Those of us still slogging away at our jobs — maybe working from home, or perhaps beginning our return to the shop — like to dream of a future beyond work, where we’re retired and able to do whatever we want.

But if “doing what we want” is zoning out, drinking coffee, and watching movies from the couch, there could be problems lurking ahead. Save with SPP took a look around to find out what people are saying about the dangers of inactivity in retirement.

According to information from the World Health Organization, cited by the Step2Health blog, physical inactivity is pretty widespread. “Sixty to 85 per cent of people globally lead a sedentary lifestyle,” the blog reports.

“Studies show that sedentary behavior, particularly in the elderly, is detrimental to their health. Medical experts believe that older people sitting too much or spending extended periods in bed are more prone to the risks of chronic health problems such as heart diseases, diabetes, obesity, and even cancer,” the blog notes.

In the U.S., the Center for a Secure Retirement also concludes that “long periods of inactivity are bad for our health.”

“Retirees are particularly vulnerable to sedentary behavior. Retirement is associated with a 10 per cent decrease in moderate to vigorous physical activity and a 13 to 29 per cent increase in TV watching, according to a 2018 study from the National Institute of Health,” the Center notes.

The Center recommends that seniors “take a five minute walk every two hours,” or “stand and march in place during commercials while watching TV.” Another bit of advice is to “walk around, pacing, while you are on the phone” and to “do pushups against the wall while waiting for the oven to heat up or the microwave to finish cooking.”

The BBC also takes the view that an inactive retirement can have negative impacts on both your physical and mental health.

“Research from the Institute of Economic Affairs suggests that while retirement may initially benefit health — by reducing stress and creating time for other activities — adverse effects increase the longer retirement goes on,” reports the BBC.

“It found retirement increases the chances of suffering from clinical depression by around 40 per cent and of having at least one diagnosed physical illness by 60 per cent,” the article continues.

It’s inactivity that can be a chief cause of these problems, the BBC report explains.

“It may be there is no imperative to get up and out of the house, as there was when there was a daily journey to work,” the article notes. “Or it may be that a health problem has meant someone cannot – or does not want to – get out and about.”

An antidote, the network adds, is physical activity.

“Age UK runs a programme called Fit as a Fiddle, which encourages older people to keep physically active — as well as to eat healthily and look after their mental health,” reports the broadcaster. “Simply walking can offer great benefits, including boosting your mood, as can gentle exercise classes.”

Let’s recap. If you decide to spend your retirement sitting around at home, your physical health can decline, and the isolation may impact your mental health. Even light activity can help prevent these problems.

So it’s probably an important part of your retirement plan to think of what you’ll do to keep active after you log out for the last time. Consider taking a dance class, or painting lessons, or volunteering, just to get you out of the house and moving around. Your future you will be glad you thought about this.

And your future you will be pleased if you’ve chosen the Saskatchewan Pension Plan to help you save up for life after work. SPP has been helping Canadians save for retirement for more than 35 years. Let SPP do the heavy lifting of investing your nest egg — via a pooled fund and low management costs — so that you’ll enjoy a nice, extra income stream when you hang up your name tag for the last time.

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

If you are about to leave work behind and start a new life as a retiree – and haven’t really thought about what your new life will look like, The Retirement Handbook by Ted Heybridge is the book for you.

This book is not about the money side of things. Instead, the focus is on you – ideas about how you can be active, eat well, and enjoy life.

Retirement, Heybridge begins, “is your time to spend as you choose, so it’s up to you to decide how much time you wish to devote to volunteering, meeting friends, exercising, gardening or minding grandchildren.”

Exercising and being active is a key consideration, he writes. “Only one in seven 65-74-year-olds and one in 14 over 75s meet World Health Organization guidelines for recommended physical activity,” he notes. That’s 2.5 hours of “moderate aerobic physical activity per week,” and he encouragingly notes that “any activity, no matter how light, is better than none.”

Cycling, he writes, “gets you out, relieves stress, and makes you feel great.” Sixty-three per cent of Copenhagen residents commute to work or school by bike, he notes, adding that “the health benefits of cycling outweigh the injury risks by 20:1.”

Other great activities listed in the book including dancing, running, yoga, swimming, and getting to the gym.

In the section of the book on healthy eating, Heybridge talks about the importance of hydration. Women should have 2.2 litres of water each day, for men it is 3 litres. “If we forget to keep our fluids up, we become dehydrated, which can lead to fatigue and poor concentration,” he warns.

Other advice in this section includes cutting back on sugar, the many advantages of “plant power” in your diet, and useful strategies for cutting back on alcohol.

While saving for retirement and pension plans aren’t expressly featured in this book, ideas on how to make your retirement dollars go farther are.

The “pain-free ways to save” section suggests growing your own food and flowers, becoming a chef at home to save on restaurant dining, using other means – footpower, a bike, or the bus – to cut back on driving (and the cost of gas), selling off your clutter and many more simple-to-do ideas.

Other ways to augment your retirement income include working part time, being a consultant, turning hobbies into money-makers, and many more.

There’s a section on new activities you can take on with the luxury of more time – furthering your education, learning a new language, taking up carpentry, and becoming a wine aficionado.

A nice section on relationships notes that working couples who both retire will find they are spending a lot more time with each other than they are used to. “Make sure you have separate interests and see your own friends. That way, you’ll have something to talk about when you get home.”

Our late mother used to say that when Dad retired, he spent the first year following her around and reading her items out of the paper. So she “assigned” him some new tasks – he took over doing the laundry, and loading and unloading the dishwasher, which he did with aplomb.

This fun, well-written and very helpful book concludes by offering some words of wisdom from famed comic actor George Burns – “you can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.”

It’s always nice to have a few twenties in the wallet when you’re retired. If you don’t have a pension program through work, you’ll need to handle saving on your own. A fine partner in your saving efforts is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. It’s a full-service personal retirement system – your contributions are invested in a professionally managed, pooled fund, at a low cost, and when it is time to turning savings into income, SPP has many options for you, including lifetime annuities. Check them out today!

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For more than a year now, Canadians have had to deal with restrictions – sometimes fairly light, other times more of the “stay at home” variety – on what we can and cannot do.

Save with SPP took a look around to see what sort of things people are doing to keep busy at a time when so many of our usual activities are temporarily closed down or otherwise restricted.

A report from CTV News suggests that today’s situation is somewhat akin to the Great Depression of 90 years ago – so many people were out of work, or working reduced hours, that there was a huge growth in hobbies. “Stamp collecting, music making, woodworking and birdwatching” all grew in popularity in the 1920s, the article notes.

“In this time of uncertainty and instability, and a world and existence we no longer recognize, people need an anchor to familiarity and what once brought them comfort, stability, safety, and happiness,” clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Gardere tells CTV.

Today’s pandemic hobbies include things like “tie-dying clothes, attending PowerPoint parties and partaking in TikTok challenges,” the article notes. These join more traditional activities such as walking and cooking, CTV reports.

Physical activity is of critical importance, even during the pandemic, reports CBC International.

Citing a report from the World Health Organization, CBC reports that “regular physical activity is said to be key to preventing and helping manage heart disease, diabetes and cancer and reducing depression and anxiety, cognitive decline and boosting brain health.”

The article suggests 150 to 300 minutes per week of “moderate to vigorous aerobic activity for all adults.” This can include walking, cycling, dance, play, and even “household activities like cleaning or working on your lawn and garden,” the article says.

“Every move counts, especially now as we manage the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic,” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus states in the article. “We must all move every day – safely and creatively.” 

Country Living magazine agrees that creative approaches to keeping active are being used – and some things that were more popular in the past have made a comeback.

The article lists such things as home gyms, handheld gaming consoles, jigsaw puzzles, swimming pools, and trampolines as ways you can do more without leaving home.

The Reviewed.com site adds a few more. TV choices, thanks to the many streaming services out there, are more numerous than ever before. Reading, arts and crafts, yoga, DIY home improvement projects and meditation are among the ideas listed.

Putting it all together, finding something to do will keep you feeling more positive – and more optimistic that we are starting to near the end of this bizarre, unhappy and eerily quiet crisis.

One activity that you might want to revisit during the pandemic is dusting off your retirement savings plan – if you have one. If your savings efforts haven’t started, are stalled, or if you want to add on to what you’re doing now, consider the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, currently celebrating its 35^th year of operations. Your pension savings, small or large, are expertly invested at a low cost, and grown for that future date when you walk away from the office for the last time. With an average rate of return of 8 per cent in the balanced fund since inception, SPP is an option you should take some time to check out!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Your parents say it, the experts say it, people who are wealthy say it – if you’re buying something, pay with cash, not credit. And even debit cards can come with hidden fees, they say.

But this crazy pandemic situation has us all tap, tap, tapping away for groceries, for gas, for a box of beer, and any of the other services we can actually spend money on. Could this represent a sea change for the use of cash, or is it just a blip? Save with SPP had a look around the Interweb for a little fact-finding.

Proponents of cash include Gail Vaz Oxlade, author and TV presenter who has long advocated for using cash for expenses, rather than adding to your debt.

“I’m a huge fan of hers and have read every book and watched every episode of Til Debt Do Us Part, Money Moron and Princess… the premise of the system is to use cash only (no plastic), storing it in envelopes or jars, sticking to a budget, tracking your spending, and once the money is gone, there’s no more until next month’s budget,” reports The Classy Simple Life blog.

It’s true – we have read her books and if you follow her advice your debts will decrease.

Other cash advocates include billionaire Mark Cuban. He tells CNBC that while only 14 per cent of Americans use cash for purchases (pre-pandemic), he sees cash as his number one negotiation tool. “If you want to take a yoga class, and they say it costs $30, say `I’ve only got $20,’” he says in a recent Vanity Fair article. More than likely, he notes, they’ll take the cash.

Cash is great because it is (usually) accepted everywhere, there’s no fees or interest associated with using it, and it has a pre-set spending limit – when your wallet is empty, you stop spending. But these days, cash is no longer sitting on the throne of personal finance.

Globe and Mail columnist Rob Carrick notes that more than six weeks into the pandemic he still had the same $50 in his wallet that he had when it started.

“Paying with cash is seen as presenting a risk of transmitting the virus from one person to another – that’s why some retailers that remain open prefer not to accept it. Note: The World Health Organization says there’s no evidence that cash transmits the virus,” he writes. In fact, he adds, the Bank of Canada recently asked retailers to continue to accept cash during the crisis.

A CBC News report suggests that our plastic money may indeed present a risk, and that the COVID-19 virus may survive for hours or days on money. The piece suggests it is a “kindness” to retailers to pay with credit or debit, rather than cash.

“Public officials and health experts have said that the risk of transferring the virus person-to-person through the use of banknotes is small,” reports Fox News. “But that has not stopped businesses from refusing to accept currency and some countries from urging their citizens to stop using banknotes altogether,” the broadcaster adds. The article goes on to point out that many businesses are doing “contactless” transactions, where payment occurs over the phone or Internet and there is not even a need to tap.

Putting it all together, we’re living in very unusual times, and this odd new reality may be with us for a while. If you are still using cash, it might be wise to wear gloves when you are paying and getting change. Even if you aren’t a fan of using tap or paying online, perhaps now is a time to get your grandchildren to show you how to do it. The important thing is for all of us to stay safe – cash may be dethroned for the short term, but things will eventually return to normal, and it will be “bad” to overuse credit cards again.

And if that cash has been piling up during a period of time when there’s precious little to spend it on, don’t neglect your retirement savings plan. The Saskatchewan Pension Plan offers a very safe haven for any unneeded dollars. Any amounts you can contribute today will grow into a future retirement income, so consider adding to your savings today.

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock. He and his wife live with their Shelties, Duncan and Phoebe, and cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

No matter what we do in our work lives, it’s an intense drag on our downtime. You get up, you get dressed, you’re out the door for your drive, bus, train or bike commute to the office, there’s lots to do, there are meetings, you’re pounding coffee all day. At the end of the day the couch looks irresistible.

So is retirement really the time of life when we put our feet up and measure out time with coffee spoons?

No, says the Home Care Assistance blog. “The dangers of a sedentary lifestyle are even more significant for seniors because they are already at risk for developing serious health conditions,” the blog warns. Physical activity gets “the blood pumping through the body,” the blog notes, but inactivity leads to slower circulation, “which can have a devastating impact on the heart.”

If you are developing arthritis, the worst thing to do is to take it easy, the blog reports. “Seniors with arthritis must keep their bodies moving to prevent joints and ligaments from becoming too tight,” the blog advises.

Physical activity helps prevent other conditions, such as memory lapses, depression, and the likelihood of falls, the blog reports. It all adds up to a shortened lifespan, the blog concludes.

The Dr. Axe blog expands on some of these points. Being sedentary is a huge problem in the U.S., the blog notes. “It’s startling to discover that Americans spend 93 per cent of our lifetimes indoors — and 70 per cent of each day sitting,” the blog reveals.

As a species, humans are supposed to spend each day moving around – our ancestors had to rustle up food, seek shelter, and find warmth, the blog explains.

“How does not moving regularly take a toll on our health? The World Health Organization estimates that a lack of physical activity is associated with 3.2 million deaths a year,” the blog notes. The blog lists diabetes, heart disease, poor circulation, “fuzzy thinking,” and even loss of muscle mass and bone strength as by-products of a sedentary lifestyle.

So what do we do to combat these risks?

The Wisdom Times blog sets out some ideas to help you avoid the negative effects of couch occupancy.

“Walk every day, have a sport, and go to the gym,” the blog suggests. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, the blog notes, and consider parking in a “faraway spot” if you’re driving places.

“If you are one of the blessed lot to have your office within 4-5 kms from home, you could consider cycling to work. You will also contribute to the social conscience by saving on the pollution,” the blog recommends. Other easy ways to combat the sedentary lifestyle including playing with kids and grandkids, dancing, and in the kitchen, avoiding the use of powered appliances, and instead “get your pounding stone or your grinding stone out.”

Let’s face it – if we’ve gone to all the trouble to squirrel away savings for retirement, why not go to a little more trouble, through being active, to make it a long retirement?

If you have taken a sedentary approach to getting out there and saving for retirement, a helpful tool is at hand. The Saskatchewan Pension Plan offers you an end-to-end approach to turning your savings into retirement income. Take action, and check them out today!

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing and classic rock. He and his wife live with their Shelties, Duncan and Phoebe, and cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22