Some of us may think that after retirement, we'd just be sitting around and do nothing but Noel Baker talks to us about how after retirement, it gets better. You can listen to the show at http://rockyourretirement.libsyn.com/it-gets-better-episode-32

Today we interviewed Noel Baker, a retiree who has some advice for us.  It gets better!

It gets better!

Noel grew up in Minnesota and attended college at the University of Minnesota. After college, she worked for about a year before getting married. In 1970 she moved to Colorado with her husband, where she spent the next 8 years raising her 2 children and was very involved in politics.

Once she and her husband divorced, she had to gain employment. She worked a few different jobs, including work at a bill collecting agency and as a counselor at a detox center for alcoholics. She worked as a Senior Administrative Assistant for KPMG, an accounting firm for 26 years. The firm decided to downsize in the fall of 2009 and Noel was forced to retire at 64 years old she wasn’t ready for it and like many retirees, became depressed. She didn’t let that stop her though and soon she was up and about rocking her retirement.  It gets better.

It gets better!

SOCIAL AND FAMILY

She joined her local recreation center where she made a circle of friends, and they enjoyed going to the movies.  She also enjoys going to lunch with the ladies from the recreation center.  Now that she has friends, she knows that it gets better.

ADVENTURE AND TRAVEL

Noel does like to travel inside the USA and a year ago made a trip to see her youngest daughter in Utah.  She also travels to Minnesota to see her sister.  AND…she is also hoping to take a cruise sometime.  We discussed Costco Cruises and Celebrity Cruises. 

Travel… it gets better!

HEALTH

Eating healthy and exercising are very important to her. She didn’t exercise at all until she retired as she felt like she had no time.  Noel gave up smoking and put on some weight. She goes to the recreation center to get exercise and go swimming.  Her doctor told her if you do nothing else, drink lots of water.  Good advice, Noel!  When you take care of your health…it gets better!

What do you think people should know BEFORE they retire?

It gets better. There are friends to be made, places to go, and things to do.

We have a lot of listeners who are new retirees or maybe feel stuck in their lives at the moment.  If you were sitting across the table from a new retiree, what’s the one piece of advice that you would give to have a successful retirement?

Look around at the possibilities. Volunteering or taking a class. Find something you love and do it!

To find out about Senior Centers near you, do a search in your area or you can go HERE.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/rockyourretirement/033_R_Noel_Baker_160506_IFinal.mp3