Marriage @ 60+

The recent news about the marriage of 60 year old Indian actress Suhasini Mulay with 65 year old physicist Atul Gurtu has not only challenged the stereotypes associated with old age in our society but has also highlighted that there is no age bar for seeking companionship. The interesting thing about their story is that they met via Facebook which is often considered as a favourite platform for social interaction among youngsters.

I wish them both a very happy married life ahead and I also hope that all those who want to marry at 60+ and seek companionship must ignore the stereotypes and take initiative to fulfill their dreams because we get only one life.

You can read more about their story on: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/actress-suhasini-mulay-ties-the-knot-at-60/articleshow/48094332.cms?from=mdr

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Playgrounds for Senior Citizens

For those of you who believe that playgrounds are only for children, this article : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/04/playgrounds-for-seniors_n_7452270.html is definitely going to change your view. It highlights that playgrounds designed for elders are gaining importance in different parts of the world. These playgrounds or parks have low impact exercise equipment for elders and it also provide opportunities for social gatherings among senior citizens and with children. Thus, encouraging inter-generational activities which can contribute towards enhancement of well-being of elders and youngsters both.

The article mentions that  in America KaBOOM, a nonprofit organization, is working in partnership with the Humana Foundation to build multigenerational playgrounds throughout the country. This is a great initiative, I wish we should follow such examples and work towards building such type of multigenerational playgrounds in our country, for strengthening inter-generational bonding and for the promotion of healthy, active and productive ageing.

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India ranks 1st in the Aegon Retirement Readiness Survey 2015

It is well known that retirement planning has a direct relation with one’s quality of life in old age. One can adapt well to retirement or can age happily, gracefully and productively only when he/she has planned well for retirement.  

In this context have found some information in a recent survey conducted by Aegon titled  Aegon Retirement Readiness Survey 2015, which was conducted on 16000 people in 15 countries, including India. In this survey India has ranked first in the index. This as per the survey indicates that among the participant countries, Indians seem to be well prepared to face retirement.

Specifically in the context of India, the country report (http://www.aegon.com/Documents/aegon-com/Research/2015-Retirement-Survey/India-2015-Retirement-Readiness-Report.pdf) shares the following key findings based on the responses of the Indian participants:

• Almost two-third (63%) of surveyed participants were optimistic that they will have enough money to live on in retirement and three-quarter (75%) were found to have positive associations with retirement.
• 44% were extremely confident that they will be able to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle, compared to just 22% across all 15 countries surveyed.
• Around 56% of retired participants said that they are currently financially comfortable, and around 52% believe that they will be able to live comfortably in retirement.
• Majority of the participants expressed that they will have to provide financial support to family members after retirement, which is a major concern.
• Among those who expressed their desire to work after retirement, majority want to work for keeping themselves active and also because they enjoy their work. Around 19% want to continue working because they have not saved enough and 23% want to work in order to overcome the anxieties related to their retirement income.
• Participants expressed that they do not think that they are on track to achieve their desired retirement income.

I strongly believe that in addition to financial readiness, social, psychological and physiological dimensions need to be critically explored for the promotion of healthy and productive ageing. I explored these dimensions in my PhD work and got some interesting finding in this regard.

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