By Rita R. Robison, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

As the dreary weather in the Pacific Northwest drags into spring, I’m thinking about retiring somewhere where it’s warm.

Is it a good idea to leave your community when you retire? How do you go about making the decision?

About a quarter of baby boomers think they’ll move from their homes in the future, an AARP study shows.

Here are some things to consider if you think you want to select another community for retirement:

• Where your children live. You may want to move to be near your family. However, if you live near your children now, it could be more difficult for them to help you as you grow older if you move away.

• Where you grew up. You may want to move back to where you were raised. A number of my Chelan High School classmates are moving back to Chelan, Wash., home of the lovely Lake Chelan, to retire.

• Costs of retirement. It’s important to gather information on the costs of living in your prospective retirement cities and compare it to where you currently live. If you live in a high-cost area, you may be able to find a community where you’d pay lower taxes and less for maintenance and utilities. I’d like to live near Santa Barbara, Calif., but it’s expensive to live near the coast in Northern California.

• Downsizing. You’ll need to find out if the cities you’re considering have less costly homes. You’ll probably want to find a smaller one that will require less care and upkeep.

• Quality of Life. An attractive, pleasant community that’s easy to get around in will help to enhance your retirement. You’ll also want to gather information about the air quality, crime rates, and other quality of life factors.

• The weather. It’s easier these days to do research on the Internet about climate. You also will be able to check out the weather when you visit.

• Colleges and educational opportunities for adults. If the city has a college, you’ll be able to have opportunities to hear well-known speakers and musicians, as well as take classes for older adults.

• Medical care. When you visit, be sure to ask local people about the quality of the medical care in the area. Databases, such as Hospital Compare and AARP’s Top 125 Hospitals, offer information on hospitals.

• Cultural activities. If you love museums and historical buildings, include finding out about these facilities as part of your research.

• Recreational activities. Parks and trails for walking and bicycling, health clubs for exercising, and lakes and streams for fishing and boating may be among the recreational facilities you’d like to enjoy in your new community.

• Social opportunities. If you enjoy belonging to clubs and other organizations, make sure that your new city will provide these opportunities.

Here are resources to help you with your decision making on finding the right retirement community for you:

“The 20 Cities Where the Most Baby Boomers Will Retire” – U.S. News and World Report

“Where to Find the Cheapest Places to Retire” – Great Retirement Places

“Best Places for Baby Boomers to Thrive in U.S.” – The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

“The Dream of Retiring Where It’s Warm in the U.S.” – The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

“The Dream of Retiring Where It’s Warm Abroad” – The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

“15 Great Places to Reinvent Your Life” – AARP

“Benefits of Downsizing and Relocation” – New Retirement

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Stress and depression, both have been linked with diabetes and heart disease. Understanding these two factors can actually help our doctor formulate a suitable treatment plan. So, it is important that we share this with our health care provider even if they forget to ask. Any kind of stress or depression can lead to more complications, if left untreated.

Stress causes release of some hormones which can further lead to elevated blood glucose levels. When the blood glucose levels increase and if there is not enough insulin being produced by the body or if the insulin is not working properly, then this results in excessive glucose in the blood, which can ultimately lead to development of diabetes.

Stress can come from many sources, including stress from one’s occupation, job strain especially in this economy as we are going through recession; many of us are losing jobs, homes, which is very sad and unfortunate. So, this stress can cause increased production of a stress hormone called cortisol, which then makes the liver produce more glucose, which means more glucose in blood and less usage of glucose by the tissues, less insulin production by our pancreas, thereby causing a condition called insulin resistance. This insulin resistance can finally lead to diabetes and/ or heart disease.

It is extremely important to maintain blood glucose levels, especially in diabetics and this can be done through stress management training. Sharing the cause of stress with the primary care doctor, family or friends is always helpful. Sometimes, social support can reduce the stress and this way it can reduce the risk of heart disease.

Similarly, depression causes several changes in our hormones thereby leading to a hormone imbalance, can decrease body’s immunity; can affect changes in bone metabolism; and can cause cardiovascular dysfunction. This can result in decreased quality of life. People living under any kind of depression are at higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes or heart disease.

What should be done to avoid becoming a victim of conditions like stress and depression?

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Every week the “experts” are adding new foods to the list of what we must eat for health benefits; or taking away our favorites by telling us that this month they might make us sick. Its no wonder most of us hear a term like super-foods and throw our hands up in exhaustion. Can’t they just make it simple for us? I have good news; it’s not as complicated as it may seem. Food is the fuel our bodies need to run; the more premium the fuel, the better the body will work. It’s as simple as that. Eating the right foods, like super-foods can help ward off the typical wear and tear that comes along with aging and prevent future damage.
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By Rita R. Robison, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Guest Blogger

Baby boomers like being green. More than half of all baby boomers in the United States, about 40 million, are “green boomers.”

Green boomers say they feel a responsibility to make the world a better place, an AARP survey found. They buy environmentally safe brands and watch less television.

Since I write often in my boomer consumer blogs about green topics, I thought I’d take a trip to the Seattle Green Festival last weekend to see what I could find out that would be of interest to baby boomers.

David Korten inspires with new economy views and call to action

David Korten, author of “Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth,” spoke about changing the economic system in America.

Korten thinks the phantom wealth created by Wall Street needs to be replaced with real wealth. Real wealth, he says, is based on real values such as education, land, love, happy, healthy children, satisfying jobs, a sense of worth, a healthy environment, and peace.

Korten, cofounder of the Positive Futures Network which publishes Yes! Magazine, calls for shutting down Wall Street. He urges people to take to the streets to demonstrate against Wall Street.

Korten believes the focus in the new economy needs to be on Main Street, which can provide green jobs and sound environmental practices.

Reading Korten’s book and subscribing to Yes! Magazine are two ways boomers can learn more about green happenings and action opportunities.

Alice Waters, regional food movement leader, works for healthier school food

World-famous chef Alice Waters, owner of the Berkeley, Calif., restaurant Chez Panisse, took part in a panel discussion at the festival with Chris Taylor, director of the documentary movie “Food Fight: Revolution Never Tasted So Good.”

Waters is one of the leaders of the regional food movement, with an emphasis on organic, locally grown food, which sprang up in Northern California in the early 1970s.

“Food Fight” chronicles the development of movement and the role of Waters and others in launching and sustaining it.

I recommend the documentary. It’s inspiring.

Waters is one of the national leaders in the Edible Education in the schools movement. In the program, children grow food in gardens at school and school cafeterias serve local, nutritious, organic food.

Edible Education addresses the issues of childhood hunger and obesity, she says.

See The Edible Schoolyard for information to help you plan a garden or kitchen program in your school.

Alex Steffen sees a bright, green future

Alex Steffen, executive editor and cofounder of Worldchanging.com, threw out dozens of ideas to a green festival audience during his talk.

Steffen tracks what’s going on in green innovations and writes essays on the possibilities for the future.

Four billion people in poverty have seen the American lifestyle on television, and they want to climb up into the middle class.

While the poor are “getting rich,” our job is to reinvent what “rich” means, Steffen says. Americans need to consume less of the world’s resources, reduce their impact on the earth, and develop a restorative economy.

Steffen is editor of a popular book, “Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century.” Others at the festival referred to the 600-page book of writings from more than 60 leaders around the world as an importance reference. Check it out if you think it may meet your green thinking and action needs.

The Global Exchange and Green America, formerly Co-op America, sponsor the Seattle Green Festival.

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