Today we continue our coverage of the great retirement book What the Happiest Retirees Know: 10 Habits for a Healthy, Secure, and Joyful Life. It is packed full of solid information and statistics about the state of retirement today.
In this post, we’ll be discussing chapter 2 which covers the characteristics of unhappy retirees, or UROBs, as the author calls the unhappiest retirees on the block. As we get deeper into the book we’ll highlight the traits of happy retirees (HROBs — happiest retirees on the block) in depth, but before we do that, it’s helpful to see what the unhappy ones do. If we can avoid their habits and pick up ones from happy retirees, that’s a win-win.
If your career starts to become who you are (versus what you do), then who are you when you leave that career? That’s the issue so many people face — especially high-powered, successful individuals like lawyers, doctors, and business executives.
I love this one (though it seems strange to me for reasons I’ll state later). Let’s first share what the author has found and some of his thoughts on this issue: My research showed that the number one luxury brand for unhappy retirees was BMW.
The summary: There is a big difference between being actively involved in your investment portfolio and taking on a second career as a stock trader. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a good idea to spend time with your finances, and you certainly want to have at least a base level of financial literacy.