DYING TO RETIRE?

When I was very young – believe it or not I’m not now (I know, I know, it’s hard to tell from looking at me) – I used to think I couldn’t possibly retire. Having led a very active life, both within and without my career, I thought I’d go crazy if I had to sit at home contemplating my navel for years on end, maybe sitting in front of the television, watching endless, mind-numbing reality shows (does anybody actually watch Gogglebox?) sipping on a beer and peering over my ever-increasing pregnant-like tummy.

Well, guess what? That didn’t happen. Not only that, but now there just aren’t enough hours in the day for me to do all the things I’d been itching to do since I retired.

On a serious note, there are retirees who are so badly affected by boredom they become clinically depressed, some even committing suicide. While there is no specific statistic on the exact percentage of retirees who die by suicide due to boredom and depression, it is a significant concern. Studies indicate that older adults, especially men, have a higher suicide rate and factors like social isolation, grief and loss of purpose can contribute to depression and suicidal thoughts in retirement.

Here are some sobering facts and statistics from the website of the U.S. National Council of Ageing (www.ncoa.org).

· Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. and rates are on the rise.

· While nearly every age group experienced an increase, older Americans fared the worst. Compared to 2021, suicide deaths rose 8.1% among people aged 65 and over

· While older adults comprise just 16.8% of the population, they make up approximately 22% of suicides

· In 2022, among nearly 49,449 suicides that took place in the U.S, 10,433 were attributed to people aged 65 and over

· Older adults tend to plan suicide more carefully and are also more likely to use more lethal methods

· Men aged 75 and older face the highest overall rate of suicide.

No doubt the situation in Australia and other Western countries is similar.

While some of these suicides may be down to other factors such as marriage breakdown, financial insecurity or serious health problems, I’ll wager that a significant percentage is caused by depression as a result of boredom. The thought that now you’ve retired, you’re no good to anybody.

So, what to do?

Keep busy, more importantly, keep occupied. That doesn’t mean running around like the proverbial headless chicken, frantically racing from one task to the next – you know, like you used to when you were working. Just keep occupied, keep the old grey cells working.

Hobbies are a good way to start. If you’re a six foot four retired bouncer with fists like hammers and legs like tree trunks, you might not wish to take up knitting but there must be something you’d like to have a crack at but just never had the time. Even if it’s stamp-collecting. Just, whatever it is, get immersed in it.

Take more interest in the home, apartment, caravan or hut you live in. Is it tidy? Clean? What about the garden if you have one? Grow stuff if that is what you’d like to do (but preferably not marijuana – although some prisons do allow you to have hobbies). Or just mow the lawn if it is starting to look like a South American jungle.

I mentioned stamp-collecting. Whoa! you say, how boring could that be? But what if you made money out of it? Would that make it a more attractive hobby? And you never know, you might come across the British Guiana 1c magenta -- said to be the world’s most famous and rarest stamp. It was issued in British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1856 and only one copy is known to exist today. It is considered the most valuable manufactured item by weight, having sold for $M8.3 at auction.

What about coins? You might find it fun to collect coins, particularly those of a foreign country – quite often there is a story behind them. But if you look upon coin-collecting as an investment hobby and get very lucky, you never know, you might wind up with the most valuable coin in the world, currently valued at $USM18.8, the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle. Or, perhaps the 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar valued at a mere $USM12. If you’re a poor man’s coin collector you might just stumble across the 1787 Brasher Doubloon valued at a paltry $USM9.3.

Collecting just about anything can be lucrative – antiques, art, baseball cards, recyclable bottles for Containers for Change. Nah, scrap that last one – at 10c an item it might take a little while to make any money out of it. But you need to be very careful and take advice if you want to turn any hobby into an investment. Or, if you are just trying to keep yourself occupied, that’s fine.

Taking up a sport is not only good for keeping yourself occupied, it also helps to keep yourself fit and healthy, including mentally healthy. That’s not to say you should take up running marathons but there is a wide range to choose from, from just walking to playing lawn bowls to swimming. Do what you do best. The main thing is to enjoy what you’re doing.

Art is another way to keep yourself busy because it is so time consuming. If you have a natural ability, go for it. If you don’t but you’ve always wanted to paint or draw, take lessons. I couldn’t draw a match-stick man to save myself but I know many people who can sit for hours painting or drawing.

Then I suppose you could also paint your house.

Some people travel a lot to keep themselves occupied. That can be costly of course, but you don’t need to turn yourself into a flying sardine and squeeze onto an international flight, only to be harassed by some trumped up, uniformed official when, sick and tired (literally) you finally reach your destination. Become a grey nomad and head off around the country with no particular time table to get back home. Some even sell their homes and keep on going into the wild, blue yonder. Then there are those who enjoy cruises. There are even cruises where you can sell up and stay on them forever.

If that’s your thing.

Can you play a musical instrument? Music is not only therapeutic (as I explained in one of my earlier articles) it passes the time – big time. Even if you can’t play a note to save yourself but you’d like to be able to, buy a cheap instrument and take lessons. If you can’t afford lessons there are people on YouTube who’ll help you for free.

Which leads me to dancing lessons. Actually, nothing would lead me to dancing lessons but that’s just me, me of two left feet fame. But a lot of people, especially retired people do get an enormous amount of enjoyment from dancing. No, it doesn’t have to be hip-hop (which might lead you to a hip-op) but there’s no shortage of dance genres to choose from.