Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Attention retirees: You can still have fun….

Some retirees are coming up with creative, inexpensive activities so their golden years are rich in experiences.

Take Bob Allnutt of Bethesda, Md., 78, who formed a group of retirees who visit culture sites each month. Or Judy Korotkin, 87, of New York City who writes poetry. Or Nelson Cooney 75, of Bethesda, Md., who did yoga to increase his flexibility.

Allnutt, who retired 19 years ago, spent the first few years of his retirement volunteering, playing tennis and participating in church groups. Then he decided to form a group of five retirees who visit different sites once a month and have a meal together afterward.

Over the past 10 years or so, Allnutt and friends have visited more than 100 places including museums, art exhibits, historic homes, national parks, military academies, gardens, race tracks and baseball stadiums. Most of the time the places were free or inexpensive. One time they traveled to the Gettysburg (Pa.) National Military Park and rode Segways around the battlefield. "None of us had done it before. We were glad to survive that," says Allnutt, an attorney who retired in 1995 from his job as the executive vice president for a pharmaceutical trade group.

Fear of boredom in retirement weighs heavily on pre-retirees' minds. About 58% of workers, 60 and older, say they are currently delaying retirement, according a recent survey conducted for CareerBuilder. Most said they needed to continue to work for financial reasons and benefits or they loved their jobs and enjoy their work, but 27% said they are afraid retirement will be boring.

"A lot of people fear retirement," Allnutt says. "They think they are going to be bored. But you don't just quit working and sleep in. You can do the things you always wanted to do and didn't have the time for. I felt I was born to be retired. I knew there were a lot of things to do besides working."

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To come with novel activities in retirement "you have to be open to possibilities or planned happenstance – things that cross your path that you can take advantage of," says Nancy Schlossberg, 84, author of Revitalizing Retirement. She has interviewed more than 150 retirees and conducted several focus groups with retirees.

You never know what chance occurrence will trigger a new idea or life direction, Schlossberg says. When you are heavily involved in your work, you may not be open to try new ideas, but as a retiree you can and should be, she says.

When she was writing her book, she interviewed men who were participating in the ROMEO (Retired Old Men Eating Out) club, and women in the Red Hat Society, a group that encourages friendship and fun, she says.

When looking for creative ideas, think about your regrets and figure out whether there is any way to turn those into something you've always wanted to do, Schlossberg says. If you can't do the whole thing, maybe you can have a piece of the dream.

For many people trying something new means overcoming their fear of failure, says Barbara Hannah Grufferman, 57, a contributing writer for AARP and author of The Best of Everything After 50. "Creativity needs to come out, and the only way it can blossom is to be fearless."

Grufferman is already making a list of things to do in retirement. "I love to sing and would like to start a chorus for people over 50 and make it a nationwide network."

Docent Felice Cohen gives a tour to Herry Cattell, Nelson Cooney and Bob Allnutt during their small group's monthly cultural outing in Washington.(Photo: Melissa Golden for USA TODAY)

She's a "big believer that the more we challenge our brains, the! more we ! can keep Alzheimer's at bay." So with that in mind, "I want to nail on the piano some of Beethoven's more complicated pieces. Will I ever do it? I don't know but I'm willing to try."

Some retirees add a new twist to a lifelong skill.

During her professional career, Judy Korotkin wrote several off-Broadway plays, several screenplays that were purchased as options for TV movies as well as a novel that was published as a paperback. But in retirement, she started taking poetry writing classes offered at a nearby seniors' program.

She has written more than 250 poems over the past decade on everything from her childhood to her mother to her grandchildren to the complexities of aging. "It's an interesting way to reflect on where you are, what's changed and what's new. It has offered me a lot."

After attorney Nelson Cooney retired at age 62, he started doing hot Bikram yoga to improve his flexibility. "I could never bend over and touch the ground with my hands, but with yoga, I now can. I've improved my balance and made myself a lot more flexible."

Cooney, a member with Allnutt of the group that visits different places monthly, says it's getting harder to find something new after exploring 100 different sites.

The beauty of visiting a different cultural site every month is "it forces you to figure out what things are going on around you," Allnutt says. One time they went to a bowling alley in Baltimore where Babe Ruth bowled. "A lot of people would say there is nothing very cultural about a three-lane bowling alley," he says.

Allnutt says when he formed the group, one guy said, "We've got have some rules." So he wrote two rules. "Rule number one: No alcohol will be consumed on cultural visits, unless there is a meal. Rule 2: There will always be meal."

Clockwise from bottom left, Arthur Bill, Bob Allnutt, Nelson Cooney and Herry Cattell enjoy lunch at Cafe Mozart.(Photo: Melissa Golden for USA TODAY)

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