Retirement is not what it used to be. Today, at 65, we are likely to be healthier and much more active than our parents were at that age. And we're likely to maintain vitality into our 70s, 80s and even 90s.

Medical advances and shifting societal attitudes are offering Americans new and seemingly unlimited options for their "retirement" years. To make the most of these wonderful developments simply requires some thought and planning.

What is "retirement" anyway?

Not too long ago, everyone knew that retirement started at age 65 when people stopped "working" and started collecting a pension and Social Security. These days, however, retirement is seldom defined by a single date or event. There is no longer a legal age at which someone must "retire." Even the age when Social Security payments start has changed to reflect the extraordinary health and energy of today's older workers.

Perhaps the best way to think of retirement now is less as a specific event and more as a process. That process begins when you sit down to think about the life you want during your older years, and begin to plan and prepare for that life emotionally and financially. It continues as you approach the age when you can retire (whether you choose to or not) and are eligible to receive pension income, Social Security, and other benefits earned during your years of work.

To retire or not to retire: When is the question?

For many individuals, the decision about when to retire is dependent on their financial ability to do so. Others will be more concerned with the psychological and emotional adjustments they'll need to make when they stop working full-time. The first step is to identify what you want from your retirement years. These questions may help you begin the process:

• What does retirement look like for you? Envision the lifestyle you want as an older person. Will the activities and interests you plan to pursue continue to satisfy and enrich your life over time?
• What resources will you need to maintain your household and pursue the retirement lifestyle you want? Although financial resources are perhaps most important here, don't forget the emotional and community resources you will also need.
• Where will you live? In the same home? In a more temperate region? In a "retirement" community? If you do move, how will your expenses change?
• If you have a spouse, how does your vision of retirement fit with his or hers? If you are single, or outlive your spouse, how will your needs change as you age?

Make a plan and stick to it!

Once you have a vision of your retirement, you can plan to make it a reality. The key here is to start early as you carry out your plan. Whatever your age, make preparing for retirement a priority, not something you'll worry about "next year" or when you have more time. If you put it off until you actually retire, you may find that your options are more limited than you'd like.

Finances. Having the money and other resources needed in retirement are significant factors for most of us. Retirement income typically comes from four sources:

Social Security. The Social Security Administration can provide you with information about your future benefits and options.

Pension. Contact your benefits office at work to learn exactly what your pension will be and when it will begin.

Savings. Conduct a self-assessment of your assets and savings.

Employment. For those who continue to work after retirement, a job may contribute to retirement savings.

Don't assume, even if you'll be receiving income from all four sources, that the amount will be sufficient for your needs. Remember, the sooner you know where you stand, the easier it will be to make adjustments to your current lifestyle now to prepare for the retirement you want.

You may want to consider hiring a financial planner who is licensed and professionally trained to help you project what your retirement income will be, and assess the inevitable effects inflation will have on it.

Retirement: The best years of your life

Today, the exciting retirement options and opportunities available to American workers are promoting a fundamental shift in society's attitudes. More and more people now see retirement as a wonderful new beginning. No more stressful routine. No more worries about "career," promotion and job security. Finally, in retirement, people are finding the time and freedom to do just what they enjoy.

Here are just a few of the opportunities open to retirees today:

Don't retire. If you enjoy working and feel up to the ongoing challenges of full-time work, no one says you must stop. Indeed, certain individuals may need to continue earning a full-time salary for as long as possible to supplement a retirement nest egg.

Continue to work part-time. You may choose to work in a previous or a new career. Many people truly enjoy work's challenges, its personal interactions, and the satisfaction of "productivity."

Start your own business. Is there something you've always wanted to do, but couldn't afford to? Many people who retire use the relative financial security to launch new ventures where they themselves are the boss.

Return to school. Get that long-delayed degree. Study something for the sheer pleasure of it. Most colleges and universities have special programs for older persons, and there are other organizations that design educational opportunities and experiences especially for older men and women.

Volunteer. Lots of retirees find great joy in "giving back" to their religious institutions, communities and local non-profit organizations. Read to children, help blind people with their shopping, deliver meals to home-bound individuals and offer personal support.

Travel. Drive cross-country in a mobile home to visit relatives and see the sights. Tour Europe at your leisure. Take that trip around the world you've always dreamed about. If you can afford it, and enjoy the rigors of travel, your opportunities are virtually unlimited.

Just relax. What a pleasure to wake up each day with no schedule, no "must-do" activities, and no boss to report to. Golf. Garden. See friends, old and new.

Remember, retirement is not an end as much as it is a beginning. Prepare to enjoy yourself!

© 2001 Harris, Rothenberg International, Inc. Used with permission.

Does growing older mean we are destined to grow flabbier, too? Not according to health and aging experts. It’s true we lose muscle as we age. Our muscle fibers shrink in size and number, and they become less responsive to messages from the central nervous system, compromising our strength, balance and coordination.

Most adults lose about a half-pound of muscle per year after age 20, according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE) in San Diego, Calif. But—and here’s the good news—this is due largely to reduced physical activity, rather than aging itself. If you use your muscles regularly, they’ll stay strong and flab-resistant, regardless of your age. Studies have shown that men in their 60s and 70s who strength train regularly have muscles that look and perform as well as inactive men in their 20s and 30s.

Besides reducing the flab factor, building and maintaining strong muscles offer other benefits too, like:

• boosting your metabolism and helping you maintain your weight
• building stronger bones, which can prevent illnesses such as osteoporosis
• helping you perform routine tasks, such as gardening or carrying groceries, more easily
• preventing falls, which can preserve your independence
• improving your overall physical and mental health    

Pump it up

The thought of muscle building might conjure up images of weight rooms filled with barbells and bodybuilders. But pumping iron, or lifting weights, isn’t the only way to develop strong muscles. Resistance band workouts, martial arts, yoga, Pilates and aquatic exercises all build muscle strength as well. Classes featuring boxing techniques and pull-ups, push-ups and other standard “boot camp” exercises also are good strength-building activities. If you have trouble getting to a class or prefer the privacy of your home, many of these programs are available on videotape.

As with any exercise, it’s important to find activities you like to do so that you stick with it. You can combine more than one strength-training activity into your workout, do different activities on different days, or work your strength training into an aerobics or flexibility routine.

Try performing strength-training exercises for a minimum of 20 minutes at a time at least twice a week.  Be careful not to work the same muscle groups two days in a row. When you’re working with weights, remember that doing fewer repetitions with heavier weights will help build strength; more repetitions with lighter weights will help build endurance.

You likely won’t see immediate results, but don’t get discouraged. Beneficial changes are happening in your body, but those changes take time and consistent effort to show. After several months of resistance training, most men and women will experience a 20 percent to 40 percent increase in muscular strength, according to ACE.

Get the most from your strength-training workout

Try these tips from the Fifty-Plus Fitness Association in Stanford, Calif.:

• Keep your movements slow and under control.
• Focus more on proper form than how much weight you are lifting.
• Train, don’t strain.
• Vary your workouts to avoid boredom.
• Do compound movements before you do isolated motions.
• Work all the major muscles of the body before you start on the smaller muscle groups.
• When possible, increase your intensity by only 10 percent.
• Try to stretch daily, addressing all of the major muscles and joints in your body.

Remember that every body is different. Set your own goals and work at your own pace. Remind yourself of all the health benefits you will reap from your commitment to strength training. And don’t forget to have fun!

By Anne Wright
© 2001-2010 Achieve Solutions^®

Mary Anne has a Palm Pilot loaded with her appointment calendar and address book, but she often forgets to put it in her briefcase. Tim’s cell phone frequently beeps at him in the middle of the night because he forgot to turn it off. And Sue often walks into a room and can’t remember why.

Sound familiar? These little lapses, often called “senior moments,” can be frustrating. If one of your relatives suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, they can be downright frightening.

Don’t panic. Not every incident of forgetting suggests impairment. In a recent survey, 80 percent of physicians reported that patients 30 and older complained about memory loss. Years ago, the assumption was that when people got old, they lost their memories. We didn’t worry about it, just attributed it to old age. Now we realize that what we thought to be hardening of the arteries actually is Alzheimer’s.

But the memory-robbing disease isn’t an inevitable part of aging. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 13 percent of people over 65 and half of those over 85—about 5 million people—suffer from Alzheimer’s. By 2030, as the population continues to age, that number is expected to reach 8 million.

Memory overload

But if the majority of people won’t develop Alzheimer’s, why are so many worried about their memories? For starters, we have so much to remember: phone numbers; fax numbers; PIN numbers; computer passwords; e-mail addresses; names of friends, colleagues and customers; how to program the VCR; when to take the kids to soccer practice or the dentist; when to pick them up; the time of the staff meeting; the project’s due date; your mother-in-law’s flight number.

Experts call this “memory overload.” With the information glut, it’s very difficult to keep up and even more difficult to remember or retain what you read.

The quirks of memory retrieval

“People remember bizarre information, much of which holds personal interest,” said Dr. Rebecca Rupp, author of Committed to Memory: How We Remember and Why We Forget. The memory is “huge,” according to Rupp. “There’s no risk you’re going to fill it up. It’s retrieval, not storage that’s the problem.”

Short-term memory most often is affected. Scientists call it the “working memory,” like remembering where you parked your car. Long-term memory usually is less affected, which is why you can remember the name of your kindergarten teacher and the lyrics to every Beach Boys song. Older people are good at the big picture, but often miss the details, researchers say. Tests also show that older people also have more trouble dividing attention between various tasks or conversations, and they process new information at a slower speed.

Make it easy on yourself

While many formulas—including word association and mnemonic devices—claim to improve memory, they often can be cumbersome and time consuming to use. Margaret Sewell, a clinical psychologist and director for the Memory Enhancement Program at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, recommends “the AM principle.” Pay close attention to whatever you want to remember. Then give some meaning to data you want to save.

“You remember your mother’s lullabies because they’re important to you, but it’s hard to remember a list of errands unless you invest it with meaning,” says Sewell. For example, rather than trying to recall a random list of 20 grocery items, divide them into categories, such as dairy, meat and produce.

Everybody forgets things once in a while, so experts advise: Don’t be too hard on yourself. Older brains don’t lose a significant amount of nerve cells as once thought, and some areas of the brain give birth to new neurons, giving hope to millions of aging Baby Boomers looking for their car keys.

Six things that can affect memory

1. Alcohol: More than one or two drinks a day can negatively affect your brain in a way that harms your memory.
2. Depression: Long-term depression greatly affects memory. Stress, anxiety, grief, loneliness and fatigue also affect our ability to remember.
3. Inactivity:  Lack of exercise can affect the flow of blood to the brain.
4. Medications: Some common medicines that cause confusion are sedatives and tranquilizers, antihistamines, medications for high blood pressure and heart problems, and painkillers.
5. Health problems: Dehydration, fever, thyroid problems, poor nutrition, menopause, respiratory illnesses, heart and lung diseases, and minor head injuries can all affect alertness and memory.
6. Sensory deficits: We learn and remember things through a series of cues, including sight and sound. With age-related hearing and vision losses, information taken in can become muddled.

Nine ways to improve your memory

1. Exercise your mind. An active brain produces new dendrites, which are branches on nerve cells that allow them to communicate with one another. This helps the brain store and retrieve information more easily. Read; play Scrabble and do crossword puzzles; interact with people; learn to play a musical instrument or speak a foreign language; try a new hobby or craft.
2. Stay active. Aerobic activity, strength training and stretching increase stamina and endurance, decrease high blood pressure and may reduce your risk for stroke, heart disease, kidney disease, and other related conditions.
3. Eat, drink and be healthy. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables contains antioxidants, substances that might protect and nourish brain cells. Drink eight glasses of water a day.
4. Develop a system of reminders. Keep a diary, use calendars and lists. Store easy-to-lose items, such as car keys and glasses, in the same place. Leave letters that need to be mailed on a table near the door. Complete tasks in the same order. When you meet someone new, repeat his name to yourself several times.
5. Take your time. Forgetfulness may indicate that you have too much on your mind. Slow down and pay full attention to the task at hand.
6. Learn relaxation techniques. Stress and anxiety can interfere with concentration. If you catch yourself clenching your teeth, hunching your shoulders or tapping your feet, breathe slowly, regularly and deeply. Take a mental inventory of your body, from head to toe, and concentrate on relaxing each part in turn.
7. Keep a positive attitude. Happiness makes us more alert. When we’re alert, our senses are more open to receiving information.
8. Talk to your doctor. Many factors unrelated to aging or genetics can contribute to memory problems, including certain medications, poor vision and hearing, vitamin deficiencies, fatigue, depression and stress.
9. Check your levels. Know your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Also make sure your thyroid is functioning normally.

By Rosalyn Kulick
©2001-2010 Achieve Solutions^®