"This book is created to help all people look at life after retirement in a different way and not be afraid of it. It is written so that you can totally renew your life at an age where we stop one career and begin another."
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Don't Retire: Renew by Lou Kaufmann Trafford Publishing
book review by Carol Anderson, D.Min., ACSW, LMSW
A simple how-to book of 91 pages, it is written with three assumptions: 1) that you have decided to retire from a job you've held for many years, 2) you have enough income to take care of your obligations, and 3) that your health is satisfactory. The author and his wife are in "Semi-Renewalment," with renewalment meaning "when one career ends and you decide to renew your life in a new and exciting direction." Consisting of 15 chapters, the book explores renewal through 6 areas of life: family, financial, physical, social, mental, and spiritual. There are five life quizzes and other information which helps to focus the reader on a path of renewing life purposes and living life to its fullest. One premise is that goal setting is a key to renewalment. The author discusses his own life situations through stories to help accentuate his teachings and his beliefs. It is very easy to read and offers quick ideas to helping one achieve renewalment.
If you are financially secure, healthy, and married, this book may be helpful as you plan goals for the future. It has a Christian focus which adds to the author's premise of having a positive outlook to cope with all life issues. The discussion of the deaths of his two former wives examines how to cope with grief and adversity. Also, examining that life can be fun and continue to be fun in our elder years is uplifting. The discussion of the six areas of life is quite pertinent, however, the spirituality quiz is noticeably missing. The main concern is that the book addresses only a subsection of the aging population and the only question regarding a family evaluation for single people is, "If single, do you wish you (sic) that you weren't," thereby negating those single persons who wish to live happily within their renewalment. However, if you meet the criteria the book establishes, you just might come away with some helpful tactics and that you can "Enjoy Every Luscious Moment."