Over the past several months, as my retirement date from the Derry Public Library approached, I have pored over many volumes of books, innumerable websites, pamphlets, government publications and friendly advice on the subject of retirement. As always the library was a great help. Should you find yourself contemplating the leap into that dreamed-about state of rest, harmony, stability and joy - time to wake and get thee to the library! Here are a few of the titles that will help you with a smooth transition.
The Joy of Retirement: finding happiness, freedom, and the life you've always wanted by David C. Borchard might help you decide if and when it's the right time to say good-bye to the 9 to 5. Retirement these days is more of a transition than an ending. Borchard provides some self-assessment tools to help you develop a theme for the ensuing years and how you might structure your time to pursue your interests.
If you're one of the baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 you fall into the category which authors J. Walker Smith and Ann Clurman call "Generation Ageless." Your working years may not turn out to be a long haul toward a disengaged retirement. Instead boomers, according to the authors, tend to have a commitment to a youthful approach to life, desiring to have an influence, to make a difference and to pursue personal development throughout their entire lives.
On the other hand, there may always be those who want to withdraw into a gated, age-segregated community with acres of golf courses, restrictive covenants, and self-governing bylaws. Andrew D. Belchman's Leisureville: adventures in America's retirement utopias is part history and part expose of the growing phenomenon of retirement communities.
Should you want a change of scene, but not the potential isolation and regimentation of a seniors-only community, America's 100 Best Places to Retire will help you evaluate your future Eden. Portsmouth is included in the list for its historic setting workability, and low-key lifestyle.
If you're not the type who can relax and just see what life might bring, Nolo's Retire - And Start Your Own Business might be for you. Nolo publications have traditionally focused on legal information, and this one is no exception. After helping you assess your strengths, interests, goals, and financial needs, it offers insight into what you need to have in place to start a business.
And if you just want to run away from it all Barry Golson has the answer in Retirement without borders: how to retire abroad - in Mexico, France, Italy, Spain, Costa Rica, Panama, and other sunny foreign places (and the secret to making it happen without stress).
I think I'll just take a cruise instead.
It has been a great privilege to have served in various capacities at the Derry Public Library over the past 17 years. I officially retired as of June 26 and this is my last library column for the Derry News. Next month the Derry Public Library will be represented by its new Assistant Director, Diane Arrato Gavrish. We hope you'll stop by to say a welcoming, "Hello."
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Jack Robillard recently retired as assistant director of the Derry Public Library.
