I recently made contact with an old friend of mine. He retired and then did exactly what he wanted to do. Then lo and behold. Society did value it. And he does get paid. This is his story. I never had such luck.

A friend asked if we knew; What group of people in the US commit the most suicides? The correct answer: white males over eighty. "Why do people think that is a negative thing"? Responded another friend a white male, over eighty. "It only makes sense that many people when they get that old, and perhaps have severe health problems take their own life".

A few years ago I received an email from Sherri Robinson who lives in Spokane Valley, Washington. She evidently felt interested enough in this topic of retirement to share some of her thoughts. It is definitely worth sharing.

Frustration comes in various ways and at odd times. The question is always what to do when it does work its way into our lives. Of course, the responses vary sort of like the reason for the frustration.

Creating and maintaining a retirement of your own choosing isn’t easy. The world is so very busy, outside stimuli is so great. It’s easy to get overwhelmed in many ways. Eternal vigilance is required to maintain one’s sense of self.

Staying fit is an all encompassing goal. It isn't enough to be fit for one thing only; we want to be fit for life. That is much different than being able to stack baled hay all day, run a marathon, or do the hundred yard dash.

For whatever reasons eating out has come to play a major role in our lives. Retirement and eating out certainly seem to go together. Thus retirement and gaining weight seem to go together. That’s a problem.

Most of us have time to consider dying, especially retired people. We have managed to reach the retirement phase of life. We know that death awaits. Why is it then that we hesitate or refuse to plan for this definite destiny?

This podcast comes to me from a listener in Australia. The listener has definitely given some serious thought to retirement. Enjoy.

Last week my wife and I went to a dermatologist for a skin scan. A friend of ours who has had skin cancers removed for over thirty years insisted that we do this. He claimed that it went with retirement.