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There is no reason your later years can't be the best ones of your life

The following are some tips on ageing gracefully, complied by the Singapore Action Group of Elders - a voluntary welfare organisation, and the Committee on the Aged.

          Keep Fit And Active

Avoid stress. Retirement is most stressful for workaholics. Make sure you have an interest or hobby early on, and exercise regularly.
Have an adequate and balanced diet. A good diet equals good health. Get enough of the main food types such as protein, fibre and carbohydrates. Avoid too much fatty and sweet food. Women should make sure they have enough calcium.

          Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle

Do not smoke or consume excessive amounts of alcohol.
Exercise regularly.
Go for regular medical check-ups.
Take care of your eyes. Impairment of any of these will reduce the quality of your life.
Lead an active social life. Participate in activities for retirees. Travel to see and experience interesting places, peoples and cultures.
Take extra care in daily activities. Make sure your home is safe, well-lit and has non-slip floors. Be careful when climbing stairs.
If you can, continue to work full or part time. This will keep your mind active, supplement your income and help you continue to meet people professionally and socially.
Have a positive mental attitude. Stay close to your family members and friends and continue to enjoy a fulfilling sex life with your spouse.
Make good use of your time. Take up or continue a hobby. Chess, playing a musical instrument, painting, pottery, ballroom dancing, keeping pets or plants, or even volunteer your skills or services with a social welfare agency.

          Nurturing Good Relationships

With your family: Relationships with your family, friends and other people who care about you are important as you get older.
Your spouse, like you, will be ageing too, so it is important to be understanding and supportive of one another. Plan to enjoy quality time together by having common hobbies and interests.
You play a large part in how your children relate to you later in life. Start when they are young by cultivating open communication with them.
As they grow older, learn to respect the decisions they make and give advice only when asked. If they do not do as you have advised, do not take it personally.
You have given them the benefit of another perspective and have contributed to their decision-making process.
Understand that your adult children, like yourself when you were young, have competing and sometimes conflicting demands on their time. Try to be more appreciative of their efforts to look after you. They will feel encouraged.
If you have to, live with the child you get along with best. Remember to give them and their family their own time and space.
Your grandchildren can learn good values and behaviour from you. Support your adult children in their parenting efforts, but remember they are the parents and are ultimately responsible for their own decisions.
Develop close relations with your siblings from young. You will find these family bonds becoming increasingly more important as time passes.
With your friends: This social network can be developed by keeping in touch, showing concern and offering help wherever necessary.
Make friends in your neighbourhood as well. These people can be a vital support system in times of need.

          Financial Planning

Make sure you have some money set aside to give you an assured income.
Set aside some funds for investment to increase your savings.
Your CPF savings cover your old-age needs, health care, home ownership, family protection and asset enhancement.
A person can enjoy a modest standard of living after retirement with enough savings in the Ordinary and Retirement Account.
If you continue to work after retirement and your employer makes monthly contributions to your CPF account, you will also have to contribute your share but at a decreasing rate.
If your spouse or children have at least twice the Minimum Sum in their CPF accounts, they can top up your account with their CPF.
You can use part of your CPF to invest in approved investment schemes.
Certain banks offer a variety of investment schemes which provide preferential interest rates in fixed deposit accounts, as well as other benefits for the elderly.
Elderly persons who are unable to support themselves can claim maintenance from their children who are financially able to support them but are not doing so, through the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents.

The following is an extract of the six key points on growing old by Professor Tommy Koh, Singapore's ambassador-at-large and executive director of the Asia-Europe Foundation.

Get Healthy

We should do some form of physical exercise every day. I exercise seven days a week. This could take many forms: walking, swimming, jogging, biking, yoga, taiji, qigong, etc.

We should also eat a healthy diet. We should eat more vegetables, fish, beancurd, white meat and fruits and less red meat and fatty food. Singaporean should also eat less. We have the bad habit of overeating.

Think Healthy

The new medical wisdom is that the mind and the body form an integral whole.

A person could have strong cardio-vascular health or strong heart and lungs and still get sick. The reason is that stress could knock out a person's auto-immune system.

A healthy mind is therefore just as important as a healthy body. The management of stress is therefore very important. Different persons have found relief from stress through mediation, prayer, music, etc.

Switch On, Not Off

Keep your mind active. Many retirees and senior citizens make the mistake of switching off their minds.

This is a grave error because when you stop exercising your mind, your cognitive power will decline, your memory will diminish, your interest in life will dissipate and your mind will begin to vegetate.

My advice is never to stop learning. Read widely. Join extra-mural courses and hobbies. The saying that old dogs can't learn new tricks is not true. I am learning yoga and Chinese calligraphy in my old age.

Relax, Be Happy

Try to be happy and achieve peace of mind and contentment. Liberate yourself from the evils of greed and envy. Neither money nor power can buy happiness or peace of mind.

Do not be envious of your friends who are richer or more powerful than you are. Be happy for them.

Develop a positive mindset and try to see th3 positive side of people and situations..

Be optimistic. Conquer your irrational pessimism, phobias and anxieties. Develop the virtue of courage in adversity.

Rejoice in the many blessings which life has presented to each of us. Count your blessings instead of your deprivations. When you are a happy person, you will bring sunshine into the lives of people around you.

Go On, Volunteer

Be a volunteer. As a senior citizen or retiree, you do not have the excuse of saying that you do not have the time.

In addition, with your experience, wisdom and maturity, you have much to contribute.

There are so many good causes at home and abroad which need volunteers. I exhort you to consider joining RSVP as a volunteer. Why should you do it? It is good for your self-esteem and morale.

One of the biggest problem faced by retirees is a sense of loss and self-esteem. You will enjoy the experience. You can make a difference to the life of another person. You can strengthen the institutions in our civil society.

It will also enable you to make a positive contribution to making Singapore and the world a better place.

We should all aspire to leave the world a little better than we were born into.

Live Life Well

.... Ageing is a natural process. We should accept ageing gracefully. We should also not fear the prospect of death.

I urge our senior citizens to consider making a living will or an "advanced medical directive". We should avoid making ourselves a burden to our family or society.

I also urge our senior citizens to become organ donors. It would be wonderful if we could, in our death, give it a new lease of life to others.

If we have lived our lives well, we should face the prospect of death with equanimity.

Exercise Your Mind By Playing Chess or Go

One of the best ways to exercise your mind is to play Chess or Go.

Don't know how to play Chess or Go?

I don't either. But I have found an interesting site where you can learn to play the Chess or Go.

Check it out

Learn To Play Chess

Virtual Chess Coach

How To Play Go