There is so much being written about retirement these days, in large part because of the bulge of baby boomers now reaching and past retirement. My experience has been that many people fear retirement, because they think it's the end of their useful life and just a stage of waiting for inevitable decline. But the reaction of many, maybe most, people who have retired is very different: they experience retirement as full of new opportunities and a stage in life that rewards careful planning. Careful planning is arriving on a daily basis through books, articles and other media. Here are a few recent examples, followed by my three sentence guide to retirement.

An article in the New York Times of Sunday, February 19, 2017 offers advice on making your money last as long as you do. There are four suggestions offered: (1) budget your expenses; (2) plan how and when to receive Social Security benefits; (3) work a little longer; (4) consider buying an annuity to have a guaranteed source of income. A fair amount of space is devoted to the last suggestion, which is appropriate because there are a wide range of options when buying an annuity, and some pitfalls to avoid.

A complete section of the New York Times of Sunday, March 5, 2017 is devoted to retirement. If there is one overriding theme to this section, it is to start planning for retirement early in your working life, in your 20s. Some thoughtful comments are made in an article about farming, where several people say that they will farm until they are non longer physically able; and that the alternative, which they say is playing golf every day, bores them. That's an interesting view, and it makes sense, but even a farmer who loves being part of the land can craft a form of retirement; which would be something like continuing farming, but doing less, and finding some other activities, such as helping young people learn to farm. The myth of retirement that needs to be dispelled is that it's a termination of what you were doing during your working life and an enforced idleness with no purpose. In fact, retirement can be filled with purpose, and most successful retirements are.

Here is my three sentence guide to retirement: (1) think about and plan for maintaining your health. (2) think carefully about your spending habits, and reduce your expenses when you can. (3) plan your retirement to explore new things to do, and remain active and involved.