WHAT ARE RETIREES DOING WITH THEIR SPARE TIME THESE DAYS?

RETIREES are allocating, on average, 9.45 of their extra hours each week to leisure activities such as travel, recreation, reading and socialising, according to an American Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) study.

Most of that time (5.42 hours to be exact) is spent watching television. The rest is spent on things such as relaxing (about an hour), socialising (44 minutes) and activities such as travel (3.6 minutes).

One of the reasons people aren’t pursuing bigger retirement dreams is that they are entering retirement financially unprepared and without a clear idea of what they want to do.

In South Africa, more elderly have also been pushed into the role of main caregiver for their grandchildren as their children need to have two-income homes to keep up with the cost-of-living crisis.

This may see any leisure time taken up with caregiving, and while being a grandparent is a joy, a full-time caregiving role can be emotionally and physically taxing.

Ways to avoid the television retirement strategy:

Save enough

Work with a trusted adviser to make sure you are on track to save enough to fund the type of retirement you want. For many South Africans, whose savings are minimal and who live hand to mouth, the savings luxury is not that easy.

Simplify

Do everything you can to simplify, condense, consolidate, minimise or outsource the maintenance and admin of your life, so you can be free to spend time focusing on milestones.

Have specific plans It’s easy to fall into a routine that doesn’t look much different from your working years, so ensure you have a basic plan in place. Schedule some fun and enjoyment into your days, take courses or even start a new career

Retire to something, not from something Retiring to pursue things that you are passionate about is a recipe for meaning and fulfilment – you can even begin studying something new

Set boundaries Let your family know that although you have more free time, there are limits to the availability you can give them. If you choose, for instance, to be a full-time carer for your grandchildren, set boundaries that see you also having time to enjoy your golden years doing other things. After all, you’ve had your childbearing years.