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* Being ambulatory (and if not fully ambulatory, having a device that will allow me to "get around" comfortably)
* Having enough financial resources to take care of my physical needs (food, shelter, clothing, transportation, etc) and have enough discretionary funds to pursue some entertainment
* Daily interaction with "nature"
* Live in what I consider to be a "safe" place that allows for freedom of movement and low crime
There are multiple threads on expenses and income in retirement, location and the many reasons for choosing one location over another, and the ways in which retirees spend their time, but I haven't seen a thread that directly addresses what it is that constitutes quality of life for retirees.
I am interested in what things, people, factors, etc. come into play when considering a quality life in retirement. Clearly each person will have a very personal perspective and response for this question.
At 62 this question weighs on my mind when I consider what I want my life to look like in retirement and what I need to do now to create a quality life. If it matters, I plan to retire at 66 when I will begin my own small business and/or work part-time. Retired life won't be boring!
So, here is my list:
1) Dogs- my beloved canine companions
2) Having the finances to live a comfortable life- this is an ongoing work in progress; I won't be wealthy, but should be comfortable if I live frugally and invest now.
3) Reading- I can't imagine not being able to read. I expect that retirement will involve a never-ending stack of books next to the sofa
4) Independence- I plan to spend the remainder of my life in my home, and am considering the various factors that will need to be in place to allow me to be self-sufficient. That may necessitate moving to another home- or not. Includes ability to shop, care for myself, and uphold obligations.
5) Wonderful parks and green spaces to take extended walks and hikes in- may mean some day travel from where I currently live, but I also live within walking distance of 3 neighborhood parks.
6) Gardening- my gardens help keep me grounded (no pun intended) in what is important- natural beauty, good soil, butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and all the various creatures that call a garden home.
7) Good physical health- the ability to be physically fit and mobile; also, my genetic lineage has a pesky little Alzheimer's gene that has shown up at least once. My fingers are crossed that science will make some significant progress in this area in the next few years.
8) Intellectual curiosity and ability to think critically- for me at least, largely related to the open Alzheimer's question
9) Friends, social/community connections, and volunteer work- for support, sanity, and sense of purpose
What does your list look like? I am sure that you all will come up with items that I haven't even thought of
Your list looks pretty inclusive to me!
I don't know if I'd have fleshed out my list with the details as much as you have, but here goes:
1. Being able to share many years, G-d willing, with my beloved soulmate, my husband.
2. Financial solvence, and being as debt-free as it's possible to be.
3. Good physical health for both of us.
4. Living in a beautiful place, in the retirement dream home we planned for years.
5. Having enough to do to keep us as busy as we want to be.
6. Having the physical, mental and emotional capability to carry out those activities, and to be independent.
7. Having the love of family and friends.
I've been wrestling with this all day. The last few years have been so tough. Car accident really changed my life. It wasn't until I finally had my disability hearing that I realized when the Judge asked me to describe the accident, it was as if I was there again and I realized that, in reality, I shouldn't even be alive. As it is, I have trouble walking and have to sit a lot - but I am alive and still, after 2 & 2/3 years, am grateful to be alive. My day begins with pain and I have 3 different pain pills but once I take them, I can function.
Prior to the accident, this would not have qualified as quality of life. Now, just the fact that I CAN think, move with a cane, still live by myself, feed and take care of my cat and am trying to get into drawing again, after many years of putting it away, it's not what I envisioned but it's okay.
Quality of life for me means "I know it when I feel it".
What I feel is peace.
Everything else is secondary. To go all metaphysical, I could say and mean that mental and physical health, friends, family, social connections, economic security, etc., are secondary to peace. Some folks would say they're the cause, I say they're the effect. Because I have peace, everything else falls into place.
That's my truth. ymmv.
I guess we are reading a page from the same book, plus along similar lines with what Anifani821 posted a bit farther on.
Some said that health is first, but I have discovered that it is not the case with me...it is one factor out of many, but it does not have pride of place. In recent years my health has gone from good (with a serious recurring flaw) to the "it sucks major" level. However, I am fortunate as the limitations this has imposed have not changed my intellectual abilities and pursuits, have not deprived me of friends, allow me enough mobility to go to the sea or into the hills, and though astoundingly expensive, I am still left with some savings and a steady income stream.
I am often extremely uncomfortable physically and annoyed because of it, and have frequently been in extreme pain. I do not, thus far, use opiates (except with great infrequency) as they annihilate my intellect and make impossible the many intellectual activities that are meaningful to me....music, books, ideas, good conversation. I am not opposed to their use as an absolute universal stance, by the way. It is just that they replace peace with a profound lethargy and apathy that deeply undermines my quality of life. I have learned that (physical) bearability and peace have a fragile relationship.
Thus far, I have chosen to use other medications when possible and to live with chronic discomfort, as well as more intense pain, as I have found that nevertheless the peace that biscuitmom refers to can ride on top of this, or through it or be mixed into it, as well.
Peace seems to be the medium in which the other elements of my life exist (or at least in some equilibrium with them), and there are times when peace spontaneously overwhelms some of the most pedestrian moments with an unexpected power.
I think that changes as you get older--not all of us are going to be lucky enough to continue to live independently until the day we die, for example. So I think you have to temper any list like this by what stage you're at.
For me, health is number one. I had bypass surgery this summer, so am valuing my improved health very much. Mobility is very important, and I mean the mobility of my body--being unable to walk, let at alone bike or swim, would be difficult.
Pets. Would love to have a dog, but we travel too much. And when I'm older and don't travel so much? It could be too late, who knows. At the moment it's moot because our winter condo in Florida does not allow dogs.
Not being in some kind of chronic pain. Not being blind, or as I said above, immobile.
And perhaps most importantly, having all my faculties "upstairs". No Alzheimers genes here, but I still fear it.
If I end up infirm and doddering at 90, I'm sure my definition of quality of life would be quite different--being able to look out a window, walk in the woods or a park once in a while, and enjoy a nice meal perhaps. Or just be nice and warm!
What constitutes quality of life has a great deal to do with one's mental and emotional state, or attitude. One can have multi-million in assets and still not be happy and one can be in tiny apartment and be content. They say worry and hate are the biggest robbers of happiness. So don't worry and be loving.
One can have multi-million in assets and still not be happy and one can be in tiny apartment and be content. They say worry and hate are the biggest robbers of happiness. So don't worry and be loving.
There have been surveys that suggest the people of India, Mexico, and Indonesia are among the happiest in the world.
My Dad says the happiest folks he has known throughout his life are people who have "something to look forward to."
It doesn't matter what that "something" is . . . it can be as simple as looking forward to feeding your cat and watching a sunrise or sunset -- or spending time with a grandchild -- or working on a project of some sort.
But to be happy, you must have something that makes you joyous about another day on the planet, even if you are in lousy health or on a subsistence budget.
I think he may have it right.
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