| HELPFUL WEBSITES FOR AGES 50 PLUS These are helpful websites for active Baby Boomer retirees. Almost all senior websites except Elderhostel define a senior as someone who is fifty years old or better. Use the category titles to find the cluster of websites that will suit your search requirements. TOP TEN RETIREMENT ACTIVITIES You might be wonder just what retirees do with their time. The following is a Top Ten List of activities ranked according to amount of time spent. Website: Top Ten Retirement Activities LEARNING VACATIONS ELDERHOSTEL - Non-profit organization that provides 0ne-week, two-weeks, or month-long learning vacations on broad range of topics including arts, crafts, computer training, digital, indoor and nature photography, cooking, music or stage theatre appreciation, fly fishing, canoing, and digging up dinosaurs. Average cost $400/weeek which includes accommodations, three meals per day, plus morning and afternoon workshops. Limited to people 55 years of age or older with companions not less than fifty years old. Go by yourself and join the group (usually 15) or take a friend. Ask for their Canada/United States catalog. Very popular with endless choices. Elderhostel offers about 8,000 workshops each year. WEBSITE: www.elderhostel.org ACTIVE VACATIONS ACTIVE JOURNEYS - This agency packages outdoor vacations for physically active seniors which include escorted tours in the United States, Britain, Canada, and Switzerland. They rate each tour by level of difficulty. Activities include walking, biking, canoing, climbing. Ask for their brochure. WEBSITE: www.activejourneys.com CRUISE LINES THAT CATER TO RETIREES There are two cruise lines that tend to favour adults and particularly retirees with their choice of entertainment, and on-board activities. Those that cater to seniors will typically offer bingo, a gambling casino, get fit classes, swimming pools, dancing, bridge tournaments, general audience movies, reading library, and Broadway musical performances. Both of these cruise lines offer more mini veranda suites on their more recent ships. Roomier but more expensive. Includes formal-dress dining room plus two alternates: a casual buffet and a "haute cuisine" restaurant. HOLLAND-AMERICA LINE website: www. hollandamerica.com PRINCESS CRUISES (grand class cruising) website: www.princess.com NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS FOR RETIREES AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED PERSONS (AARP) website: www.aarp.org C ANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED PERSONS (CARP) website: www.50plus.com BEST SENIOR TRAVEL WEBSITES If you are looking for vacations specifically designed for the 50plus crowd, this website lists the best organizations that cater to seniors. The list includes escorted travel groups designed to accommodate people traveling by themselves, and also tours for adventurous women. There are several free travel newsletters being offered as well. Website: Best Senior Travel Websites HOME EXCHANGE VACATIONS To reduce the cost of accommodations on vacations, seniors and 50 plus couples have begun exchanging comparable residences with other couples in other parts of the world. The wide range and high quality of offerings from over 40 countries will surprise you. The listing includes homes, cottages, motorhomes. Click on "Photo Gallery". You can view homes from any country listed on the left of their website starting with Australia. Website: Senior Home Exchange MY NEXT PHASE - RETIRE YOUR WAY A well organized website for retirees. It has seven categories of helpful links including: Community & Volunteering; Health; Home; Travel; Self-Development; Mental Challenge and Work Support. Website: My Next Phase BEST PLACES TO RETIRE Lengthy article by ARRP on the fifteen best retirement towns based on ten criteria, such as affordable housing, job opportunities, safety, cultural entertainment, and outdoor recreation. Locations include: Sarasota, Florida; Loveland, Colorado; Bellingham, Washington; Portsmouth, New Ham,pshire. Website: Fifteen Best Places to Reinvent Your Life ****************************************************************** SOCIAL SECURITY INQUIRIES (US Citizens) This US government website will help you decide when to retire by calculating the amount of pension that you are entitled to as a retiree. Included are Who Is Eligible, a Benefit Calculator, and an On-Line Application Form. Website: Retirement Planner ********************************************************************** CANADA PENSION INQUIRIES (Canadian Citizens) This Canadian website has an application form to apply online to begin getting the Canada Pension. You must be at least 59 years of age, and are applying for the pension to start on your 60th birthday. Several web pages of information are offered plus a printable application form. Applying before age sixty-five invokes a reduction in your monthly pension (discount of 6% per year for each year that you are younger than age 65.) Website: CPP Information & Application OLD AGE SECURITY (Canadian Citizens) Designed to help out all low-income Canadians, this basic pension is available at age sixty-five, whether or not you are retired. You should apply six months ahead of time. Available to any Canadian citizen who has lived in Canada for at least ten years. Although you may receive it, there is a partial clawback provision in the tax code, if your last year of income was greater than $60,800. This ceiling keeps going up as the years go by. This government website includes an on-line application form. Website: Old Age Security CANADIAN RETIREMENT INCOME CALCULATOR This website has a form to help you figure out how much income you will have per month while in retirement. You are required to have your CPP and RRSP information on hand to complete the form which takes about thirty minutes to complete. Website: Income Calculator ********************************************************************** RETIREMENT STATISTICS (2005) Article by the CBC on Baby Boomers retiring. Majority of Canadians are retiring before age 65 and taking a reduced Canada Pension at age 60. Stock market losses and plant closures sited as reason why a third of the population felt worse off financially, and saught part-time work. Website: CBC Retirement Article ************************************************************************ KEYNOTE SPEAKER / WORKSHOP SEMINARS Need a keynote motivational speaker, roast specialist, or retirement workshop seminar leader for corporate, conference or educational venues in the United States or Canada? Tim Westhead Productions has it all. (Promotional CD available.) Website: Tim Westhead ***************************************************************** CHAT ROOMS (rated up to four stars) OVER FIFTIES.COM ** A dedicated chat room for Baby Boomers. Has both a free membership and an upgraded version for $9.95 / year. Website: www.overfifties.com CARP (Canadian Chat) **** This Canadian website has several chat rooms arranged by discussion topic plus two general chat rooms. You must sign up as a member and select a password before you can use their chat rooms. Members must be 50 years of age or older. Most members are retired. Well-organized; high quality. Annual membership $10. Carp (Romance) **** The Carp website also has an optional Internet Dating Service called "Relationships." It's free for the first thirty days, then a substantial monthly fee is applied. You can narrow the search by sorting by age range, location or by whether or not they provided a photo of themselves. If you want to chat with one of the clients, the site lets you send them an e-mail. Most choose a nickname for themselves to preserve anonymity until they meet someone they would like to date. Website: www.50plus.com ONLINE SINGLES SENIORS OUTREACH (Romance) **** This unique American non-profit site is designed to bring single or divorced or widowed people together in one of three ways. They have a chat room, a local get together with people in your region and an annual reunion for people across the United States. Free membership. Website: online singles seniors SENIOR FRIEND FINDER.COM ( Romance) ** This is a dating service for people over 40 who are looking for romance or casual friendship. Membership is free, although usually posting your personal ad is fee-based. They claim their database has 346,000 members. Website: Senior Friend Finder WOMEN IN OUR 60'S (women-only chat) **** This informative non-profit website is dedicated to only women sixty years or older. It has a chat room plus multiple articles on health issues, family relationships and security issues. Free membership. Website: Women in Our Sixties CHRISTIAN CAFE (faith-based Romance) This chat website is primarily for single Christians in search of like-minded people to chat online with. They offer a ten-day free trial, after which they require a membership fee. You write a profile of yourself and can post a photograph, if you wish. Website: Christian Cafe COLLECTION OF CHRISTIAN WEBSITES (multiple topics) This website offers a couple of dozen faith-based websites that talk about Bible Studies, Theology, and Christian Fellowship. For people who consider religion an integral part of their life. Hold down the left mouse key to highlight additional information, such as church affiliation. Website: Christian Collection |