They say that youth is wasted on the young. And to a degree, that cliché holds true. To the majority of hard-partying, young adults, retirement sounds like some distant land of golden sunsets where old fogies sit in rocking chairs while cheerful nurses dressed in white uniforms deliver pudding cups to those bare-gummed, freshly diapered zombies.

With a little planning on the young person’s part, however, retirement doesn’t have to mean glaucomatous eyes gazing over that tranquil lake beside the old folks home in Leisureville, Florida. Instead, it can (and should) mean a vibrant span of years filled with all of those activities that a person never found the opportunity to do while career-building or raising a family.

Naturally, physical limitations can hinder older folks from engaging in certain activities but - no matter how limited they might be - every person can find something joyful to fill their time as they bask in the glow of a life well-spent. Painful knees, for example, might prohibit the retiree from climbing Mount Everest but oil paints might liberate that same aged spirit just enough to create a masterful rendition of Mount Everest.

The hitch, however, is that even art supplies cost money. And (without a proper financial strategy) many retirees find themselves scraping just to get by on a fixed monthly income that perpetually dwindles in the face of constant inflation.

So, in order to fill their twilight years, every person (no matter what their age) should immediately construct and maintain a financial plan that will guarantee the wealth they’ll need for funding their bucket list. Granted, there are other sure-fire ways to stave off the boredom of retirement, but dying young and living hand-to-mouth really aren’t viable options for the wiser souls. Similarly, worrying about the utility company cutting the electricity during a blistering heatwave really isn’t the glamorous pastime it might sound like.

No, the number one way to avoid boredom during retirement is to build sufficient wealth throughout life to pay for those things that will fill the empty hours spent in an empty nest.

For the folks who actually have a bucket list, building wealth is the number one way to go; but what of those people who have chosen to collect a pension and have no desire to go zip trekking through the Amazon rain forest? How can they avoid the boredom of senior unemployment?

As with most things important and worth their while, a focus on family can supply a bounty of opportunity for the retiree. Even for those pensioners with no grandchildren, the family furnishes nearly everyone with fresh chances to laugh, cry, share, and love through memories and new experiences. A simple, rainy afternoon of coffee and conversation savored with a cousin, aunt, or sister makes for a rewarding and inexpensive way to pass an otherwise dreary weekday.

Likewise, when retired uncles take their nieces and nephews fishing, a life-long affection develops and the memories live for generations. With a little imagination and very little money, family can transform the boredom of retirement into something extraordinary.

Volunteerism also costs very little money but can reward a retiree with affectionate camaraderie, tremendous joy, and critical purpose! Donating time to the community doesn’t always mean joining a church or working for the local hospital. While those two places are great settings to start volunteering, a wide number of organizations - from firefighters to animal control agencies - need unpaid staff to keep the gears of public service rotating smoothly. Working for no pay frequently brings the benefit of learning new skills without incurring the cost of training in those skills. It certainly can fill vacant hours and give the mature soul a youthful purpose.

Family and volunteer work notwithstanding, all retirees should keep exercise at the top of that to-do list for mitigating boredom. Riding a bicycle, swimming, walking, golfing, bowling, and organized exercise classes all offer a great way for the older person to keep physically fit while meeting new people. Many communities even have “mall walker” groups that assemble at the nearest mall before the doors open for business each morning just so folks can enjoy a brisk, indoor walk before shoppers choke the relative security and comfort of the market’s floor.

Exercise, though, doesn’t always mean physical exertion. Keeping the mind fully engaged and moving also helps to maintain a healthy, boredom-free retiree. Most persons, for example, mentally retain a reading list that they simply have not had the chance to complete as they went about their busy life.

Retirement provides everyone with the perfect opportunity for diving right into the local public library where free books, magazines, and newspapers wait to impart their unique knowledge or perspective. From classic titles like “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” to modern e-zines, the public library houses a wide range of reading, viewing and listening material for the intellectually curious retiree.

Some libraries even have puzzles for patrons to work on and share with others. Even without going to the library though, stores overflow with books filled with crossword puzzles, word games, number games, and brain teasers that those folks of progressing years can buy and then enjoy in the comfort of their own home. No matter what their unexplored passion might be, anyone with empty time on their hands can find instructional material on everything from learning to play the piano to investing in stocks and bonds; and from crocheting to bass fishing at their local library or nearby bookstore.

Best of all, literature does not write itself. Ink does not spontaneously organize to form vowels, words, paragraphs and memoirs. Rather, literature requires authors; and retirement gives everyone the perfect opportunity for writing their biography. On top of that, extreme competition and modern publishing strategies now allow authors to order as many (or as few) copies of their work as they need, without the waste of overproduction. Naturally, the author must pay for each copy, but gone are the days of minimum publication numbers. The modern author no longer has to order the minimum five-hundred - or some equally absurd number of - units just to get their work printed and bound. With relative ease, today’s retiree/author can compose and publish a single copy of their biography to give to their children, grandchildren, siblings, or best friend. 

This new publishing landscape means a revolution in the way humanity records history. Even if the individual biography is not well-written, it is still written. And that is the most important aspect to all of this because memories no longer die with the individual. Instead, the individual can preserve their life in the written word for all of their descendants to experience. Memoirs are no longer the exclusive domain of those with the sufficient education and influence for convincing the critics at the giant publishing house that their work is worth cranking out five thousand units.

And so, after the retiree has grown bored with living like they’re dying, they should alleviate their boredom with a precious retelling of their story.

There are most effective ways and best ways to relieve the monotony and empty feeling of retirement. The most important way, however, is to fill that hollow time of repose by recording for the ages the events of a life worth living.