As You Grow Older Live Independently

Do you remember the feeling you had when you moved out of your childhood home and lived by yourself for the very first time? Everyone experiences a similar mix of fear and excitement; it can be scary taking this first step of complete independence but it is also thrilling. You are now in charge of yourself and you can make your own rules! It is wonderful! As we grow older, however, we might reach an age when living on our own becomes difficult and even dangerous. Our bodies are no longer as strong as they once were and just missing one step on the staircase might result in a broken hip.
Look into walk in bathtubs. The bathroom is one of the most dangerous places for someone to be when he or she grows older. If you need to lower yourself into the tub or swing your legs up over the side, you risk injuring yourself badly. These special tubs are great because the have a convenient door that opens up but also creates a watertight seal when closed. Most even have a seat inside so you do not even need to lower yourself to the bottom of the step-in tub and risk slipping. You can even get a walk in whirlpool tub for extra luxury. Adding handles to the sides of the tub and near the toilet is another way to make your bathroom a safer place.

Retirement Fund How to Create

The first step toRetirement is to decide how long you want to be an investor for. Many articles I read think 5 years is a long term investor. I believe if you are going to create a proper retirement fund it would be optimal to have 15 - 25 years a head of you before you reach retirement age. This amount of time will really allow you to take advantage of the many benefits a retirement fund has to offer. To maximize the benefits, one must believe they are going to be an investor for the remainder of their life.

Now that you realize investing is for your lifetime, let me give you one great way to create this retirement fund. Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) or saving a part of what you earn. This concept is based on the idea that you take part of each pay cheque you receive and put it towards a purchase in your new retirement fund.

Once you do start, a couple of neat little things will happen. New investors hope the share price will increase. I know this is exciting for a new investor to open an account statement and see the fund grow in value beyond their contributions. The second little thing that happens is when a new investor receives a transaction statement. The most consistent part of an investors retirement fund is the dollar amount contributed. What a new investor will realize from the transaction statement is while they were saving a part of what they earned and putting it in their retirement fund. The fund shares grew in value creating gains, but a closer analysis shows as the share price grew you purchased less and less shares with each transaction. A decline in share value will allow you to purchase more shares for the same dollar amount.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Being happy and positive in general is a preferable stance toward life, better for our health, creativity and longevity, according to many experts.

A recent ABC 20/20 program [The 'Fear Industrial Complex'] had numerous examples of how the media "provides the public with no shortage of things to fear. The message is clear: the world is a scary place, and you should be worried."

But as the program explained, so many of those fears are really unfounded. "We often worry about things that... are not very dangerous, but which seem it. And the reason they seem it is because of... the media who show images and tell stories about terrible, terrible things that happen," said Stephen Dubner, co-author of "Freakonomics."

Psychiatrist Judith Orloff, M.D. [author of "Positive Energy"] warns, "Fear is the biggest energy thief there is. A master seducer and gigantic source of negative energy, fear shamelessly robs of us of everything good and powerful, preys on our vulnerabilities.

Encouraging a New Generation

If your community has a green space or green corridor, take your children on a hike. The fresh air the beauty of the woods surrounding the trail will fill you and your children with a sense of adventure. It may lead to an appreciation of our ancestors as they trekked across the wilderness to establish roots where the family now lives.

One way to accomplish this goal would be to purposely plan vacations in which the family camps out. State and National Parks provide a way in which a family can drive up to a campsite with their gear and have an enjoyable time "in the woods". If you are not sure that the family can endure a week or two living in such a way, then try a weekend campout at a nearby state or regional park.