Your Retirement Wealth Is Where Your Friends Are

A study (titled It’s My Turn Now) conducted by the Simon Fraser Gerontology Research Centre in Burnaby, B.C., found that the happiest seniors tend to be those who are experiencing community involvement. They belong to an active community of peers found in such places as churches, clubs, or housing communities. Study director Veronica Doyle concluded, “It isn ’t how often you see your kids — it ’s how many places in the world you are a somebody.”

For most retirees,making and maintaining great friendships are keys to creating a new sense of community that translates into social,emotional,and physical well-being. Several research studies conclude that people who have intimate relationships with others live happier,healthier,and longer. On the other hand,lonely people who have few or no friends stand a greater chance of becoming ill and dying an early death.

Titus Maccius Plautus,the Roman playwright whose works influenced Shakespeare and Molière, proclaimed, “Your wealth is where your friends are.” Put another way,,the more people who truly care whether you get up in the morning,the richer you will feel.You will find this particularly true when you retire. Regardless of how much wealth you have acquired, you cannot expect to have a great retirement if you do not have great friends. To be sure, the worst poverty is to be without any friends.

Friendship Quotes at The Friendship Cafe