Secret to Happiness: Retire

The secret to a happier, healthier life, just retire.

I've been saying this all along in one form or another.  Retirement can mean many things that include doing some form of work, but it makes sense to shift gears and spend a lot less time working and more time playing and relaxing.  It really helps to have things that you like to do as hobbies and activities other than laying in front of a TV or computer screen for health reasons if nothing else.  Physical activity is a great way to keep your body in tone and it helps insure overall health, both mental and physical.  This of course is where tennis comes into the picture.

Look, you can take up the sport at almost any age and limit the extent of your activity to avoid injury and take into account physical limitations.  There are leagues, ladders,  and other means of joining social competition in most places.  There are public tennis courts in almost every state in the country.  I'm not sure about Alaska though there are private clubs there.

Most important of all is to get started on developing your hobbies and pastimes so you can have a successful transition to the reclining years of life.  Trying to find something after you retire is not a good plan as it can lead to frustration and developing the habit of doing something is how you can use such a routine to make retirement less traumatic.

Tennis players and tennis teachers have the advantage here.   The cost of playing tennis is very low if you have access to public courts where games like golf can become prohibitive for a low budget retirement.

 I prefer the teaching aspect of tennis because it is the best way share the game with others.  Unless you are just in a volunteer position it is also a way of earning extra income to support your tennis retirement.

Start planning your retirement now and my advice is to make tennis a central part of it.

Retiring in your early 20's.
I have no issue with this idea except how they will accomplish it.  If it is done with a reduced standard of living combined with a very self sufficient way of earning income without showing up to the office every day then I am all for it.  However, if it is done by taking advantage of government programs that allow you to stay home and collect disability while not really disabled, then we have a problem.  Such a system cannot be sustained and if we have lost a good number of young workers due to the ability to just milk the system then it won't last.  It will fail to take care of the truly disabled.