Here’s an excerpt from the book ‘Safe 4 Retirement: The 4 Keys to a Safe Retirement‘ in an early section on the Second Key: Health and Wellness -
“All right, we’ve gone to our checkup and received either a good or a bad or a “need to improve” report card. No matter what report you got back from your doctor, you need to take the next step: focus on your health.
If the doctor gave you an A-plus on your health report card, you need to keep up the good work and maintain your health. If your report was less than positive, it’s time to take a deep breath and understand that you need to take the steps necessary to restore your health.
Either way, this is the time to understand that in retirement, we all need to consider our health as our primary concern and realize that there are realities, solutions, and tools available to us to restore and maintain our health.”
Within this Second Key are the following chapters:
Second Key: Health and Wellness
Chapter 9: How to Assess Your Health
Chapter 10: How to Restore and Maintain Your Health
Chapter 11: How to Deal With an Older Body
Chapter 12: How to Eat Well
Chapter 13: How to Understand Your Health Care Options
Chapter 14: How to Keep Up to Date
Another excerpt from an early part of this section:
“One of vital aspects to identifying where you are healthwise is understanding what to look for in the first place. This doesn’t mean you should fixate on every ache and pain or gluing yourself to the Internet to find out which syndrome or disorder you might have. It means educating yourself and learning what people typically experience as they age. What might you, specifically, based on your lifestyle and family history be susceptible to?
Some conditions, like high blood pressure, have few symptoms. Fortunately, your doctor will most likely take this measurement each time you meet. Studies show approximately 50% of people between the ages of 65 and 74 are affected by high blood pressure.
Even more likely for retirees than high blood pressure is arthritis. In the same age span, from 65 to 74, over 60% of people will develop this disease. Over the age of 85, more than 70% will experience arthritic aches and pains.
And while we’re talking about statistics, cancer affects approximately 15% of people between the ages of 65 to 74, with diabetes up nearer 20%.
Again, the point is not to scare anyone but to have a realistic idea of what occurs as we age. Many of these illnesses are treatable, and as science progresses, even more will be treatable in the future. The good news is that these diseases are more treatable than they were in our parents’ days in retirement.“
