Mary Ann
When people used to retire, they were given a gold watch for their many years of service to their place of employment. Many people today don’t even wear a watch anymore. They use their phones to tell time. In the end, a watch is not really a very good way to celebrate someone’s life’s work. So, what is?
We live longer now so retirement can go on for a very long time. People see retirement as another chapter in their lives rather than an end. What would be a better gift than a gold watch? We want to wish the retiree good health, wealth, and happiness. Now, how do you do that exactly?
My friend, Lisa, and I started a nonfiction book club when Covid started, and we explored a variety of subjects over the next four years. We talk every Saturday about the reading assignments. We have read over 60 books and have gained so much insight and knowledge from them. From our reading, we have found books that focused on health, wealth, and happiness, and the following books are our all-star favorites that will give any retiree many nuggets of wisdom for their golden years.
Health – AARP has an excellent book on health called The Whole Body Reset by Stephen Perrine. It is about living a healthy life rather than just a diet. It is simple and a good guide to eating better in your senior years.
Wealth – Jane Bryant Quinn’s How to Make Your Money Last, the Indispensable Retirement Guide is the bible for financial planning both before and after retirement. Quinn has authored several books on finance and is an expert in her field. My book is dogeared and underlined throughout. It is a book that I constantly refer to for financial advice. I have gifted this book to both the young and old over the years, and it is always appreciated.
Happiness – Julia Cameron is a writer who focuses on creativity. She is most famous for The Artist’s Way. However, she has written a book for those who are retiring and how to live a more creative, fulfilling life. It is Never too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond. This a book that can help a retiree to gain meaning for a happier life in retirement.
These books are so helpful, useful, and good reads. All you need now is to wrap them up and give them to the retirees in your life. I would tell them that each book represents good wishes for health, wealth, and happiness. I put tags on each wrapped book explaining just that. These books are worth more in gold than any watch could ever be. They would be a good gift to give yourself, and don’t we all want to live a life of better health, more secure wealth, and new opportunities of happiness in our own golden years.
Silver Sage Sisters 