Senior Center News, May 7, 2021

North Central Senior Citizens Center

May 10-14

Menu by Earlene DeWinter, subject to change

Remember to call before 10 a.m.

Monday — Ham and scalloped potato casserole, peas, cookies

Tuesday — Spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, green beans, pineapple cake

Wednesday — Philly steak sandwich, potato wedges, brownies

Thursday — Pork tips, buttered noodles, broccoli, coffee cake

Friday — Soup, chef’s choice, dessert

The Senior Center’s doors are still closed to the public. We are providing limited services by phone with individuals bringing their paperwork down to the center. Help is also being given over the phone when possible.

Rummage Sale: The rummage sale and cinnamon roll sale were a success. Thank you to everyone whom participated along with all the volunteers that helped to make it a success. We greatly appreciate those of you whom followed the guidelines and wore your masks.

Reopening: With the increase of COVID-19 cases in Hill County, we are delaying the opening of the center until this once again stabilizes. The reopening plan has been taken to the commissioners for their perusal. As you know, when we are able to open a lot of things will have to change. The number of occupants in the building will have to be limited. We will be continuing the grab and go meals for those unable to eat at the Center.

Transportation: The Senior Center is providing medical transportation only. Remember to call ahead for Friday’s appointments. Monday and Thursday rides have to be worked around grocery delivery.

Congregate meals: We are still continuing to provide meals at the Hill County Senior Center as “grab-and-go meals” while we are still closed. Of course, this is in addition to the Meals on Wheels program. If you would like to pick up a meal, please be sure to call the center before 10 a.m. to order your meal through the kitchen. Your meals may be picked up at the center from 11:45 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. Monday through Friday. You may order a meal for one day or put in your order for the entire week, whatever is more convenient.

Important phone numbers

• Montana Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

• RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

• Tumbleweed Runaway and Family Crisis Program: 259-2558 (local) 1-888-816-4702 (toll free)

• Friendship Line by Institute on Aging - The Friendship Line is both a crisis intervention hotline and a warm-line for non-emergency emotional support calls. It is a 24-hour toll-free line and the only accredited crisis line in the country for people aged 60 years and older, and adults living with disabilities. Toll-Free Line: (800) 971-0016

• For those seniors getting frustrated with staying home and needing someone to talk to you can call 1-877-688-3377 for Montana’s Warm Line.

There are several things a person needs to prepare for and do when getting ready to retire. Among those things are making sure your health insurance is in place. Other information to help has been taken from the Retirement Tips and Tricks information available on line. Some of that information is attached for your perusal or you can go to: How To Mentally Prepare For Retirement: 21 Tips – Retirement Tips and Tricks The first five tips are attached below. More will follow.

How to mentally prepare for retirement: 21 tips

https://retirementtipsandtricks.com/how-to-mentally-prepare-for-retirement-21-tips

Retirement is a major life change, that not everyone is prepared for. So, I took it upon myself to do some research and that will help you to get mentally ready for retirement.

To mentally prepare for retirement, you:

• Start preparing in advance: 1-5 years

• Think about what to do in retirement

• Communicate with spouse and family about retirement

• Know that retiring is a process

• Discover your new identity and purpose in life

• Create a plan and set goals

• Replace work routines with new routines

• Find a support team

These are just a few tips, but to fully understand, you need to know more. And in this article, I share 21 tips where I thoroughly explain what you can do to prepare for retirement mentally in the best way possible. 

No. 1 Start preparing in advance

A lot of retirees only prepare for retirement financially and are not aware of the emotional impact retirement can have on your life. Every life change, whether it is positive or negative, comes with emotional discomfort. It can produce negative mental states that you’re maybe not aware of beforehand and come as an unsuspected surprise. 

And preparing a major life change for most people can’t be done within the turn of a day, week, or month. So, it’s best to start preparing yourself mentally one to five years before retirement. 

This timeframe is different per person and circumstances, but be aware that it takes more time than you think to get used to the idea of retirement. Figure out what it entails for you. What you want to do in retired life and how you can prepare together with your spouse and family. So, preparing well in advance will make your transition into retirement less stressful. 

When you’re planning on continuing your life without any other major life changes, then preparation of one year or less can be enough for you. But if you’re planning to do a 180 lifestyle change in retirement, for example, moving, selling the house or emigrate to another country. Then it can take up more time than one year of preparation. In these years before your retirement date, you can try things out and get prepared for what’s coming after you’re retired. 

And as you read the following tips, you will understand why one year sounds long but is sometimes not even enough. You want to make the most out of your well-deserved retirement, and for that preparation and planning is the key to success. 

No. 2 Visualize your life in retirement

You’d be surprised at how many people are so focused on the financial part of their retirement, without thinking about what to do with their time once they retire. They are not mentally prepared for retirement and can fall prey to loneliness, depression, or waste their days with unfulfilling activities. Or be occupied by other things that keep them from following their dreams. 

Did you know that the chances of getting a depression increase by about 40 percent after retiring? It’s a shocking number but unfortunately true according to multiple studies. And most retirees who suffer from depression in retirement struggle because the transition from working life to a life filled with leisure is more difficult than anticipated. Or they didn’t think thoroughly about how they want to spend their time in retirement. That’s why it’s important to think about what you want to do in retirement. So you can make the most out of it.

Visualize what the things you’ve always dreamed about doing are. You can visualize being on your deathbed and ask yourself the question: what would I regret not doing in life? If you’ve found your answer then congratulations, you have your goal in life or dream to strive after. Or visualize together with your spouse of all the possibilities in retirement. 

You can create a vision/mood board for your retirement to make it more visible and shareable. Get creative with arts and crafts at home or make a digital board on Pinterest. Also creating a bucket list helps you to focus on what you want to do in life.

No. 3 Communicate with your spouse and family about retirement plans

The biggest mistake for couples is not communicating properly what they want out of retirement. Many couples assume they share the same vision about life in retirement without talking about it. And this can lead to disappointment, conflicts, and friction and sometimes even lead to divorce because you’re not on the same page anymore.

It’s vital to discuss your hopes, dreams, and plans you have for retirement with each other. Maybe your partner doesn’t want to retire at the same time because she/he loves their job. Or perhaps they want to move closer to your grandchildren, and you have another plan in mind. Keep each other in the loop about your desires so you both can plan for activities in retirement together. 

Another thing you should discuss with your spouse is how you’re handling matters at home. The transition can be rough, and roles are changing once you retire. So, you need to talk about how to handle alone time, together time, and household activities. If you’re the only one retiring than maybe your spouse needs to get used to the fact you’re home more often. And feels like you’re invading her/his space. Or expects you to do more household activities than you anticipated. 

Go out to dinner and share your vision of what retirement would be like: what makes you happy or concerned and what you need to feel comfortable. Negotiate with each other and find ways to make compromises. And also discuss if you want to retire at the same time. There can be significant emotional and financial consequences of retiring at the same time that you need to be aware of.

Also, communicate your retirement plans and ideas with your family. Perhaps your children expect you to babysit your grandchildren fixed days in the week to reduce costs on childcare, but you don’t want to be tied up. You’ve worked very hard to enjoy this freedom, so make sure you set boundaries and don’t commit to activities that keep you from following your dreams.

Some couples take a two-or three-month honeymoon to fully enjoy their first weeks of retirement before they commit to anything else. This can be a great way to ease into retirement together and also have enough time to think and plan about what you want to do next. 

No. 4 Check your finances

A stress-free retirement is a retirement where finances are in check. Make sure your financial plan for retirement is up-to-date, and you’re on the right track. And that includes having a budget plan for the dreams and projects you have in retirement. 

If you’ve figured out how you want to spend time in retirement, you also need to check if your financial plan backs up your fun plan. You don’t want to retire with a head full of dreams and not being able to afford it.

You can come to a conclusion to post-pone your retirement with a couple of months or years to afford your dream. Think about if that dream is worth the extra working years or find other dreams that are less expensive if you really don’t want to work any longer. 

No. 5 Try out retirement before retiring

You can tiptoe into retirement by slowly reducing your working hours or take a sabbatical a couple of months or years before your actual retirement date to try things out. This way, you can find out if the dream in your head is achievable and feel it out. 

Some retirees make a drastic life change in retirement before testing it out and come to the conclusion that it’s not what they expected it to be. And sometimes there is no turning back due to financial reasons. So testing the waters beforehand can give you a good feeling and realistic view on your retirement plans. And you can intercept and tackle problems beforehand that makes you more prepared for what’s coming and make the actual transition more smoothly. 

If you don’t want to retire fully yet, you can start working part-time to ease into retirement. You avoid burning bridges at work too soon, but also have extra free time to start some retirement projects. Or if you want to continue working but differently, you can think about working as a freelancer, consultant, or another type of job. Where you still have a paycheck and purpose in life but are in charge of your own working hours.