Your Own Online Community
Retirement: Bright New Dawn or Darkening Sunset?
It's mostly in your own hands!
Some of us are constrained by finance and others by health problems but let's do the best we can with what we've got.
Whatever your circumstances we invite you to make the Retired but Active part of your daily life.
Retired but Active is a Community Site:
...written for and by its members
On RbA you can
..and you can do it in your own home and it costs you nothing
Now Live on Retired but Active
- I don't particularly want to retire...
- get together on RbA to beat the bugbear of age discrimination in the recruitment and business market
- Link through to our 'Working On' page
- I don't want to face retirement alone..
- Who are you looking for; a soul-mate share your retirement or something much more limited - someone out there to share an interest without commitment?
- You can use RbA's data-base of hundreds of people in our age-group who are themselves looking for companionship.
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 Read more about RbA |
Read more about Community Sites |
Read More about our Retirement Lifestyles |
See how easy it is to write for RbA |
Suggest an Interest Group of your Own |
Retired but Active and its new Interest Group format.
New features give you, the members:
- Ease of Use
- You can read, write, post your pictures to the site whatever your level of IT skills, from novice to expert, ...
- ..or if that's not for you, you can chat to others who share your interests anywhere in the world.
- Control
- You set the agenda, decide what topics Retired but Active will address, focus the site on your interests, your retirement.
- Opportunity
- If you have a consuming interest, a hobby or a cause as long as it falls within our Editorial Code you can use Retired but Active as your shop window to the world.
- Companionship
- If you're house-bound, short of funds or simply alone you can share your life with others.
Community sites and the over-50s
Used properly, community sites are one of the great democratic innovations of the 21st Century to be used and enjoyed.
- Member's Facilities
- ..provided free of charge by Retired but Active to its members include...
- Retirement Lifestyles
- Ways of improving your retirement experience looking at:
- Getting Together - to share interests or life
- Retiring Overseas
- Indoor or outdoor hobbies and past-times
- Plus any other interest suggested by the members.
- Information and Advice
- A combination of professional advice plus the experience and knowledge of members. Areas might include
- Financing a retirement
- Health Issues
Quote of the Week
Retirement at sixty-five is ridiculous. When I was sixty-five I still had pimples.
 Tell me more about Internet Security
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 Tell me more about Interest Groups |
 Tell me about Retirement Lifestyles |
 Tell me more about Community Sites |
Community Sites
Community Sites have a bad name!
..but largely because they are either aimed at, or dominated by teenagers
Retired but Active is a community site reserved for the over-50s and so, hopefully, avoids the problems experienced in other places.
Community sites are about contact.
...at their best community sites bring people together, where ever they are. The only common media you need are the English language and access to the internet
The bulk of what goes into a Community Site is generated by the members.
Whether it be through the blogs, the interest groups, the forums, or the chat lines, most of the material in a community site comes from the members.
This makes them especially dynamic and constantly on the move.
- Interest Groups
- So take me direct to the Interest Groups.
Community Facilities on RbA
Blogs- I know enough about blogging to make a start so
- Take me straight to the blogs or
- Let me start my own blog
Teenagers are the lifeblood of most community sites but not Retired but Active"
Galleries- Post your pictures in our Gallery and let others enjoy them.
- Take me direct to the RbA Galleries
RbA Chatrooms- Talk to the world on a real-time basis
- Tell me more about chat rooms
Forums- A blog follows the thoughts of the writer, the forum follows a logical chain from writer to writer.
- Take me to the forums
Interest Groups
With Interest Groups everyone gets involved.
You don't need money: you don't need IT skills...
...it's all free, you don't need to buy software or special hardware, your PC and your enthusiasms are enough to qualify you to be a contributor.
- So, what is an Interest Group?
- It is an area within Retired but Active dedicated to a specific interest run by and for its own members.
- And who can take part?
- Any logged in member of Retired but Active. Some groups require that you are cleared by the group leader but that's largely to exclude spammers and the like who would spoil the enjoyment of the genuine members.
- Supposing none of the existing groups interest me?
- Then you can suggest a new Interest group of your own. It has to be approved, but that's largely a formality designed to keep spammers at bay.
- Can an Interest group be about anything at all?
- It can be about anything - serious or flippant - sacred or profain , provided that it falls within the terms of our Editorial Code
The 'Use RbA to the Full' button at the top of the page leads you in easy stages through the process of sending your written material and pictures to RbAIf you click on the 'propose an Interest Group'button at the top of the page a simple application form will come up.The 'See Interest Groups' button near the top of the page will introduce you to our current Interest GroupsInterest groups allow you to be an active part in the site, to talk to the world and be heard, to listen to your generation speak.
RbA's Chatlines
Chatlines aren't just for teenagers!
They're also great for real conversations between mature people
We hear a lot about youngsters abusing the system, or a rather nasty group of middle aged men trying to groom those youngsters
But chatlines have a huge potential for bringing lonely people together, or allowing people to discuss their plans and hobbies with a world-wide audience.
- ...so what is a 'chatroom'
- A chatroom is an area in a site where members exchange messages on a 'real time' basis.
- ...and what do you mean by 'real time'?
- In a 'real-time' situation all participants are on-line at the some time. As each types a contribution it appears, more or less immediately, on the screens of the others.
- ...isn't there a risk of identity theft?
- No, not if you take the precautions laid out in our 'Internet Precautions' pages, use a single purpose e-mail address and don't exchange any more information about yourself than you would to a stranger in a pub.
- So, how do I start?
- You click on the 'chat now' icon on the right of the screen.
- A new screen opens with the 'log in' page of the Retired but Active Chatroom.
- Click on the 'register' link
- Registering
- Choose a nickname to use in the chatroom. This will appear in the 'senders' column in the chatroom as you make your contribution.
- Choose which e-mail address you want to use. use of a single purpose e-mail address will prevent you getting troubled by unwanted material.
Retired but Active Blogs
Welcome to the World of Blogs
Blogging is a bench mark of our freedom of expression - a medium that allows everyone to talk freely to the world.
- What is a blog?
- A blog is an unstructured letter to the world, delivered via the internet to whowever wants to read it.
- By tradition it follows the thoughts and action of an individual, wherever they may wander and oftern takes the form of an open diary.
- How does a blog differ from a forum?
- A blog follows the writer's thoughts, wherever they may wander. A forum has a 'topic' and one or more writers add a progressive 'chain' of thought to that topic.
- Who can write a blog on RbA?
- Any logged in member of RbA. Bloggers are independant of interest groups because your first blog may be on one topic and your second on something quite different.
- Do I need IT skills or special equipment?
- No, one of the great democratic features of Blogging is that if you can type with two fingers you can blog.
Retired but Active Forums
..where the over-50s post pictures for others to enjoy
The forum is another vehicle of free speech. this time focused around a 'topic' rather than a writer.
- So what is a 'forum'?
- A forum is a public area on a website where members can record their thoughts for everyone to read.
- A blog follows the thought pattern of a single writer and ranges over many subjects.
- A forum is subject based, and several writers will offer their thoughts to the same forum.
- People talk of 'Chains' in Forums
- A chain copies a normal mature conversation where someone raises a point and the next person responds directly to the point.
- Once a third person gets involved than you have a logical chain.
- And what is a 'topic'?
A topic defines the broad area that a particular forum addresses. They act as a guide to newcomers looking to join a forum in an area that interests them.
- The RbA software package permits any number of topics, but we ask people to request a new topic - see the menu at the top of the page - so that we can maintain a logical structure.
- Are forums safe?
- Forums are in the public domain. Don't tell anyone in a forum what you wouldn't have published in your local newspaper.
- Who can use the forums
- Any logged in member of RbA
- What if I don't find a forum that interests me?
- Then click on 'Suggest a Group or Forum' near the top of this page and suggest a new one in an area that does interest you.
Retired but Active Galleries
..where the over-50s post pictures for others to enjoy
The over-50s generation is one of all the talents
The RbA galleries allow individual members of RbA to post their photographs or original works for the enjoyment of others.
- Who can post pictures?
- Any logged in member of RbA can post pictures. Better still by joining an interest group you can post to their gallery.
Featured Gallery of the Month
Look at his Boats in Cardiff Bay for its composition or this (though not entirely original)
for its action
Retirement Lifestyles
RbA Looks to Improve Your Retirement Experience.
...whether your inclination is towards continuing in work, outdoor activities, or gentler pursuits.
We all have different physical and economic circumstances, but we don't want to waste our retirement. The trick is to set ourselves targets for our retirement and then to go for them in a big way.
If you're an active outdoor type - then you want to stay that way.
If you prefer quieter, indoor activities - then you need to keep the brain active.
Either way, our community can be a catalyst to a better retirement lifestyle.
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Working on - Not all of us can afford to or even want to retire
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Getting together - Whether you want to share your life or just your interests,your lifestyle can be improved by sharing it with others
Retiring Abroad- Life in the sun seems a great idea, but it requires planning and organisation
Fitness after Fifty- Those of us blessed with good health need to make the most of it.
Hobbies- Past Times of a quiet and thoughtful nature.
Fitness after 50
Those who've seen their 50th birthday come and go...
...don't expect to run a four minute mile any time soon
But they do want to maintain, or possibly improve on their current level of fitness.
Getting Together
There's more than one reason to get together
Whatever you're doing or planning, it's better to do it with others.
Some of us need company, though we're not looking for romance, just to share an interest on a one-to-one basis
So, we have arranged an opportunity to meet someone with whom to share your interests.
- There's a whole world of people out there...
- ...all of whom are interesting in some way
- ...and they come of all ages and pursuasions...
- ...some of the younger ones have a lot to tell us about their world and how they see it.
- So why not give it a try?
- Already registered?
Too many of us face a lonely retirement
A combination of widowhood, divorce and just plain never finding Mister or Miss Right condemn far too many of us to retirement alone.
So, we've arranged a meeting area just for our members
- Wide Ranging
- With hundreds of profiles already on the data base for you to look through you can be...
- Selective
- Limited to people in our age group, and in your geographical area.
- Comprehensive
- With chatrooms and mailing facilities to protect your privacy whilst offering you access to a world of lonely people.
- So give it a try
- Already registered?
Hobbies and Pastimes
If you pass your days breeding and fighting Rotweilers...
...this is possibly not the site for you..
These pages is for quiet past times, reflective passt times, perhaps past times you do alone at home and alone.
We've set up a test group for creative writers but we're planning a photography group, an area for artists, anything you want.
So e-mail Roger at roger.webb@retiredbutactive.com and suggest your own special hobby as an Interest group with its own forums, galleries and special interest pages.
Creative Writing- For creative writers of all kinds.
- Share your thoughts and drafts with the world.
Retire to the Sun
Retire at home or move to the sun?
Attitudes have Changed
A generation ago most of us thought of retirement in terms of selling off their family home and moving into a small flat or bungalow, or even moving into a retirement complex.
Sixty is today's forty.
A silly sound-bite perhaps, but with an element of truth within it. We, today's retirement generation, are fitter and often much better off than our fathers were when they retired.
We're much better travelled and look beyond the UK. We are happy to sell the family home or use Equity Release so that we can invest in a retirement home abroad.
We can buy a small property abroad and become ‘residential tourists’ travelling without much luggage and spending our winters in the sun and using what remains of our equity to buy a small summer home in the UK.
Look afer your health
Eventually, of course, our health will fail so it may be better to keep your UK property as your main residence leaving you with the overseas house to be sold or rented out.
Think about what will happen if you need to return to the UK. Don't allow yourself to get stranded alone in a foreign country.
Think about it long and hard
Don't get all starry eyed, this is a big decision, to be made by your head not your heart. Ask yourself:
- can you bear the upheaval?
- what about the language - can you get by, talking to the doctor or the bank manager?
- You know you can buy your house, but can you sell it? What are the hidden costs - taxes, permits, heat, light, water....
- Professional services - are you getting the real thing? What will they cost you?
- Have you sorted out your affairs back home - made a new will etc.
- Have you budgeted in for the costs of removals from the UK and if necessary back; buying and operating a new car; equipping your new house - buying a new dishwasher, fridge-freezer etc
Then the 'soft' issues
Keep going with the questions and answers.
- Why are you going?
- The stock answer is 'to find a better/warmer/healthier climate'. is this the real reason?
- Have I relatives abroad and can I get back to the UK cheaply to see my family here?
- What value do you place on your relationships?
Working on After Normal Retirement
Working on After 60 - the last Bastion of Ageism?
Some of us can't afford to retire - some of us don't want to retire - some of don't see why we should retire.
Those of us who find themselves in this position have three options
- find a job or
- take voluntary work or
- start a business of our own.
Don't get angry: get active
Let's get together and change the world. We have time, we have experience, and some of us have the power to change things.
We can exchange information through the blogs, chatrooms, forums and interest groups.
We can enrol commercial operators to take an interest in scarce resources like knowledge, experience, commitment and energy
We can make a very loud noise.
In 1940, when the world most needed his strength, Churchill was 66
He should, in all decency, have been at home with his pipe and his slippers.
He was clearly too old to think, or work a full working day!
Mandela was 72 when he was released from Polesmore
His useful life was over!
Rupert Murdock is 77
Some brave soul should tell him to retire.
Business Startups
For some people self-employment is as natural as breathing..
...for others it is truly scary
But the British Government is really keen to encourage us to start up on our own. Before you take the plunge you might ask yourself:
- Do I really need the hassle?
- A business start-up is a full time in-your-face for 3-5 years. Do you really need it?
- What are the risks?
- If it doesn't work it will cost you money and reputation.
But if you're really committed there's a wealth of help and guidance out there and much of it is free.
- Business Models
- Whether you plan a new multinational or just to do a bit of trading on the web, you have to choose a business model
- Business Plans
- If your risking money or reputation, you need to make a plan
- Business Finance
- Using your own, or borrowing money from others?
- Business on the Web
- The web has many advantages for business start ups.
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| The UK Government on start ups |
The London Times on start ups |
The BBC on start ups |
An Introduction to Business Plans
- Why Waste time on a Business Plan?
- Whatever you want to do in business, a bit of trading on e-bay or setting up a multi-national worth millions, you'll be putting money and reputation at risk.
- In any case, for our age-group, the bank of Mum and Dad closed years ago. If we need to borrow money the lender will demand a plan, and if you're using your own money surely you want to know how much of it you'll need and what is at risk.
- It's a lot of work..
- A business plan can be anything from a side or two of paper, to a major document: the scale of the plan is a function of the scale of the business planned.
- It serves no purpose...
- Preparing the plan, whether you eventually write it down or not, forces you to think through the key issues of which more later. If you can't do that you're unlikely to be able to the business afterwards!
- What will all this work achieve for me?
- Look for the business plan to do four things for you:
- Help you focus and research your business' development and prospects
- Provide a time line showing when you have to invest, when the evenue will start to come in, when the various phases of the start up will begin and complete.
- Give you a working for the next three to five years.
- Document your proposal to discuss with shareholders, agencies, banks, investors etc.
- Set targets against which actual performance can be measured.
- Can you give me a pro-forma into which I can cut and paste the bones of my proposal?
- Just as no two businesses are alike, so also with business plans. There are pro-formas that will be accepted by most lenders but not that will be appropriate for most businesses.
- What will my plan contain?
- A business plan is a realistic view of the expectations and medium-term objectives. It is the plan within which you must succeed or fail.
- if you need external support, the plan is your sales document. It is the key to raising finance etc.
- The importance of the Process
- Preparing a business plan is a painful but essential discipline. The process forces you to understand clearly what you want to achieve, and how and when to do it.
- The thought processes involved play a vital role in helping to avoid mistakes or recognize hidden opportunities. It is much easier to fold a sheet of paper than a business.
- Done properly, the planning process (thinking, discussing, researching and analyzing) is more valuable than the final plan.
It is important to tailor a plan's contents to suit the business but most plans follow a well-tried and tested structure.
Business Models
Whether you're planning the world's next Microsoft
...or going to do a bit of trading on the web, you need to choose the right vehicle for your business. Under UK law the options are:
- Sole Trader
- The simplest and most common form of trader used for many small businesses for the sake of simplicity
- Partnerships
- Almost like two or more 'sole traders' in business together
- Cooperatives
- Once fashionable but now much less common. Not usually a popular choice with entrepreneurs.
- Limited Companies
- Complicated to set up and expensive to admisister; they achieve a proper separation between your business and personal affairs.
The choices you make now will affect your business for a very long time! make them with care and always consult a lawyer or accountant before acting
Business Plan Work Book
Most business plans share a common structure..
...and contain some or all of the topics listed.
Some elements will be more relevant than others
Some will warrant just a paragraph in the plan for a very small business, and a complete section of their own if your plans are more ambitious.
List of Sections
- Executive Summary
- Not more than two pages long, this summarises the plan as a whole and, though it appears first in the plan, is not written until the rest of the plan is finalised.
- The Table of Contents
- Shows that your plan is properly laid out and allows readers to find the material they want without having to search page by page.
- Products and Services
- Most businesses need a "Unique Selling Point": a reason why a client will buy from you and not your competitors.
- Market and Competitors
- Modern markets are highly competitive: explain that you understand the consequences
- Market and Competitors
- Modern markets are highly competitive: explain that you understand the consequences
- Sales
- Who will you sell to, how much will they buy, do you have to advertise, what will your sales margins be?
- Sourcing
- How will you source the goods or services you want to sell?"
- Business and Financial Forecasts
- What will your margins be? How much money will you need? How long before you get money back?
- Funding Requirements
- How much money will you need? Where will you get it? How long will you need it?
- Business Controls
- How will you measure your progress?"
Finding a Job is a Job
It Just Doesn't Pay Well!
- Finding a job is a job
- ...and you should approach just as seriously as any employment. You should
...and you start by working down our Task List
 Get up to Speed |
Use the Technology |
Put your CV about |
Use your Network |
Prepare Your Interview |
 Help in the UK |
First Impressions Count
- It's all down to the first two or three minutes!
- Your interview starts as you answer the phone to confirm the appointment and carries on as you park your car, talk to reception, wait in the waiting room, and enter the interview proper.
- Check your appearance.
- The obvious things - clean shoes, good haircut - and the less obvious - unflustered, in control, happy.
- Wear sensible clothes - you may favour the 'goth' style but there is no guarantee that the interviewer does.
- Plan the little things.
- Arrive in good time so you don't have to run, use your time in the waiting room to get your thoughts in good order. Take deep breaths. Use the toilet in the lobby, not in the interview waiting room.
Don't waffle: keep your answers concise and to the point. Don't feel the need to fill every silence - Be pleasant to the receptionist
- ...she may have the casting vote. Be in interview mode as you enter the car-park. You never know who's watching.
- Prepare the big things.
- Research the company on the web, see what they sell or make, check the products, know as much as possible about the company and the people involved before you go in.
- Prepare for the questions.
- Interviewers are interviewing all the time - you just four or five times in a lifetime. They will probably keep close to a prepared script - so should you.
- Prepare for the standards:
- Why are you applying for this job?
- What will you bring to our company?
- What are your strengths?
- Why did you leave your last job?
be ready with short, concise and positive answers to them all.
- Avoid the pitfalls.
- Cups of coffee have a will of their own, empty car parking spaces marked with initials are probably the chairman's the interviewer may be a Jehovah's Witness.
- Take no risks.
However you really feel, project an image of confidence and competence - take charge in a gentle way
Do you have advice to give, or experience to share. Your input is always welcome.Get up to Speed
- ...and we are the In-between Generation
- The people who came before us didn't need to confront computers or IT: those who come after us have lived with it all their lives.
- We had a choice, knuckle down and learn about it or to ignore the beast. If we made the wrong decision then there is still time to change it now. We cannot expect the world to change for our convenience
- We have to get up to speed.
- So here's our
of getting up to speed. 
Use every opportunity to use the computer- ...it doesn't bite. Use social networking sites like Retired but Active to get used to communicating over the internet, lock away your typewriter and use your computer for all your correspondence and for household accounts. It will be slow at first but....
Search your local papers and the internet for IT courses- In the UK check out the Government's 'CLAIT' courses and in the States log into the AARP site www.aarp.org and search for 'Computer Training'
- Focus on Word Processing and Spreadsheets; the rest will follow.
Gain Experience- Employers like to see practical experience of using computers in the work-place. Do unpaid voluntary work if necessary, but get behind an office desk and build experience.
The Computer-Based World has Arrived
Woman bitten by computer: Doctors say it was a kilabyteUse the Technology
IT doesn’t only change how we prepare our documents
...it changes the documents we prepare and how we distribute them. In a lifetime of work we've done so much Be careful not to look too strong. Don't frighten off your prospective boss.- three or four achievements per position,
- no more than 3 or four main positions - the other positions in one-liners.
Got experience or expertise to offer? We value your input....Keep it Readable 
Don't forget the covering letter - the only bit they really have to read.- Use subheadings
- Use tables - like this one
...Get it out there Before you do......Vote early - Vote often Use Your Networks
At our age, it is likely that the best job opportunities will be found through our network
- So what is 'our network'?
- Our network is our friends and acquaintances, their friends and acquaintancies, and so on.
- Someone, I don't remember who, calculalated that by extending the network out five times, we're all associated with our head of state.
- Here's the network between a rough old republican like me and the Queen. Note:
- By knowing the Port Director direct I probobly take one stage out of the links
- All the 'others' boxes contain dozens of people and there are probobly more links between me and Herself.
But the point is made!
- So where do we start?
- The first stage is to make a list of everyone we know and their connections: golf clubs, Freemasons, it doesn't matter.
- Then ask those people who they know through their connections and identify anyone in that list who can help you or might know someone who can help you.
- And what now?
- With the permission of your contact you contact your target and ask if you could send him (or her) a CV or could he (or she) recomend someone who might be able to solve your problem.
- What about the other sort of network - the Internet?
- They can be very effective but they exist on 'churn'; processing a lot of people it's easy to find into jobs it's easy to fill.
- We over-50s rarely fit this category but in the Uk try Jobsearch.
- If you have industry skills then there are sites serving your industry - you just have to find them on the internet.
Do you have advice to give, or experience to share. Your input is always welcome.Always ask for another link to keep your network expanding- It all seems a bit pushy for us genteel folk - but you need that job and sitting at home reading the paper isn't going to crack it.