What to do When You Stop Punching the Clock

Nearly 35 million people were 65 or older in 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2020, more than 53 million people will have reached or exceeded that age.

If you're nearing age 65, you've probably spent the past few years thinking about retirement. Can you afford it? What about medical bills? What are you going to do all day? What's your newly retired husband/wife going to do all day?

By planning ahead and focusing on the benefits of retirement, this season of life can be fulfilling, rewarding and fun. Here are some practical tips to help you embrace the opportunity to do things you never had time to do and experience life from a new vantage point a positive outlook that allows you to age with grace and wisdom.

Before you retire:

  • Gain some perspective. Don't view retirement as an end; think of it as a positive and exciting start to the next few decades of your life.
  • Consider easing into retirement by negotiating part-time hours with your employer.
  • Think about what's important in your retirement strengthening family relationships, serving other people, traveling. Start investigating, before you're done working, how you can achieve your goals.
  • Decide if you want to relocate. Check out cnn/money for a list of the best places to retire.

Some planning ideas:

  • Assess your resources. Pull together your investment, savings and pension records and estimate what kind of income you'll have and how you might need to supplement it. Check with your past employer's human resources department for help with pension plans they provided; look on your statements for the toll-free numbers and websites of investment companies.
  • Use an online financial calculator such as the one at http://moneycentral.msn.com/to help determine how you'll make ends meet. Click on the "Planning" link and navigate to the retirement calculator.
  • Request your Social Security statement online at http://www.ssa.gov/ (click the "Social Security statement" link on the main toolbar).
  • Check Medicare benefits and compare medical coverage available to retirees at http://www.medicare.gov.

Ways to stay active:

  • Take a class at a community college or a nearby university. Nothing close by? Many correspondence classes are now online.
  • Take a dance class with your spouse; if you're single or widowed, a dance class might be a good place to meet new friends.
  • Start a new hobby: build models, take up woodworking, try your hand at gardening or put all those boxed-up family photos into scrapbooks.
  • Volunteer at a local school, church or charitable organization. Become an adopted grandparent at a school. Build houses with your local Habitat for Humanity chapter.
  • Get a part-time job. You'll meet new friends among your co-workers and enjoy new experiences. Consider a temp agency if you want the option of taking off extended periods of time.
  • Take up a new sport: swimming, golfing, tennis, hiking. Check with your doctor before you start any new physical activity.
  • Join a book club or a writer's critique group.
  • Take piano lessons or learn another instrument you've always wanted to play.

How to stay sane when your spouse retires:

  • Help him or her find a hobby (see list of activities above).
  • Travel together. If you want to go RVing, great. But if bed and breakfasts are more your style, that's okay too!
  • Encourage him or her to get out of the house. Meet a friend for golf, coffee, lunch or shopping once a week. Meet several friends several times a week.

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