Five Essentials of Holistic Retirement Strategies: Choose Thy Physician
You don’t have to watch much television to get a lot of advice for a secure retirement. Celebrities, such as Dennis Hopper and Robert Wagner, have become our retirement financial advisors. Indeed, there’s a plethora of advice for retirees, but it’s almost exclusively about financial planning. It is as if financial issues were the only matter to consider in retirement.
I have a close friend, a psychologist, with a successful practice in a fairly affluent community in Northern California. My friend has counseled numerous retired CEOs in the top five percent of our economic stratum. Although the recent stock market news is pretty alarming, these retired CEOs are so diversified in their wealth they will never have to worry if the Social Security office has their correct address. So why do these financially secure retirees need a psychologist? They should have everything they need for those “Golden Years”, right?
Although financial security is important, it doesn’t secure a sense of wellbeing or self-worth or fulfillment. Retirement is a “holistic” state of being and requires a holistic strategy. That is, planning for the best of your retirement years must consider the total health and wealth of you, a whole person with complex human needs.
There are five essential issues involved in a holistic strategy for fulfillment, self-worth, and fulfillment in retirement.
•Financial/Estate
•Physical/Health
•Environmental/Dwelling
•Social/Relational
•Emotional/Spiritual
Notice that the financial/estate issue appears first on my list. Certainly, there’s a very good argument that without financial security, or perhaps in absolute destitution, the remaining four issues may approach meaninglessness in the struggle to survive. That’s a realistic concession to its priority in the overall strategy, because all the financial security, even extraordinary wealth, is no guarantee that the remaining four issues will be equally fortified. My “mission” as a life coach is holistic. Consequently, my goal is to look at the larger picture, including the physical and health issues, the environmental and dwelling issues, the social and relational issues, and the emotional and spiritual issues.
There certainly are better expert resources than I to give specific financial advice. I’m not a financial advisor. Nonetheless, in a later chapter I will offer an outline and some thoughts on financial considerations, a kind of financial checklist, to consider with your financial advisor. In this chapter, I’d like to begin to focus on physical and health issues in retirement, and then follow with subsequent discussions of the remaining issues towards a complete strategy for fulfillment, joy, and prosperity in retirement.
Since most retirees are approaching or have qualified membership in the senior citizens club with full benefits including discounts at the movies and Hometown Buffet (Solicitations for membership to AARP begin at age 50!) the physical and health issues must be addressed within the context of the aging process. I am over 60, but I am not a gerontologist. And if you are in the beginning stages of planning your retirement, gerontology is likely not eagerly considered at this time in your life. But it is important to begin to think about, anticipate, and address the aging issue with regard to your medical care. For example, the more we age, the more important is our relationship with our primary care physician and the various supporting specialists. I needed neither an ophthalmologist nor an optometrist until I turned 40. That’s when it seemed my arms weren’t long enough to hold a map far enough away to read the fine print. And as my eyes have continued to age, I now have a favorite optometrist who examines my eyes once a year. In fact, I now have five doctors I see at least once a year: My primary care physician who specializes in cardio vascular health, an anti-aging specialist who focuses on my hormonal balance and body mass index, a dermatologist who regularly removes pre-cancers, an optometrist who keeps my prescription up to date, and a dentist who has, on occasion referred me to an oral surgeon.
Now, I am in good health for my age. My real age, according to Real Age. Com (www.realage.com) is somewhere around 47 years. (I didn’t reveal that I fly airplanes and ride a motorcycle.) But in the last fifteen years, I have had seven different primary care physicians, four of whom after implementation of HMOs quit their practices for more stable income on the California state payroll. The point is this, you may have a physician you admire and trust, but by the time you turn retirement age, your current physician may no longer be in practice, especially if that physician is your age or older.
As you age, most likely you will progressively need more of the services of a good primary care physician. But chances are, in retirement you will likely not have the same physician you have now, and you will likely have a growing list of specialists. If you are approaching retirement and you have a trustworthy and reliable primary care physician, you need to ask that physician how much longer he or she intends to remain in practice, and anticipate when you may be faced with looking for another.
Talk to your age-contemporary friends. Ask them about their primary care physicians. Are they happy with them? Are they getting good care? How old is their physician? How much longer will their physician remain in practice? Keep an eye on your local medical community and develop a list of the best doctors in your area likely to be in practice when you may need them in the future.
Of course, there is a lot of useful information on the web. There are sites that specifically address the issue of choosing a doctor for senior care. One of the most complete sites with links to many specific health issues is Medline Plus at www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/choosingadoctororhealthcareservice.html. A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, this site is one of the most complete sources for help in evaluating and finding the best physician for you and your specific needs.
I highly recommend that you select a doctor that practices a holistic approach to care with an emphasis on preventative medicine and healthy lifestyle. The more you address your aging process ahead of the game, the less you will need that long list of specialists down the road of retirement. Without physical prosperity, plagued by unattended health issues, your sense of wellbeing and your financial security may be seriously compromised in retirement. The idea is to live long and well. Poor physical health can not only threaten your longevity and wellbeing, but also your financial security. Plan ahead and pro-actively take care of your health through healthy preventive life-style and health care measures.