A lot of us look forward to the longest vacation of our lives – retirement, but most of us take little or no steps to prepare for it. Most times, we forget that retirement is not the end of the road, but the beginning of a new phase of life, an open highway. How can we guarantee a successful retirement?
A successful retirement depends on a variety of factors including financial and physical wellness. Customarily, we focus on achieving financial wellness, while neglecting our physical health. Apart from the financial choices to be taken to secure life after retirement, being healthy is a choice we all must make in order to retire well.
Being well is not just the absence of diseases, but being mentally, socially and psychologically sound. How can you work towards a healthy life at retirement?
- Personalise your health: Develop healthy actions and set personal goals for example, set up a food plan that will work well for you based on your genetic data. That is, knowledge of your body.
- Avoid excessive stress: Stress motivates you in a short term but becomes dangerous long term. Infuse periods of rest into your active work-life.
- Learn to get involved in lifestyle modification: Altering long-term habits that can hurt your body will help to improve your health.
- Have a dietary pattern: Make healthy food choices. For example, infuse fruits and vegetables in every meal.
- Improve your physical ability: This helps to increase your stamina and improves your overall fitness.
- Avoid a sedentary lifestyle: A sedentary lifestyle increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes, certain types of cancer, and more.
- Get adequate sleep: Get 7-9 hours of sleep every night. This is a basic need that will impact all other areas of your life.
- Know your numbers: Knowing your 4 health numbers — blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and body mass index are key to understanding your physical well-being.
By paying attention to the above, we can start to take responsibility for our health and wellbeing. If we neglect our health today, the profits of the work we’ve done for so many years may likely be enjoyed by someone else tomorrow. Our desire at Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers is that our clients live long and enjoy healthy post-work lives. We will love to support you on your journey to retiring well. Follow this link now to get started.
