yourself and if the place is bad and a prison to you, move on. Save a little money to pay the young men to move your things and life will go on as normal, more or less. It is always a challenge to move from one town to another, but it can be done. Just be sure you know someone there, or the town itself so that you won't feel lost and alone. You are never alone as long as you have God in your heart. No one can harm you when your spirit is strong. Don't let someone make you feel weak when you're not.
Retirement is a drag. It is a retirement from life not work. Don't ever give up. Always keep your chin up and look forward. Every cloud has a silver lining, and you can find your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, if you just believe.
reviewed by harrypotter on November 28, 2006 11:47 PM
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Taking a positive view on retirement as an opportunity to pursue options in your life that were not available while working full time, author Ellen Freudenheim provides a fresh look at the wide open world of a positive retirement. She suggests that you start by getting to know yourself again in a retirement perspective. From there you can branch out to altruistic opportunities, traveling, spiritual growth, hobbies, and passions. She ends the book with a section on dealing with practical matters of retirement such as paying for it and decluttering your life. Viewing retirement not as an end of your working years but the birth of another stage of your life including new opportunities makes Looking Forward a recommended read.
reviewed by madfool on November 29, 2006 9:07 AM
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This book is terrific. It offers excellent advice to new retirees or those thinking of retiring. Ellen Freudenheim has written a book that goes far beyond the standard ABC's of retirement. The author assumes that you want a 'real' life after you leave your primary job. Each section of the book offers good advice to those who want more. I loved the "Anchor Activities" section Growing, Doing and Just Being. Readers are encouraged to continue growing spiritually, to do what they have wanted to do, and to continue being who they are, but much more so. Sound advice is given concerning the retirees awareness of his or her new financial situation; and how to move on mentally and physically.
As one who has recently retired, I read this book from beginning to end and found information that I have already begun to use. Freudenheim provides little windows into the lives of some people who have retired and are happy with their decision to do so. Some of those profiled continued doing more of what they enjoy, some made changes so drastic it boggles the mind. Might I suggest that this book is not just for those thinking of retirement? It will be useful to those who wonder with a fair amount of trepidation what they would do if they did retire.
This book has the right title, Looking Forward: An Optimist's Guide to Retirement. The key words here are "Looking Forward".
Vannie(~.~)
Work & Family @ BellaOnline.com
http://www.bellaonline.com/Site/workandfamily
As one who has recently retired, I read this book from beginning to end and found information that I have already begun to use. Freudenheim provides little windows into the lives of some people who have retired and are happy with their decision to do so. Some of those profiled continued doing more of what they enjoy, some made changes so drastic it boggles the mind. Might I suggest that this book is not just for those thinking of retirement? It will be useful to those who wonder with a fair amount of trepidation what they would do if they did retire.
This book has the right title, Looking Forward: An Optimist's Guide to Retirement. The key words here are "Looking Forward".
Vannie(~.~)
Work & Family @ BellaOnline.com
http://www.bellaonline.com/Site/workandfamily
reviewed by vladi on November 29, 2006 11:53 AM
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You're in your 40's and you know your retirement plans, both social and financial, should have been in place long ago. So you're definitely going to do it. Or think about doing it. And you'll start by reading a book about it. And the average how-to or what-to retirement book is so boring, you put it aside and the cycle begins again. Till now. "Looking Forward" is such a pleasure to read, you'll be eagerly anticipating your retirement. It makes the golden years sound wonderfuly attractive and chock-full of things you can't wait to do. Best of all, you'll feel as if nothing about senior living is daunting. Not taxes, not health, not filling all those hours. You handled it as an adult, why wouldn't you be able to handle it as a senior? I'm only 48, but after reading "Looking Forward," I was ready to hand in my letter of resignation!
reviewed by hooked on November 29, 2006 7:08 PM