Retirement can be the best time of our lives. Unfortunately, the first part of many people's lives is wasted on boring work and the last part is wasted on a boring retirement. The good news, however, is that many more people enjoy retirement than those who don't.

This book came about by accident. I was in the process of writing a new edition of The Joy of Not Working: A book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked, as well as the original editon of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free when I thought about Bob Nelson's bestselling 1001 Ways books. I wondered why no other author had written a book on retirement similar in approach to Nelson's 1001 Ways to Reward Employees.

There and then, I decided that I would be the one to write it. First, the challenge was to generate 1001 ways how people could enhance their retirement. After about four weeks of working on this as a side project, I was convinced that creating 1001 ways was easily within my reach.

The second challenge was to provide interesting examples of retirees who are actually doing most of these things. This also ended up being a lot less difficult than I figured that it would be.

In fact, I came up with more good examples than I needed for a book of a reasonabe size. I have used the most interesting cases of people who are enjoying their retirement and what they are doing with their time. Some of the examples come from individuals who have written to me after reading The Joy of Not Working; others come from telephone and in-person interviews that I have conducted with retirees; and still others come from people who have been featured on websites or in newspaper stories.

Clearly, retirement can be a challenging life transition, either financially or personally. Many people have lots of time on their hands, but way too little money. Others have lots of money, but don't know what to do with their time. In this regard, Samuel Johnson declared, "Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life and the unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than they know how to use."

Regardless of your financial means, this book can help you enhance your retirement. Generally speaking, the key to a happy retirement is not to spend a lot more money. The key, instead, is to select enjoyable activities that allow you to get by on the money that you presently have. Indeed, several of the retirees cited in this book have below-average incomes. Nonetheless, they manage to fill their days with happiness and joy - much more than some people who are filthy rich.

If you are still working, but contemplating retirement, 1001 Ways to Enjoy Your Retirement will give you many ideas on what you can do once you leave the workplace and the best places to retire. In sidebars throughout the book you will find quotes relating to the topics on hand, thoughts from retirees about their experiences, and interesting research relating to retirement. You will also encounter many advantages to being retired. These retirement advantages, in fact, may influence you to retire earlier than you had planned.

In the event that you are already well into your retirement and you are not finding it as challenging and fulfilling as you had anticipated, 1001 Ways to Enjoy Your Retirement may be just the inspiration you need to make retirement the best time of your life. If millions of other people can do it, so can you. Like them, however, you must be motivated, you must be creative, and you must have a positive view of retirement.

Ernie Zelinski

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor by Ernie Zelinski

With a focus on the non-financial aspects of retirement, How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free explores the myriad choices and decisions we are all confronted with in living out our retirement lives. Easy to read and well laid out, the bestselling non-financial retirement book on Amazon.com emphasizes preparing for retirement long before you retire. How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is a provocative, entertaining, down-to-earth, and tremendously inspiring book that will help you get more joy and satisfaction out of all your retirement activities.

"Get this book if you look forward to a retirement with 'zing.' "
-Nancy Paradis, St. Petersburg Times

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Your Retirement Advantages

Unfortunately, retirement often gets a bad rap from many media people and other individuals who themselves have not been able to successfully cope with retirement. Fortunately, people who can't cope with retirement are in the minority. "Retirement works out quite well for people," states Joel Savishinsky, a professor at Ithaca College. Savishinsky, author of Breaking the Watch, adds, "It is not the kind of trauma it has often been pictured in the past."

To be sure, most retired Americans are enjoying themselves according to a survey by financial services firm AIG SunAmerica. Similarly, based on a recent survey conducted by Trimark Investment Management, most retired Canadians have no regrets about being retired. The Canadian retirees taking part in the survey claimed that a drop in stress and an increase in intellectual stimulation since they left the workplace are two big advantages of being retired.

A drop in stress and an increase in intellectual stimulation aren't the only advantages that people around the world get to experience when they retire. "Retirement has been very enjoyable for me," declares Pat O'Brien, 65, of East Haddam, Connecticut. "When it snows, I don't have to worry about getting on I-95 to go to work."

Mr. Yong Khin Chong, 56, of Singapore states that more time with his two grandchildren is the biggest perk of retirement. Indeed, after two years of retirement, he claimed that he still didn't have sufficient time to do the things that he would like to do. His retired wife, Madam Ku Lee Nor, also 56, added, "I don't feel bored at all. It's only now that we have time to travel, read, do gardening, and exercise more regularly."

The ability to make many choices is another benefit of leaving the work world. "You're free to rediscover who you really are," states retiree Lynn Nelson Paretta, a volunteer with a community service center in Springfield, Virginia. "You're free to go back and build on those aspects you perhaps did not have a chance to express when you were in the working world."

Truth be known, there is a myriad of advantages to be enjoyed by fully retired people that most working stiffs can't enjoy. It's simply a matter of capitalizing on these advantages. To prevent you from getting overwhelmed with too many of these advantages all at one time, I have spread out another 60 or so throughout the book. These should serve as reminders why retirement can be the best time of your life.

Preparation Is Key

Although retiree Pat O'Brien of East Haddam, Connecticut occasionally misses the stimulation of work, she is as active as she could be. Eighteen months after O'Brien retired from her proofreading job for a law firm in Stamford, Connecticut, she told a U.S. News reporter, "The biggest surprise is I just don't know where the time goes."

Regardless of the bad press that retirement often gets, many people such as Pat O'Brien don't have trouble filling their days when they retire. O'Brien, 65, is joined in retirement by her husband, Jim, 70. She is active in the local historical society, a church group, a women's exercise club, and the American Legion. "It's been very enjoyable for me," stated Pat.

According to the survey conducted by AIG SunAmerica (mentioned previously), the people most likely to enjoy retirement are those who have planned for it. This is borne out by the fact that 78 percent of people who prepare for retirement both financially and psychologically view it as "a whole new life" or a "continuation of life as it was."

If you are not presently retired, it's important to spend many preretirement days thinking about what you want to do when you walk out of your workplace for the last time. All too often, people put off things too long. As 71-year-old Florida retiree Howard Salzmann stated, "If you didn't learn how to live before you reach 65, it's very difficult to teach you how to live afterwards."

Planning for a meaningful life after work ends should start as early as possible. In the event that you are still in the workplace and contemplating retirement, you should be thinking long and hard about the planning you should be doing and the problems that may arise when you no longer have the routine, structure, and purpose of working life to rely on.

As part of his research for his book, Breaking the Watch, Joel Savishinsky followed a group of retirees in Shelby, N.Y., for about six years. He discovered that retirees must know themselves, have passions in which to indulge, and be prepared for the unexpected. "They realized there was a lot more to retirement than putting together a portfolio," states Savishinsky. "It was more about putting together a life."

Ways to Prepare for Retirement

* Establish a good work/life balance many years before you retire and zealously maintain it.

* Refrain from working on weekends.

* Maintain optimum health while you are working.

* Be open to learning new things at work and in your personal life.

* Have a major life purpose other than your work.

* Think about all the retirement jobs that you can work at temporarily as a fun job.

* Develop close friendships removed from your workplace.

* Maintain - i.e. don't neglect - your true friends so that they are still around when you retire.

* Learn how to handle freedom. A good way is to become self-employed for at least a year or two before retirement.

* Accept that money will buy style and comfort, but it won't buy you happiness.

* Spend a lot of time alone while learning how to enjoy solitude.

* Indulge in regular strenuous exercise so that you will be physically fit and able to enjoy retirement activities.

* Take all your paid vacation time so that you learn how to be more leisurely.

* Read The Joy of Not Working: and How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free by Ten Speed Press author Ernie J. Zelinski.

* Travel a lot. People who don't get to enjoy travel before retirement seldom develop a liking for it after retirement.

* Don't allow your identity to be tied to your job.

* Find many ways to connect with the world.

* Take an unexpected day off work, and ensure that you loaf it all away to experience what it's like to be a member of the leisure class.

* Take a pre-retirement course that deals with the personal issues and not only the financial issues.

Above all, don't put off being happy until your retirement. People who have tried this realize that they have waited too long. The ability to be happy before you retire - regardless of your financial circumstances - is the key to having a happy retirement.

NOTE: To prepare for your retirement, check out:

Retirement Letter Samples

Free Retirement Speeches

Based on income levels, most Canadians are maintaining their lifestyles during retirement years, according to figures released by Statistics Canada in early March 2008.

Statistics Canada found that on average, a Canadian at the age of 75 received 80 per cent of the income they were earning at the working age of 55.

The study also found that retire income varied based on level of income during the individual's working years.

The lowest income individuals maintained nearly 100 per cent of their disposable income in their retirement years, mostly because of income from government programs.

"Lower income workers (those in the bottom 20 per cent of the income distribution) experienced little change in income as they moved from the age of 55 through the retirement years. This was largely because of the income maintenance impact of the public pension system," said the study.

"Better-off workers in the top 20 per cent of the income distribution experienced substantial declines in income by time they were 75."

The figures showed that on average, the more disposable income a person had at 55, the lower the portion of income that was replaced in retirement. For those in the top 20 per cent of income distribution at 55, on average, 70 per cent of their income was replaced during their 70s.

Note: See Quotes about Importance of Money in Retirement

The Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked by Ernie J. Zelinski

The Joy of Not Working is all about learning to live every part of your life - employment, unemployment, retirement, and leisure time alike - to the fullest. You too can join the thousands of converts and learn to thrive at both work and play. Illustrated by eye-opening exercises, thought-provoking diagrams, and lively cartoons and quotations, The Joy of Not Working will guide you to enjoy life like never before.

Top 10 Reasons to Buy The Joy of Not Working

1. You are more independent and more creative than most people.

2. You were born a lover of life and not a workaholic.

3. You don't want the cheese; you just want to get out of the trap.

4. You like books that are reader friendly with lots of cartoons, quotations, and exercises.

5. You like books that make you smile and challenge traditional ways of living and thinking.

6. You agree with the words of Bertrand Russell: "To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the best product of civilization."

7. You are receptive to the concept that we can achieve more if we relax, enjoy life more, forget about what the majority in society thinks is important, and focus on the things that really matter.

8. Your parents and co-workers will not approve of your adopting this book as your lifestyle Bible.

9. You know a good deal when you see one - if a book has been published in 17 languages in 20 different countries and has sold over 225,000 copies, it must have great value.

10. You know something important that the hard workers of this world don't know: the secret to a happy and fulfilling life is to work smart and not hard.

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* Ability to cope financially before retirement
* Being satisfied with life as a whole prior to retirement
* Retiring at the time preferred

* 51% say retirement living is better than expected.
* 26% say retirement living is about the same as expected.
* 19% say retirement living is worse than expected.

To Ensure a Happy Retirement, Develop Many Interests Outside of Work When You Are Still Working

Preparation for retirement living requires mental and spiritual planning more than most people realize. A long-term plan to achieve retirement goals has to be set if the retiree wants a meaningful and productive retirement. The degree to which the retiree plans beforehand how she is going to spend the bulk of her free time will determine how much fulfillment she experiences in retirement.

Gerontologist Ken Dychtwald, author of Age Power and arguably the foremost expert on aging and retirement in the United States, had this to say about the impact of poor planning: "The good news is that people are experiencing retirements that are long, fulfilling and exciting. The bad news is that many retirees will never experience their full potential during this life phase because of inadequate planning."

I received the following letter from Dick Phillips of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England after he read The Joy of Not Working. You will notice that Mr. Philips hasn't left having a happy retirement to chance.

Dear Ernie,

My wife Sandy and I were on an Air Canada flight to Vancouver this summer to commence a "Life of Riley" retirement holiday in your lovely country when a fellow female passenger introduced me to your book The Joy of Not Working.

I later obtained a copy at Duthie's Bookstore and read it when I returned home. (Riley did not allow time for reading on holidays.) I am fifty-four years of age and have worked since I was fifteen years old: first, as a fitter and turner apprentice, then as a seagoing-ships engineer before joining the County Police for a thirty-year career. Your book gives much sound advice, some I have been following for years. I have enjoyed developing interests outside work while still working. When I retired last November, I enjoyed the freedom to parcel up my time and develop interests which include hiking, cycling, old car restoration, model engineering, painting and D. I. Y. projects. You are right that a positive attitude to life in retirement is essential.

In your book, you write about a fellow officer named Rich who, like me, retired in an enviable position but found life difficult. I hope he has now read your book, and he is developing that inner self that makes all things possible. Meanwhile, I am looking forward to next year, when I join a team building a large, wooden sailing ship for disabled people, and later finding time to revisit Canada.

Regards to Riley,

Dick Phillips

Above all, Mr. Philips emphasizes the importance of having to develop many interests outside of work when we are still working. He shows us that retirement can be highly rewarding if we plan ahead. Of course,
developing new interests and setting new goals can still enhance our retirement years if we haven't developed many interests in our working years. It may just be more difficult doing it this way. Some psychologists say that it's hard to develop new interests at 65 after being interested in nothing but work and material things for over 40 years.

Strong interests in such things as music, travel, people, languages, music, and books are important. Ideally, these interests should be shaped and developed long before your retirement date so that you know which activities you truly enjoy. Generally speaking, leisure activities that fulfill you during your working years are likely to fulfill you in retirement.

Here are some of your retirement advantages that come from my book 1001 Ways to Enjoy Your Retirement

• You get to set your own agenda.
• You have fewer headaches because life is simpler.
• Life is less predictable from 9 to 5.
• You can take a nap when the urge hits.
• You have freedom from office politics.
• On nice days, you don't have to skip work and feel guilty when you go golfing.
• You get to discover who you really are instead of living according to some superficial work identity.

Following are the contents of a letter that I received from Rita in Vancouver, B.C. who read The Joy of Not Working and decided to quit her job and go into temporary retirement.

Dear Mr. Zelinski;

I have just finished reading your book The Joy of Not Working (yes, I did all the exercises too). I love it! Congratulations on a fantastic book.

I had been teaching seven days a week, six to twelve hours a day without a holiday at a music school for the last twelve years. I originally took the job to earn my way through my Commerce degree, but I continued to habitually work after my graduation five years ago.

The job was ruining my life - I "retired" (after all, I'm still in my twenties) two months ago. Although I was happy with my decision, I was not prepared for my new lifestyle. My friends and colleagues severely criticized me, and I had to find new ways to spend my extra time.

Having read your book, I am convinced that I made the right decision. I am now even proud to be not working.

Yours truly,

Rita

I had the opportunity to talk to Rita on the telephone several months after she wrote to me. Her six-month sabbatical from the workplace had done her a lot of good. She said that she was back at work, but working fewer hours, enjoying herself more, and being more productive.

She indicated that her temporary retirement while in her late twenties made her a better worker. Just as important, it was also good practice for when she retires sometime in the future.

Now Is the Time to Plant Your Retirement Tree

"We are a society not only obsessed with looks and youth, but also hard-work ethics," declared Marian Marzynski, the producer of the PBS documentary film My Retirement Dreams. "For those who never slowed down from work," continued Marzynski, "the idea of retirement can be frightening; they don't know what to do after."

Regardless of the fact that many retirees don't know what to do with their time, the world of retirement is overflowing with opportunity. Retirees can experience many different events, things, people, and places. Indeed, the incredible variety available to retirees offers endless possibilities for enjoyment and satisfaction.

Whether you are already retired or soon-to-be retired, now is the time to plant your Retirement Tree in order that you have a busy and fulfilling retirement. I first introduced the concept of a Retirement Tree in The Joy of Not Working as a Leisure Tree. I was compelled, however, to change the name to a Retirement Tree since a happy retirement is not necessarily based on leisure activities alone. I went even further and changed the name to the Get-a-Life Tree when I used the concept in my international bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free, which has now sold over 80,000 copies and has been published in 7 foreign languages.

Because the Retirement Tree or Get-a-Life Tree is too intricate to describe on a Lens, I suggest you download the Free E-book with over half - mainly the top half of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free at:

Creative Free E-books

Finding the right set of activities for your retirement is a personal matter. There is a good chance that you may overlook many activities, however. To help you add to those that you have already contemplated, I have a list of over 500 activities in both of my retirement books.

Putting the Retirement Tree to Good Use

Karen Mangan from Ukiah, California, sent me a letter in August, 1998. She emphasized how she was using the Retirement Tree (known as a Leisure Tree to her) to plan for a more leisurely life some time down the road.

Dear Ernie,

Congratulations on your book, The Joy of Not Working, which I've read many times, often referring to it for inspiration and amusement. I am 42 years old, and in my peak earning years, working for one of the better companies out here, a large winery in beautiful Mendocino County, California (hint - our wines can be found all over Canada, and one of our brands is "Bonterra"). If I had the inclination, I could continue to climb the corporate ladder and make more and more money over the next 15-20 years. However, it is not to be. Although I have what many would consider an enviable position, I am, in fact, looking forward to NOT WORKING.

At this point, I have a three-year plan to pay down the mortgage and quit my current job to live simply on less, and explore other interests. Like a lot of Americans these days, my boyfriend and I are opting to work hard now, make and save money, and then voluntarily downsize.

I have created a leisure tree with high priority given to running, tennis, reading, hiking, travel, photography, sex, music and volunteer work (not necessarily in that order, of course). As you point out, it's not about getting more stuff, it's about getting more life!

It is amazing how few people have figured this out, and think that they are doomed to until they are 65 at a less than satisfactory job, working on someone else's agenda. The key to happiness, as I see it, lies in pulling your own strings, and becoming the architect of your own life, not it's victim.

Thanks again for writing such a good book. If you ever get to the wine country, please look us up.

Sincerely,

Karen

I have the choice to do whatever I want, now. There is a whole new kind of life ahead, full of experiences just waiting to happen. Some call it "retirement." I call it bliss.
- Retiree Betty Sullivan at 69

Work is what you do so that some time you won't have to do it anymore.
- Alfred Polgar

The best time to start thinking about your retirement is before your boss does.
- Unknown wise person

Leisure consists in all those virtuous activities by which a man grows morally, intellectually, and spiritually. It is that which makes a life worth living.
- Cicero

In this country . . . men seem to live for action as long as they can and sink into apathy when they retire.
- Charles Francis Adams, Sr.

The Get-a-Life Tree (once called The Retirement Tree) and Retirement Activities for the Get-a-Life Tree included in both How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free and The
Joy of Not Working should help you see more to retirement than first meets the eye.

Duval C. Sherman of Los Angeles, California wrote to me after reading The Joy of Not Working. As you can see from his letter, he found the Retirement Activities for the Get-a-Life Tree (there were only 200 retirement activities in that list) useful for his retirement planning.

Dear Ernie,

I recently finished reading your fine book, The
Joy of Not Working, and I am surprised that it has not sold over 1 million copies.

I retired from my very stressful job as a Bus Operator in Los Angeles, Calif. on October 29, 1997 at the ripe "old age" of 46. My former co-workers favorite refrains were, "What will you do," and so on and so forth. That is when it dawned on me that these people had no life away from the job. How sad!

Now that I am no longer stressed out, and have had enough time to clear my mind, I feel much happier and healthier. Your Activities for Your Leisure Tree has been very helpful. I saw things on there that I may have never thought of. For the time being, I have chosen about 70 of them that I think should keep me pretty busy for quite some time, with more to be added later. In fact, Ernie, as I write this I am in the middle of trying one of the retirement activities now, writing my autobiography.

I have ordered two more copies of your book to send to two cousins of mine. One has been a teacher for 31 years and is debating whether or not she should retire. I am hoping that your book, and my continued
urging, kind of pushes her along in that direction so she will have the time to pursue some of the other things that she has told me she is interested in. My other cousin is an obstetrician with her own clinic who shows absolutely no sign of slowing down. I am just hoping that she will take a little time to "smell the flowers" and find the time to read your fine book.

Whenever you are able to take a little time away from your "leisure," would you please be kind enough to send me a reply. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Duval C. Sherman

We have to be at least a little skeptical of some of the information about retirement that the media and researchers throw our way. To be sure, there is a lot of contradictory information as to whether retirement is generally a positive or negative experience.
Adopting either side of the argument can affect how happy each of us is when we retire.

Some researchers have come to the conclusion that retirees experience less life satisfaction than working people. Other researchers have found that young retirees are less happy compared to similarly aged people still in the workplace. Still other researchers have concluded that retirement contributes to depression, and even suicide in the
extreme cases.

According to economist Kerwin Kofi Charles of the University of Michigan, there is truth to these research findings. The presentation of the facts, however, is misleading. It's a case of which came first - the chicken or the egg? In other words, do depressed people contribute disproportionately to the number of the retired or does retirement contribute disproportionately to the numbers of depressed people?

Kerwin Kofi Charles used data from three extensive federal studies of older Americans. He confirmed the conventional wisdom that "the association between retirement and well-being is negative." Put another way, retired people as a group are more depressed than working people.

Yet, surprisingly, Kerwin Kofi Charles found that retirement doesn't add to the number of depressed people. Instead, it's the other way around. Depressed people or those who recently suffered serious emotional upheavals are more likely to retire than people with more positive dispositions. Thus, people who already have the blues disproportionately increase the ranks of retirees.

There is one more interesting aspect to the research conducted by Kerwin Kofi Charles. When he tried to account for the relationship between retirement and happiness amongst well-balanced individuals, there was nothing to worry about. "Retirement appears to actually improve well-being," he wrote in his study.

People all too often fear retirement because they focus on what they are giving up instead of what they are gaining. Instead of seeing retirement as something to be avoided at all costs, they should look at it as a phase of life that can be filled with joy, fun, challenge, excitement, and satisfaction.

A more positive view of retirement reveals a life much more rewarding than work. Retirees can live the lifestyle they want to live instead of the one they had to live while employed. Active retirees find many interesting things to do, and have more time to do them.

Leaving behind the demands of a job allows for a more balanced life involving a broader range of interests, activities, routines, and relationships. The examples that follow show well-balanced retirees enjoying retirement for all its worth. Indeed, some of these retirees are so busy that they don't know how they ever had time for work. Not only should these examples in Chapter 2 convince you that retirement is a positive experience, they should give you another hundred or two ways to enjoy your own retirement.

RETIREMENT IS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD.

What you don't know about what makes people happy in retirement can greatly hurt you!

You either make retirement work for you - or it will cut your happiness in half. The more you know about the secrets to a successful retirement, the happier you will be once you retire.

That's why you need The World's Best Retirement Book by Ernie Zelinski.

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor is a provocative, entertaining, down-to-earth, and tremendously inspiring book that will help you get more joy and satisfaction out of all your retirement activities.

Although turned down by over 35 publishers, How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free has already sold over 90,000 copies and has been published in 7 foreign languages since it was released by Ten Speed Press in Berkeley, California.

What's more, go to www.Amazon.com and type "retirement" into the search feature. You will see that How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free appears in the number 1 position - out of over 175,000 listings for retirement books!

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My father taught me to work, but not to love it. I never did like to work, and I don't deny it. I'd rather read, tell stories, crack jokes, talk, laugh - anything but work.
- Abraham Lincoln

I hear people say they're busier in retirement, but that's not the case with me. When anybody tells me that, they must not have had a very hard job.
- Retiree C. L. Snodgrass, 62, of Clay Center, Kansas

I'm sort of a pessimist about tomorrow and an optimist about the day after tomorrow.
- Eric Severeid (1912 - 1992), CBS-TV newscaster, at his retirement

Yet it is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes comes to the top.
- Virginia Woolf

It certainly was not my plan or wish to go out and buy a rocking chair [for my retirement]. I would advise anyone if they're retiring, if they've got a rocking chair, to get rid of it.
- stated in 1998 by 69-year-old Bobby Joe Anderson, who retired in 1990 as president and CEO of Puritan/Churchill Chemical Co. in Atlanta.

I don't really have any career goals at this point. I'm 35 and have no need or plans to ever work again.
- Eric Kanowsky of Santa Barbara, CA who took early retirement from Software.com in 2000

You always say "I'll quit when I start to slide," and then one morning you wake up and realize you've done slid.
- Sugar Ray Robinson (1920 - 1989) US boxer, on his retirement at age 42, Dec. 1965

Democracy divides people into workers and loafers. It makes no provision for those who have no time to work.
- Karl Kraus

My voice had a long, nonstop career. It deserves to be put to bed with quiet and dignity, not yanked out every once in a while to see if it can still do what it used to do. It can't.
- Beverly Sills, U.S. opera singer, on refusal to sing after her retirement from opera.

In 1998, filmmaker Marian Marzynski explored a Miami Beach retirement community and the way its residents are growing older. New Yorker Louis Shroer, 80 at the time, was one of the individuals featured in Marzynski's PBS documentary My Retirement Dreams.

After first having owned a shoe store for 30 years, and then having worked in a department store for 17 years, Louis Shroer retired in 1994. Since then, he has split his time between New York and Miami Beach. Retirement for Shroer has been an opportunity to explore new interests, but above all, he appreciates the freedom that this stage of life has given him.

When Shroer was asked what has helped him enjoy his retirement the most, he replied, "Shortly before I retired, I read a book that my wife placed in my hands, which was very fortunate. It is such a wonderful book that I strongly urge every senior to read it. It is called The Fountain of Age by Betty Friedan. I'm going to condense a quotation from the book, by a man named Leibowitz. It is very interesting. He said this to the author, shortly after his retirement:

" 'The adventure continues as long as the energy flows and one continues being involved in the changing interests of the community and the world. All the talk about people losing neurons of the brain due to their age is really all about people closing doors on [all the] sources of energy. Instead, open these doors with new ideas, hopes, and feelings.' "

Shroer added, "I thought this was very appropriate for somebody who's going to retire or thinking about retirement. As for myself, I'm involved in taking college courses, computer courses, working out in the gym three days a week, doing volunteer work at the Paleontology Department of the American Museum of Natural History. Walking, exercising, reading. I manage to keep busy. And while I personally am not connected to the Internet, I do use it occasionally at the library. I don't want to become addicted, even though there are some wonderful and informative things on it."

Retirement Is a Well-Earned Casual and Carefree Lifestyle

Betty Sullivan, 69 at the time, was another of the Miami Beach retirees featured in Marian Marzynski's PBS documentary My Retirement Dreams. Unlike some retirees, she has had no major problems dealing with retirement.

Before Betty retired, she was an administrator at the Department of Animal Pathology at the University of Miami for 17 years. Prior to this, she and her husband owned an appliance and sewing machine store in Amherst, Massachusetts. To Betty, retirement was a liberation from years of tedious responsibilities associated with work and family.

"Before I left," Betty stated, "some of my co-workers had warned and joked about the perils of retirement: boredom, imaginary health problems, lack of purpose, and possible depression. None of these things has happened to me. Why? I exchanged a grueling 9-to-5 routine for a well-earned casual and carefree lifestyle."

Like the other self-actualized retirees of this world, Betty found that retirement can be an enjoyable time in life. She added, "Do I miss the challenge of the workplace that had once been so much a part of my persona? Heavens, no. My days are filled with healthy activities - swimming, working out at the gym, shopping, bicycling, taking classes such as writing, art, and yoga. In the evenings there are movies, concerts, dining and dancing. Soon, I may do a little traveling. And you know what? If I don't feel like doing anything at all except lounge around my apartment, I'll do that too."

"There are lots of good programs on late night TV," Betty continued. "In fact, I feel like having a snack. Maybe I could hop in the car and scoot over to the 24-hour diner for a hamburg. You know what: This is actually a good time to catch up on my laundry. Who would be using the washing machines in our building now? And after the clothes are cleaned and dried I'll put a ton of cold cream on my face and nestle down in a soothing bubble bath for a half hour or so. Maybe I'll be sleepy by then, but if I'm not, it's OK. No problem."

Not so long ago Tom R. Durkan, Sr. wrote to me after reading The Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked .

Dear Ernie:

Have bought 6 of your books, have kept two and have given the rest away.

Your book has been very helpful.

Sold my business over two years ago and am living in New York and doing fine. Keep busy reading, going to movies and plays and walk 3.5 to 4 miles in the morning and another two assorted miles walking
around New York.

Have no money problems. Have no strong goals other than keeping my health and keeping busy, both of which I have been able to do.

After two years, am open to new horizons. Am 76 years young and still chase after attractive women when I am in the mood. Whether I catch them or not is not the important thing.

Once, again, congratulations for putting together an outstanding book with The Joy of Not Working.

Sincerely,

Tom R. Durkan, Sr.

Obviously, Tom is enjoying himself in his retirement. Hopefully, when all of us turn 76, we will be as happy as he is. I especially like the idea of still being able to chase women and not having to be concerned if I don't catch them.

Retire Early and Get Back to the Basics

After working as vice-president of Worldwide Services at Apple Computers, Grant Gordon of San Martin, California retired at the ripe age of 35 in 2002. Having become a millionaire by investing since he was 15, and capitalizing on employer-issued stock options, he decided to retire early and do what he had always wanted to do. This included playing golf and attending baseball games during the day. To keep intellectually stimulated, he remained a director on three company boards and did some part-time consulting work.

''I'm trying to get back to the basics of what I used to like to do," Gordon told a USA TODAY reporter. "I made sacrifices early so I didn't have to work until I was 80. I work only because I want to. There's quite a bit of jealousy, but there's respect, too. I want to get married and have a family, do some travel. I haven't thought much beyond that."

When happy and successful retirees are asked what advice they would offer to a person just entering retirement, most will respond with a variation of Spend as much - or considerably more - time thinking about how you will utilize your days and months as you do contemplating your finances. As one retiree told a newspaper reporter, "Retirement could well represent 25 percent or more of your whole life. Why leave it to chance?

Top Five Replies from Retirees to the Question:

"What Would You Do If You Could Replan Retirement?"

Save more or save less money - 39 percent
Take better care of their health - 29 percent
Live closer to their children - 24 percent
Retire earlier - 23 percent
Get involved in more hobbies - 21 percent

Maurice Musholt at one time feared that retirement would be one big rocking chair with nothing more to do. After nearly two years of touring the country in a motor home, Maurice and her husband Wayne settled in Sun City Center, a Florida community of 16,000 retirees. They were lured by climate, 200 civic and social clubs, 144 holes of golf on seven courses and, 25 miles north in Tampa Bay, an array of spectator activities such as museums, professional sports, and performing arts.

At 58, the retired elementary school teacher from Rockford, Illinois, told a reporter that she discovered a whole different lifestyle from what she had expected. "We have no porch, no rocking chair - and no time," Maurice said. "My biggest need is a calendar because there are so many things to do. Now I encourage people to retire - the younger the better."

Maurice Musholt is right. You are never too young to retire. The bottom line is that if you want to fill your retirement days with a lot of leisure activities, you should retire by age 55 or 60 if at all possible. Waiting until you are 65 may mean you don't have the vigor, enthusiasm, and health to enjoy it. Poor health can limit the types of activities you can pursue. What's the point of building an impressive nest egg for forty years only to discover that you aren't in adequate health to enjoy the advantages and opportunities that retirement offers?

Retirement at an Early Age Is an Incredible Gift

Martha Felt-Barton of Salt Lake, Utah was 35 in 1995 when she founded The Martha Felt Group, an advertising and public relations firm. After coming home at 7 p.m. for several years, and still having to do "homework" each night, she concluded that enough was enough. Thus, she sold her firm in January, 1999.

Now 42, she devotes a lot more time to her husband, Michael, and her two children, Connor, 10, and Annie, 14. Recently, the whole family vacationed in Turkey for 18 days. She also works out, plays basketball in the backyard, takes art classes, and is involved in community work.

Above all, Felt-Barton is a lot more relaxed than she was when she was working. Indeed, her two children think she is less uptight and a much nicer person than she used to be. In 2002, Felt-Barton told a USA TODAY reporter, "There are so many other interesting ways to spend your time. I feel like this is a gift, but it's such an incredible gift. It's a gift I need to use."

1. You think that all you need is a lot of money to be happy in retirement.

2. You don't think there is any more to retirement than being able to watch a lot of TV, being able to go to the casino a lot, and being able to sleep when you want to.

3. You have read another retirement book already and you didn't like it.

4. You are in the retirement industry and although you will likely learn a lot from this book, you are envious of the fact that it has sold over 95,000 copies and been pubished in 7 foreign languges. (You know that if this book has been this successful, it is a great book - in fact, you wish you would have written it.)

5. You find it uncomfortable to read books that challenge your beliefs even though deep down you know that people who challenge your beliefs are often right and can offer you a lot of wisdom about how to retire happy, wild, and free.

The Author Promises You . . . This!

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free reveals the secrets to a happy retirement like no other retirement book does. This is the reason it is the bestselling non-financial retirement book on Amazon.com.

So often, the secrets to happiness are all around us, but it isn't until much later that we realize their significance.

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free reveals the 'invisible' secrets to you and opens doorways to your retirement future that will otherwise stay locked up until it is too late.

Purchase How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Amazon.com with this direct link:

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Amazon.com

A Retirement Letter from a Reader of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free:

Dear Ernie.

I enjoyed your book How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free .

It sure is Retirement Wisdom That You Won't Get from Your Financial Advisor.

I am going to give it to my financial advisor to read next.

I can't wait for another book by you.

Have a great fall and winter.

Thanks,

Mavis Marko
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

These books will lead to financial happiness:

"Read a book that will get your mind out of the
hands of the Wall Street investment - retirement
complex - all those institutions that want us to
save and invest unending amounts of money so
they can manage it, extracting zillions in fees.

"The latest book in this realm . . . is How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: by Ernie J. Zelinski (Ten Speed Press, $16.95). This book follows on his earlier The Joy of Not Working, whose title gives you an idea of his central theme.

"Trust me, there are books . . . that are far more complicated. But few [like Zelinski's] are more accessible, useful, and meaningful."

- Scott Burns, The Dallas Morning News

An Unsolicited Testimonial for The World's Best Retirement Book from The Life Planning Network

A truly upbeat read! The author, who
semi-retired at age 30 and in debt,
claims you are never too young to
retire. He paints a picture that is so
appealing you will wish you had
retired years ago. He hits topics such
as lifelong learning, relocation, the
importance of friendships, and
creative travel options. His seven-page
list of "activities for your get-a-life
tree" will help you start and keep
you active for a very long time.
- Life Planning Network

From the National Post

"To be sure, retirement books are a
glutted field, but most focus on
money and financial planning. They
view the finish line as the last day of
employment. That's where
How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free begins."
- Jonathan Chevreau, Retirement Columnist, National Post

From the Association of Retirement Planners

"How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
is optimistic, practical,
humorous, and provocative AND
comprehensively addresses the
many issues impacting individuals
as they think about their
retirement."
- Nancy Conroy, Association of Retirement Planners

From Life Unfolds, Houston, Texas

"Ernie has done it again. Easy to read, well laid
out. Emphasis on simple living, and
preparing for retirement long before you
retire."
- Mary Anne Fields, Life Coach and
Trainer of Life Unfolds, Houston, Texas

From The Strebel Planning Group, New York

"With a focus on the non-financial aspects of
retirement, How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
explores the myriad choices and
decisions we're all confronted with in living
out our lives. Such as, pondering the pros
and cons of remaining at your present job;
changing jobs or changing careers; taking an
early retirement; delaying retirement; never
retiring; or semi-retiring. Clearly, from Mr.
Zelinski's point of view, staying in a less than
satisfying job for the sake of some distant
future payoff is enormously risky to the
health and well being of your life. A mistake
like that cannot be fixed since you cannot go
back in time to change your decisions."
- The Strebel Planning Group, New York

Top 10 Reasons to Buy and Read How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

1. You are ready to claim your freedom from corporate life.
2. You want to follow your retirement dreams instead of someone else's.
3. As a spiritually and highly evolved human being you know that how to enjoy life to its fullest is much more important for creating an active, satisfying, and happy retirement than how much money you have saved.
4. Many retirement columnists and retirement seminar presenters have ranted and raved about this book. For instance, retirement columnist Nancy Paradis of the St. Petersburg Times in Florida advises, "Get this book if you look forward to a retirement with 'zing.' "
5. With it's great title and the inspirational subtile, this book makes the perfect gift for the soon-to-be retired friend or for the person retiring at the office.
6. You agree that "Retirement is the beginning of life, not the end."
7. You have put money in proper perspective so that you don't need a million dollars to retire.
8. You want to generate great purpose in your entire retirement life with meaningful, creative pursuits.
9. You like finding extremely useful information about retirement such as The Get-a-Life Tree that you won't find in any other book, but which is acclaimed by people who have read How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free.
10. Above all, you want to make your retirement years the best years of your life.

5 More Reasons to Buy and Read How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

1. You want to have a good day - everyday - when you retire!
2. You "Absolutely, Positively" want to retire happy, wild, and free.
3. You want to inspire yourself with new accomplishments once you retire.
4. You want to gain the courage to take early retirement - in fact, the earlier, the better.
5. You have always wanted to fire your boss and take control of your destiny.

Britons who are retiring are not content to sit at home and relax, according to new research.

A survey of people nearing the end of their working life found they had a number of ambitions that they wanted to pursue as soon as they begin their retirement.

Interestingly, 19 per cent of Britons said that they wanted to relocate to a new area as soon as retire.

Of those who want to move, the majority are not satisfied to stay in England or the rest of the UK. Fifty-two percent said they want to move abroad.

One of the reasons that people want to relocate is that their cost of living can go down. Indeed, according to a recent poll by NatWest, nine out of ten British expats are financially better off since relocating abroad.

This comes from the Uganda's The New Vision,


Retirees Urged to Watch Out for Detoothers

The UPDF 3rd Division commander, Brig. Patrick Kankiriho, has advised retiring soldiers to watch out for spouses who love lavish lifestyles.

"If your spouse is a spendthrift and is not willing to adjust, abandon her, as she is bound to lead you into misery."

He made the remarks on Friday during a function at Rubongi Barracks in Tororo district where 57 UPDF soldiers retired. He told the retirees that they had left the army with a modest financial package which they should invest wisely.

"Irresponsible spouses are planning how best they can get a fair share of the money you have worked for before eloping away with other men."

He added that such women prefer staying in the cities. "She will insist that you rent an apartment in town then she will lure you into spending money on luxuries till it is finished."

Kankiriho also cautioned the soldiers against over drinking. "If you do that, you will never regret why you retired from the force," he added.

This bit is a great Singles Advantage to add to the revised edition of The Joy of Not Being Married:


#1 of Three Retirement Quotes Regarding Men and Women in Retirement
When men reach their sixties and retire, they go to pieces. Women go right on cooking.
- Gail Sheehy

#2 of Three Retirement Quotes Regarding Men and Women in Retirement

In this country . . . men seem to live for action as long as they can and sink into apathy when they retire.
- Charles Francis Adams, Sr.

#3 of Three Retirement Quotes Regarding Men and Women in Retirement

A retired husband is often a wife's full-time job.
- Ella Harris

Top 10 Reasons to Buy and Read How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

1. You are ready to claim your freedom from corporate life.

2. You want to follow your retirement dreams instead of someone else's.

3. As a spiritually and highly evolved human being you know that how to enjoy life to its fullest is much more important for creating an active, satisfying, and happy retirement than how much money you have saved.

4. Many retirement columnists and retirement seminar presenters have ranted and raved about this book. For instance, retirement columnist Nancy Paradis of the St. Petersburg Times in Florida advises, "Get this book if you look forward to a retirement with 'zing.' "

5. With it's great title and the inspirational subtile, this book makes the perfect gift for the soon-to-be retired friend or for the person retiring at the office.

6. You agree that "Retirement is the beginning of life, not the end."

7. You have put money in proper perspective so that you don't need a million dollars to retire.

8. You want to generate great purpose in your entire retirement life with meaningful, creative pursuits.

9. You like finding extremely useful information about retirement such as The Get-a-Life Tree that you won't find in any other book, but which is acclaimed by people who have read How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free.

10. Above all, you want to make your retirement years the best years of your life.

Over 95,000 Copies Sold
Published in 7 Foreign Languages

Purchase How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Amazon.com before you submit your retirement letter with this direct link:

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Amazon.com

Kirk Symmes had never planned on what he was going to do in retirement because he thought that he would continue to work forever as a computer salesman. At the age of 65, however, he was forced to retire when his company laid him off. He had no idea what to do with the rest of his life so he got involved in everything he could. This included taking several classes at the College for Seniors, a department of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement at the University of North Carolina.

Symmes always had a fascination with history - in fact, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in the subject from Yale in 1948. Thus, one of the courses he took at the College for Seniors was 100 Decisive Events of History. Soon after, he learned that the college was looking for instructors - not necessarily instructors with Ph.D.s, but retirees who might enjoy teaching other retirees. Although he had never taught a class before, his proposal to teach an eight-week seminar called "Origins of the U.S. Bill of Rights" was accepted.

His first class did not go as smoothly as he would have liked. "I read more than I talked," Symmes told the Wall Street Journal. Nevertheless, he did not turn off any of his 45 students enough to keep them from attending the second class. In fact, with a little more practice, he became an excellent instructor. Over the next six years he taught six courses, including four about Thomas Jefferson - his favorite subject.

"It really is a very satisfying experience to have a little bit of knowledge that people are interested in," declared Symmes. And he was only half-joking when he added, "If I had known retirement would be this great, I would have killed to have gotten here sooner."

If You Don't Like Involuntary Retirement, Sue the Pants Off the Company Off the Company That Forced You Into It

After having worked for 31 years for Abbott's Ross Products Division in Columbus, David Jelinek, in his mid-fifties at the time, retired involuntarily from his sales job. In 1997, a year after he was the company's top-performing salesman, the company eliminated some positions to cut costs. The oldest sales manager and the one with the most seniority, Jelinek was making $100,000 annually selling Ross Products nutritional supplements for seniors to doctors.

The company told Jelinek that his position was surplus and that he had to accept a transfer to Gary, Indiana. The Gary position was the only offered, but Jelinek felt the sales district had no potential because it suffered from a lack of customers. In March, 1998, Jelinek told Ross that if there were no other positions, he would resign and consider himself "constructively terminated and involuntarily retired."

Shortly after he left the company, Jelinek filed an age discrimination lawsuit in which he claimed that he was forced into early retirement. He was subsequently awarded $25.7 million by a jury in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on April 29, 2002. "The jurors thought they had to send a message," said 59-year-old Jelinek, after speaking with several jurors about the verdict. (Abbott Laboratories told reporters that it would appeal the verdict because it was "not supported by the evidence or the law.")

"Retiring makes every day an adventure,'' advises Peter Camenzind of Santa Barbara, California. In 2000, Camenzind retired at the age of 35 after working as a quality assurance director at Software.com.

Having cashed in on the high-tech boom before it crashed, the multi-millionaire certainly doesn't have any money problems. There is, however, at least one minor irritation. "I date a lot, but a lot of people are jealous or feel they can't relate to you," stated Camenzind, "so I usually tell people I'm just taking a year off."

Nonetheless, Camenzind is enjoying retirement. "For me, it means not having to work for money," he proclaimed.

Retirement Tips from an Involuntary Retired President of the United States

Jimmy Carter was in his mid-50s when he had to face what he deemed as "involuntary retirement." He and his wife Rosalynn thought that they had another four years in the White House, but Jimmy was defeated in his bid for re-election as President of the United States. He stated, "We went back to a little village that only had a population of 600; I didn't have a job, and I had no prospect of getting a job. To my amazement, I found that my very prosperous [peanut] business, which I had put in a blind trust, was a million dollars in debt because of three years of drought in Georgia."

Despite the fact that Jimmy and Rosalynn had to face some real big problems, Jimmy Carter found involuntary retirement to be a blessing instead of a curse. Indeed, Carter told Barbara Walters that compared to all the other things he did in his past, including being President, retirement is the best time in his life. He feels that many Americans approach retirement with a great deal of dread, uncertainty, and fear when, in fact, all those feelings are totally unjustified.

After his retirement in 1981, Carter has done everything from monitoring elections in developing nations to negotiating peace with warring factions to attending funerals of foreign dignitaries to building homes for the homeless to being spokesperson for numerous charitable causes. He and Rosalynn also stay physically active by skiing, swimming, and mountain climbing. After all this, he still finds time to surf the Internet and keep in touch with children and grandchildren in many parts of the world via e-mail.

In a 1998 interview with Ron Hogan of Amazon.com, Carter extolled the benefits that he and his wife reaped from being retired: "I would say that everything we now do that is productive and helps other people, or that's enjoyable and benefits ourselves, are new ideas that we never had before we were retiring. I never thought about being a professor, and I'm now in my 16th year as a professor at Emory University. And I've just finished my 13th book, when I never thought about being an author."

Carter added, "We never had climbed a mountain, and now we've climbed Mount Kilimanjaro; we've been 1,100 feet above the base camp at Mount Everest. I went up and down Mount Fuji with Rosalynn after I was 70 years old. I never saw downhill skis until I was 62 years old and Rosalynn was 59, and now we go ski in Colorado a couple of times a year. Those are the kind of things that we've taken on that we never dreamed of doing when we reached retirement."

And Here's Johnny - Ten Years Later

At 66, Johnny Carson retired from The Tonight Show, which he hosted from 1962 until 1992. Ten years later, he still had no urge to return to work. He declared that he "ain't going back on television," not even to celebrate NBC's 75th anniversary. "I think I left at the right time," Carson told Esquire magazine. "You've got to know when to get the hell off the stage, and the timing was right for me."

"There's no way to ever induce him back," professed Barry Diller, "because, God knows, I've tried. Everybody has. I don't know anyone other than Cary Grant who left the stage with such dignity and elegance."

What was Johnny up to since he left the show? In 2002, Carson described himself as perfectly content in a retirement increasingly preoccupied with boating, having just taken possession of a newly built 130-foot yacht christened the Serengeti. He shares a large Malibu home with his wife, Alexis, overlooking the Pacific. He's kept busy playing poker with pals including Chevy Chase and Steve Martin. He also learned to speak Swahili for his vacations in Tanzania. "It's a sweet language," he said. "It flows and it's relatively easy."

Retirement Not Celebrated by Almost Half of Canadians A recent survey from Fidelity Investments Canada ULC found that summer time is the best time to retire for Canadians. The third annual 2007/2008 Fidelity Canadian Retirement Survey discovered that June, July and August are the months when the highest numbers of Canadians retire. Unfortunately, this year's survey shows that more retirees are finding retiring is getting harder.

"Fidelity's research shows that when it comes to the timing of their retirement, the summer months are the tops for Canadians. When you consider the relatively short summer Canada enjoys, it seems that retiring Canadians want to take full advantage of the summer months by not spending them at work," says Peter Drake, vp, economic and retirement research, Fidelity.

While Fidelity's research shows that more Canadians retired in the summer months, for almost four-in-10 Canadians celebrating their retirement certainly was not their first priority. Thirty-six per cent of retirees stated that they did not celebrate or mark their retirement with anything special. This is partially explained by the 40% of retirees that report they have continued to work after retiring. Luckily, the majority of retirees did celebrate with company parties (31%), parties thrown by family or friends (18%), taking a special trip or vacation (14%) or starting a new hobby (12%). One-in-seven retirees marked their retirement by meeting with their financial advisor.

More about Canadians in Their Retirement

1. According to a recently released Statistics Canada study, almost half of Canadian households spend more than their pretax income in a given year. That's up from 39 per cent in the early 1980s. From 1982 to 2001, the study found, per capita debt doubled, because of sharp increases in both mortgages and consumer debt.

2. 67 percent of Canadians say money is their most frequent worry.

3. Only 40 percent of Canadians know how many millions are in a billion.

4. Still worse, only 25 percent of Canadians know the difference between the National debt and National deficit.

5. According to Desjardins Financial security's latest retirement study, many Canadians are not prepared for the challenges retirement can bring. They are failing to consider a variety of factors and risks that can have an impact on the yield and longevity of their savings, such as inflation, rising life expectancies and healthcare costs. Nearly 60% of those surveyed are not concerned about having a large enough nest egg to sustain their standard of living in retirement. More than 80% have not eliminated their consumer debt in retirement and even more are not concerned about paying off their mortgages (88%). And more than half are not worried that inflation will erode their savings.

The Best Retirement Book in the World



Over 95,000 Copies Sold
Published in 7 Foreign Languages

Purchase How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Amazon.com before you submit your retirement letter with this direct link:

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Amazon.com

I received this e-mail from Arnie Allen the other day:

I am 68 years old and am looking forward to phasing into retirement. For
about the last year, I have been researching out information on the
transformation into the next chapter of my life. Much to my astonishment
(and as you point out) there is almost nothing written about the "how
to's"; but a significant quantity on the financial aspects of it.

I have talked to any number of sources including physiatrists (two) that
specialize in senior citizens (who in fact said if I find anything let them
know) to searching the internet. I initially found How to Retire Happy,
Wild and Free and was most impressed with something I could relate to and
get my teeth into. I searched for more info and though I have found any
number of other books - I have not found anything that effectively delves
into the transitional aspect as well as you do.

That leads me to the point of this e-mail - that I would like an opportunity to chat with you to discuss the possibility of making presentations to
audiences specifically along the basis of your book. I have been astounded to find there is so little assistance/guidance for people who wish to make
this transition and not have to re-invent the wheel. I became a recruiter because I enjoy helping and working with people - and my wife who was a teacher at one point is also interested in doing this.

I would very much appreciate it, if you could find some convenient time that I may call you to discuss this further.

I have attached my resume, so you can might relate to what I have done and possibly the qualifications I would hope I possess.

Regards,
Arnie Allen

This was my reply to Arnie Allen's e-mail:

Hello Arnie:

In reply to your e-mail, just to let you know that I don't have that much interest in getting involved with anyone in retirement seminars.

Although people may well need non-financial, transitional retirement seminars, most people don't think they need them.

That's where the problem begins. If you sell people what they want (even if they don't need what they want), you can make a fortune. If you try to sell people, what they need, you can go broke.

There are many personal retirement coaches that have been trained by two retirement institutes including the following:

http://www.retirementcoachinstitute.com/

http://www.careercoachinstitute.com/program-recommendations.htm

But from what I can gather from a teleseminar I did for a group of retirement coaches, not too many are making a good living, simply because most people don't think that they need guidance in the transitional aspects of retirement.

Having said that, three or four retirement seminar presenters have contacted me to let me know that they are recommending How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free to the seminar attendees at the few seminars that they give each year.

For the record, How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is self-published because even my publisher Ten Speed Press (along with 35 other American and British publishers) turned it down. Ten Speed Press, however, did agree to distribute it for me with their imprint on it. In the end, this turned out great for me because I now make about 4 or 5 times as much money as authors who have the major publishers publish retirement books for them.

In the mean time I am just concentrating on marketing of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on the Internet (with viral marketing such as the attached free E-book). I know that it is a good book and I intend to sell 500,000 copies eventually.

So long for now,

Ernie Zelinski
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 95,000 copies sold and published in 7 foreign languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 225,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

Over 95,000 Copies Sold
Published in 7 Foreign Languages

Purchase How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Amazon.com before you submit your retirement letter with this direct link:

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Amazon.com

Regardless of worries about funding a comfortable retirement or outliving their retirement savings, many full-time workers in various countries, including the United States, have taken few steps to plan for retirement, according to recent research studies by MetLife.

The studies found that more than eight out of 10 Mexican (81%) and Indian (80%) employees; more than half of Australian employees (58%) and more than one-quarter of U.K. employees (31%) have done no retirement planning independent of any mandatory government plans. In addition, nearly half of U.S. employees (46%) have not taken any steps to determine
income need in retirement.

In terms of retirement preparedness, the U.K. may be the most financially fit of the countries studied.

Indeed, 71% of U.K. workers surveyed say they have taken steps to determine their households' retirement needs and 69% have actually started to plan. Further, of those who have planned, more than half (59%) say they have either reached or are on track to reach their retirement savings goals. About one-third (34%) of U.K. employees are "concerned" about outliving retirement money, contrasted to 55% of U.S. workers.

Associated Links to The Retirement Quotes Cafe

teacher retirement jokes at The Retirement Jokes Café

retirement poem for school principal at The Retirement Poems Café

Aging and Retirement Quotes

An Unsolicited Testimonial for The World's Best Retirement Book from The Life Planning Network
A truly upbeat read! The author, who semi-retired at age 30 and in debt, claims you are never too young to retire. He paints a picture that is so appealing you will wish you had retired years ago. He hits topics such as lifelong learning, relocation, the importance of friendships, and creative travel options. His seven-page list of "activities for your get-a-life tree" will help you start and keep you active for a very long time.
- Life Planning Network

From the National Post
"To be sure, retirement books are a glutted field, but most focus on money and financial planning. They view the finish line as the last day of employment. That's where
How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free begins."
- Jonathan Chevreau, Retirement Columnist, National Post

From the Association of Retirement Planners
"How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is optimistic, practical,
humorous, and provocative AND comprehensively addresses the
many issues impacting individuals as they think about their retirement."
- Nancy Conroy, Association of Retirement Planners

From Life Unfolds, Houston, Texas
"Ernie has done it again. Easy to read, well laid out. Emphasis on simple living, and preparing for retirement long before you retire."
- Mary Anne Fields, Life Coach and Trainer of Life Unfolds, Houston, Texas

From The Strebel Planning Group, New York
"With a focus on the non-financial aspects of
retirement, How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free explores the myriad choices and decisions we're all confronted with in living out our lives. Such as, pondering the pros and cons of remaining at your present job; changing jobs or changing careers; taking an early retirement; delaying retirement; never retiring; or semi-retiring. Clearly, from Mr. Zelinski's point of view, staying in a less than satisfying job for the sake of some distant future payoff is enormously risky to the health and well being of your life. A mistake like that cannot be fixed since you cannot go back in time to change your decisions."
- The Strebel Planning Group, New York



OVER 95,000 Copies SOLD
PUBLISHED IN 7 FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Purchase How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Amazon.com before you submit your retirement letter with this direct link:

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free on Amazon.com



Visit one of Ernie Zelinski's Other Blogs:

Ernie Zelinski's Redroom Blog

Ernie Zelinski's Blog on Morgan James Publishing

Check Out The True Spirit of Mother's Day

Ernie Zelinski's Real Success on Savvify

Ernie Zelinski on You Publish

Like The Bible, The Joy of Not Working tells you everything you need to know to resolve your Life crisis, but doesn't exclude humor in its presentation. Check Chapter 7, "Lighting the Fire Rather than Being Warmed by It", pages 118-120, for a list of 200 activities for your consideration.
- Helga Roberts writing on AuthorsDen.com

Purchase The Joy of Not Working on BarnesandNoble.com with this direct link:

The Joy of Not Working on BarnesandNoble.com

Purchase The Joy of Not Working on Amazon.com with this direct link:

The Joy of Not Working on Amazon.com