Retirees - How do you stay Mentally Sharp?

[RonBoyd]

I've given Facebook my best shot, but I have to tell ya...it bores me to death.

+1

 

[haha]

I think it is hard to tell if one is "staying sharp". I do a few things, for interest and also I do hope that they might preserve a few brain cells.

Argentine tango is one- it is a pretty heavy challenge- balance, remembering the steps, learning the music such that one's dance is well fitted to a song, remembering a lot of people's names. It takes a lot of concentration to keep track of where your partner’s body is- what foot her weight is on, whether she has had time to fully complete the previous movement, and in the case of my partner, helping her to stay with the pulse. She grew up in Sweden dancing hambo, and while that may make a great hambo dancer it seems to predispose toward enthusiasm and energy expenditure, rather than close attention to the music. Tango is bit like a free form ballet. The lead also has to keep is eye on the other dancers, to avoid being crashed into or crashing into other dancers.

Learning Spanish is another. I spend probably two hours daily on this Spanish, project. And maybe 6-8 hours/week dancing.

And portfolio managing since I use individual stocks and I do not solely buy and hold with a fixed allocation plan.

I also walk a great deal, up and down hills. My car is getting close to 5 years old and I only have ~26,000 miles on the odometer.

I do think that I will work harder when I am being held to a standard, so it isn’t nearly as demanding as work or even university.

Ha

 

[TromboneAl]

I think it is hard to tell if one is "staying sharp".

Me too. There are times when I think I'm sharper than ever and others when I think I'm losing. The latter occurs when I watch an entire movie before realizing that I've seen it before.

 

[ksr]

Learning Spanish is another. I spend probably two hours daily on this Spanish, project. And maybe 6-8 hours/week dancing.
Ha

How are you working on learning Spanish? I spent 6 years learning Spanish in school (years ago) and was close to fluent. One of my goals is to at least refresh some of my Spanish. I've read that it can be helpful to watch Spanish TV. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Nords]

The latter occurs when I watch an entire movie before realizing that I've seen it before.

That happens to me with books.

Now I keep a list of what I read. It's a big list but it's easily searched and it's a time-saver.

 

[mf15]

For the next few months still working as a independent contractor, at old company, but that will end soon if the guy they are trying to hire full time takes the job.
Have two year old granddaughter, 600 miles away but I take a great interest in her.
Otherwise sit on my butt and watch CNBC, and plot how to make money in the market but not loose any,which may be a fruitless passtime.
Old Mike

 

[Goonie]

I've given Facebook my best shot, but I have to tell ya...it bores me to death.

I keep up with my far-flung friends and family with FB, and a few that are nearby but are more or less shut-ins, or work odd hours. I also have some 'feeds' that pertain to my hobbies and interests, that usually make me shift my brain into gear and think.

I check things shortly after getting up in the morning while I listen to the news, then again in the afternoon when I go for my coffee run, and usually late in the evening before bedtime. Usually less than an hour total per day.....unless I get in a conversation with someone, or dig around for more info on something that I read in one of the 'feeds'. Plus it's almost always on my iPhone, so I can be out & about, and I'm not glued in front of the PC in the house.

 

[vicente solano]

I keep trying to improve my English by reading novels, listening to audiobooks, posting here..... I know it´s not nearly enough, but....

 

[audreyh1]

How are you working on learning Spanish? I spent 6 years learning Spanish in school (years ago) and was close to fluent. One of my goals is to at least refresh some of my Spanish. I've read that it can be helpful to watch Spanish TV. Any thoughts on this?

That's my main thing these days. I've been watching the evening programming on Telemundo. I have the captions (in Spanish) turned on which helps when they use a word you don't know. I think it is helping my hearing comprehension a great deal plus broadening my vocabulary. But you probably have to be fairly advanced Spanish speaker for this to work - otherwise it could get frustrating.

In other words — it's a great thing to do for your Spanish.

Audrey

 

[jayc]

I spent the first 6 months putting chicken wire around anything that did not move. Time consuming but worth it. DW would come home from work and ask why. My response: Are you crazy? Chicken wire would never hold anything that moves except chickens, and we don't have any chickens.

 

[DayDreaming]

Besides all of the mental activities already mentioned, I think that exercise is very important - being physically active helps keep you mentally sharp.

 

[CuppaJoe]

I've given Facebook my best shot, but I have to tell ya...it bores me to death.

I'm keeping my FB account just until a meeting is done at the end of the month. Then I may keep my mind alert by figuring out how to cancel the account.

 

[frayne]

Besides all of the mental activities already mentioned, I think that exercise is very important - being physically active helps keep you mentally sharp.

+1

Read, play music and learn a new song every week, golf, take classes and work part time during tax season.

 

[inkitnow]

I just retired and am not bored in the least. I do yoga 3 times a week, take classes, read (I'm in a book club), walk and "play" online. Oh yes, I also watch Indy and foreign films that I get on Netflix.

Right now, living in IL. Plan to move to FL where I will add 2 nine hole rounds of golf to my weekly schedule and a bird watching trek or two. Ain't life grand?

 

[HFWR]

...........and it is practically legal in some states, now.

It's illegal?

 

[travelover]

It's illegal?

Oh.................never mind.

 

[BUM]

Manhattans at 4 and stimulating repartee with DW.

 

[HFWR]

Oh.................never mind.

What was the question again?

Yesterday, the contractors finished drywall repairs and painting in my LR, thus ending about nine months of remodeling. Totally new kitchen, including widening the doorway to make the K/DR one big room. Ceramic tile everywhere except the bedrooms; "engineered" wood in those. All walls and ceilings painted. New roof. Chimney torn down and rebuilt. Looking good! Damned well better, with all the expense, work, and disruption to my lazy lifestyle. The house is now worth about what Zillow says it's worth...

 

[W2R]

The house is now worth about what Zillow says it's worth...

Zillow is so far off here it's ridiculous. Their values are commonly nearly half again what houses actually sell for. The selling prices are listed in the newspaper so it's not hard to check.

Glad you have your house all fixed up, and I hope that doesn't set ER back too far for you.

 

[haha]

Yesterday, the contractors finished drywall repairs and painting in my LR, thus ending about nine months of remodeling. Totally new kitchen, including widening the doorway to make the K/DR one big room. Ceramic tile everywhere except the bedrooms; "engineered" wood in those. All walls and ceilings painted. New roof. Chimney torn down and rebuilt. Looking good! Damned well better, with all the expense, work, and disruption to my lazy lifestyle. The house is now worth about what Zillow says it's worth...

Congrats HFWR. I hope you will post some pictures.

Ha

 

[NW-Bound]

I stay sharp by constantly seeking the answer to the ultimate question: "Buy, hold, or sell".

Still have not figured that one out, so that quest should last me the rest of my life.

 

[Lsbcal]

Zillow is so far off here it's ridiculous. Their values are commonly nearly half again what houses actually sell for. The selling prices are listed in the newspaper so it's not hard to check. ...

Hi W2R, I'm glad you said that about Zillow. I rarely look at it but checked out our house a week ago and it was down substantially from a year ago. But houses around our neighborhood sell very infrequently and the house that sold around 8mo or so ago was about 20% higher then the quote on our house now. Our house is probably better situated with wonderful views the other house doesn't have (but they have a pool). Not sure what to make of this but we're not planning on selling for at least a decade, So it's just a curiosity.

 

[HFWR]

A few crappy iphone photos. Most of the house had carpet, a rather unsightly jade green. Bedrooms now have "hardwood". Tile in the kitchen and dining room are also in the entry, hall, and laundry areas. Doorway between the K and DR used to be a 32" opening, now more or less doubled. Living room wall above the fireplace had been damaged by a leak around the chimney. Removed paneling, rebuilt fireplace surround/mantle, and painted, rather than replacing the panels, and trying to match colors. Kitchen used to be a standard, builder-grade cabinet set, with formica contertop and backsplash, old, non-matching appliances, and green indoor/outdoor carpet.

 

[HFWR]

Zillow is so far off here it's ridiculous. Their values are commonly nearly half again what houses actually sell for. The selling prices are listed in the newspaper so it's not hard to check.

Glad you have your house all fixed up, and I hope that doesn't set ER back too far for you.

I used my emergency fund, built up when the 2007 layoff was announced, which was languishing in a 0.3% MM. Shouldn't affect ER much, though I'm trying to rebuild the emergency fund to at least 6 mos. expenses again.

 

[bbbamI]

Your house looks very nice.....congrats HFWR.

I think I'm done with mine...for a while anyway.