Is your employer force-delaying your retirement? If yes, you have come to the right place. 

Retirement is one of life's biggest chapters for most individuals. It is a step that every working person prepares for their whole life. The whole idea of stepping away from work might sound bizarre, but it is an essential step you should take to improve your health, spend time with family, travel the world and do all the other things you would not have done while at work. 

Typically, an employer is required to let you go whenever you wish to retire. However, that is not always the case for some individuals. Some employers may force-delay your retirement for several different reasons. 

One of the most common reasons your employee may want to extend your tenure is to retain your experience. Hiring and grooming a new employee to understand the company's culture can take lots of time and money. That's why some employers might be reluctant to let you retire when your time comes.

If you are not in a rush to retire, having an employer that won't let you leave can be a good thing. However, other employers might retain you against your will. They often do that by creating difficult situations that prevent you from retiring. For instance, there have been cases where companies delay payments or the distribution of 401(k) benefits. 

If you find yourself in any of the situations mentioned above, it might be a good idea to take a few steps to fix the issue. Here are a few steps you should follow when your employer would not let you retire.

If your employer is force-delaying your retirement, the first step you should take is to give them a chance to explain themselves. Sometimes, a company might try to retain an employee for good reasons. Also, the employer might delay your 401(k) distributions due to a legitimate reason. Here are some of the reasons:

• Eligibility– Certain requirements determine eligibility for the 401(k) distributions. For instance, the policy may specify that the beneficiary reaches a particular age before they can receive the benefits. You can only receive the distributions if the plan policy deems you eligible.
• Frozen 401(k) Account – If your 401(k) account is frozen for reasons, such as pending litigations or company mergers, an employer might legitimately delay your withdrawals.

If your employer does not have a good reason to delay your payments, it may be a good idea to take the issue to the next step. 

Seeking the help of workplace lawyers might be the best course of action to follow if your employer is deliberately delaying your retirement. It is illegal to force-delay someone's retirement, especially when an employer uses tactics such as delaying payments or 401(k) withdrawals.

Workplace attorneys know their way around the employment laws and can help you file an appeal for denied claims. Their expertise will convince your employer to release you and give you what the company owes you.

Conclusion

If you are a valuable employee, some employers might go out of their way to retain your services. However, the decision of whether to remain at work or retire depends on you. 

So, you should take action if a company won't let you retire. 

​According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. has seen a 60% increase in older drivers between 2000 and 2018, with more than 45 million drivers on the road aged 65 and above.

Although older adults tend to drive more safely than younger drivers by adhering to safety rules, driving in safe conditions and refraining from drinking and driving, age-related factors can affect their driving abilities. With declining cognitive function as well as vision it’s important older adults do what they can to stay safe on the road.
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Below are some tips that you can take to ensure your own safety and that of other road users.

Staying physically fit as you get older will help your muscles retain their flexibility and strength which can aid your driving abilities, making it easier to get in and out of the car, grip the steering wheel, turn your neck or look over your shoulder.

Studies have shown that shoulder and forearm rotation are key movements in driving safely so exercises that increase mobility such as yoga or stretching can help keep your joints agile and strong.

Physical activity can be incorporated as part of your daily routine, whether it be going for a short walk, sit-to-stand exercises at home or light strength exercises to condition and strengthen your muscles.

Aging can have an effect on the senses, with hearing and vision declining in particular.  This can present a significant risk when it comes to driving as the senses need to be alert for a driver to respond quickly and effectively in situations such as oncoming emergency vehicles or to unusual sounds from within the car. This can be particularly hazardous in more populous areas as according to the website of Caffee Accident & Injury Lawyers car accidents frequently occur in cities.

Common eye issues such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and cataracts can lead to impaired vision as you age, which can blur vision making it more difficult to drive in reduced light conditions and may also intensify the glare from other car headlights as well as the sun.
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It is important to have regular eye and hearing tests with a specialist to ensure there are no issues or to detect them in their infancy. Often, improvements can be made with corrective eyewear or hearing aids to reduce the risk of an accident while on the road.

Some medications can have side effects such as drowsiness, inability to concentrate and blurred vision which may have a detrimental effect on your driving abilities. Review the guidance on your medication for any adverse side effects and whether it advises against driving while taking it.  If you are unsure, it is best to check with your doctor or pharmacist.

You can improve your road safety and driver skills by taking a refresher course aimed specifically for older adults. This might involve driving lessons in your own car with advice from a qualified instructor on how to improve your driving and remove any bad habits. By improving your driving skills you will also increase your confidence on the road, making you a safer and better driver.
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By following the tips in this article, you can enhance your driving abilities and ensure many more years of motoring.

Sleep has many benefits to our mental and physical health. However, the connection between sleep and eye health is still unclear, partly because vision isn’t a priority to many people when it comes to proactive self-care.

How does sleep affect our vision? What does lack of sleep do to our eye health? How much sleep do you need to maintain good eyesight? This article answers these and more questions that you might have regarding the sleep-vision connection.

When you sleep, your eyes close. This is except for about 20% of people who suffer from a condition known as nocturnal lagophthalmos. Your eyes will retain the ability to sense light after you fall asleep, whether you close them or not, explaining why you will almost always wake you up if someone flashes a bright light in your face.

Beyond that, your brain will not receive any signal from your eyes while you sleep. Even after you kip, it will take up to 30 seconds for the connection to be restored.
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Our bodies experience five sleep phases, grouped into the non-REM and REM (rapid eye movement) stages. We experience eye movement during sleep in the REM stage, which is the shorter and latter of the two. The first stage, non-REM, is further divided into four stages, which combined make up 80% of the sleep cycle.

Dark circles below your eyes are one of the most common signs that you didn’t get enough sleep the previous night. The more significant damage is usually concealed and may not be felt until it has piled enough to affect your overall eye health.

Eye Spasms
Anything less than six to eight hours of sleep per night will take a toll on your vision, even if marginally, and the effects may be long-term. Eye spasms are among the most common effects of insufficient sleep. These are rapid eye twitches that happen when you have eyelid spasms. The spams, also known as myokymia, are typically painless and do not affect your vision. However, they’re highly disruptive and can affect your productivity during the day.

Dry eyes
Without at least seven hours of sleep per day, fluid circulation takes a dip, and the eyes may fail to get enough lubrication. This leads to dry eyes or the worsening of dry eye syndrome if you have it. Usually, you will experience irritation and become more sensitive to light. Some people’s vision becomes blurry until they sleep again.

Also worth noting is that people tend to rub their eyes a lot when they have dryness, which worsens the situation and can cause infection.

Red eyes
Insufficient sleep can also result in the bursting of blood capillaries in your eyes. This is not as painful or grave as it sounds, but the unsightly look of bloodshot eyes can cause self-consciousness.

Glaucoma
Glaucoma is one of the more severe conditions that can result from sleep deprivation. Its sleep-related causes are poor sleep quality, low sleep efficiency, prolonged sleep latency, and short sleep duration. A severe case of glaucoma can cause vision loss. It’s advisable to go for regular eye checkups if you haven’t been sleeping enough.

Ischemic Optic Neuropathy
Consistently getting insufficient sleep deprives your eyes of proper blood flow, putting you at risk for ischemic optic neuropathy (ION). ION is a condition characterized by optic nerve damage, unclear sight, and sharp pain.

There is no way to mitigate the effects of sleep deprivation on your eye health other than getting enough sleep. Here are tips to help you with that:

1. Exercise induces a much-needed “tiredness” and boosts the secretion of sleep hormones like melatonin.
2. A quiet, dark environment devoid of distractions such as television and flickering lights promote the onset of sleep.
3. Creating a bedtime ritual will have the same effect bedtime stories have on children. They will signal your body that it’s time to sleep and have you drifting off faster.
4. An empty, grumbling stomach can keep you awake the whole night, but so can an overly full one. If you’re hungry before bed, consider eating something that will only keep you satisfied until breakfast.

Other measures include de-stressing, avoiding caffeine and alcohol, and seeking treatment for sleep disorders and disruptors such as sleep apnea, GERD, and restless legs syndrome.

​Eyesight is considered our most important sense. By getting enough, quality sleep, you bolster its functioning, keep it healthy, and improve your life.

​Remember the days when you only had two weeks of summer vacation? Well, those days are long gone. You just retired and are ready to see the world. The question is, where do you go first?

Prepping for your vacation is just as important as where you go and what you do when you're there. In fact, how you plan on paying for your retirement vacation needs to be settled prior to booking ticket. If you've been saving up, then all you need to do is check that you have enough to cover everything. If you short on cash and don't want to tap into your retirement fund, you could apply for a personal loan to pay for your vacation. To get the best rates, apply through a private lender instead of going through your bank. They tailor to terms that can fit your budget, and the interest rates are usually lower too.

If you’re ready to see the world but aren’t ready to go abroad, Alaska is a good start point. It’s a completely different place than where you currently live, and you can customize your vacation any way you like. You can go hiking and kayaking, or you can choose to relax in nature and take in Alaska’s beauty. Just remember that it gets extremely cold in winter, so plan your travels to this utopia accordingly.

How can you not want to visit Miami? It’s home to beautiful beaches, vibrant nightlife and an eclectic arts district. You can spend your days working in your tan, or choose to explore the city and do a little retail therapy. Miami has hundreds of quaint boutiques and shops to choose from. If you really want to go all out, you should book a stay at the Four Seasons or Mandarin Oriental. Both hotels are beachfront properties, and offer luxury vacation packages. It’s important to note that as beautiful as Miami is, it can also be expensive.

​The Caribbean is another great place to kick off your retirement. There are numerous idyllic islands to choose from, so do your research and figure out which island is for you and best suits your plans. The food is delicious, and the locals are warm and welcoming. If you want to spend time playing golf, you should check out the Four Seasons resort in Nevis.

What can you say about Italy? It’s rich in history, culture and its Mediterranean climate is perfect. There are plenty of places to visit in Italy, so if you’re planning on spending a few here, you could go on a tour. The top spots to visit include Rome, Milan, Venice and Positano. There are plenty of other regions worth visiting as well. Just keep in mind that major metropolitan areas are better if you don’t speak the language. In smaller towns, it might be difficult to communicate with the locals.

​Paris is another international destination you should visit. In fact, it’s only a four-hour train ride from Paris to Milan, so you could combine the two trips into one longer vacation. Paris is full of expats, so finding someone who speaks English won’t be hard. You should visit the Louvre Museum, sample French cuisine and also try to see the beaches in Normandy.

Lisbon and Algarve are just two must-see regions to visit but there are tons of opportunities to explore Portugal’s best kept secrets also. Lisbon is the capital of Portugal whereas Algarve is more of a laidback beach town. Both have stunning architecture and landscapes to enjoy, in addition to plenty of shopping and entertainment options. There’s a huge digital nomad and expat community in Portugal, so you’ll have no problem finding someone who speaks English.

Many people who retire from their full-time jobs find that they are not quite ready to sit back and do nothing. A lot of those who retire do so because they have reached that age, but this does not mean that you cannot continue to do some work even if it is on a part-time basis to supplement your pension and to keep you busy.
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In fact, more and more people who retire are starting to take on part-time work, as this is a good way to break yourself into the new way of life with no full-time job commitments. Going directly from full-time work to retirement can be a shock to the system but getting something part-time can make it easier to transition. In addition, this means you can boost your income and enjoy the flexibility of part-time working for a while before you retire completely.

​There are lots of options available if you want a part-time career, so you need to consider your interests and preference. You can get resume help and create a great resume to help you to get work with an employer, or you can even work for yourself from the comfort of your own home. Below are some options you can consider:

One of the things that you can consider is getting a simple part-time job with an employer. This means that you won’t have the stress of your full-time job and you can enjoy more free time. At the same time, you can break yourself into retirement gently and continue to earn money in addition to your pension. You can apply for jobs based on your experience and qualifications or simply based on ease and convenience.

​Another thing that you can do is to work for yourself offering services to others. For instance, if you consider yourself good with DIY, you could offer basic repair services and DIY services in your local area. If you are a great cook, you could offer part-time catering or cake-baking services. You could even put your creative skills to good use and do things such as selling homemade greetings cards to others. There are plenty of options that you can consider if you want to set up your own little home business.

For those who are confident about using the internet, you could also consider part-time online working, and you can offer services based on your skills and qualifications. There are all sorts of services that you can offer online on a part-time basis such as content writing, bookkeeping and accountancy, or even becoming an online seller. You only need a computer and internet access to get started with many online jobs, so it is well worth considering whether this is something that you can do.
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These are just some of the options that you can consider if you want to stay busy and earn money after you retire.

When we’re injured or unwell, we may not recover as quickly as we might have when we were younger with faster cell regeneration. However, even though getting older may mean your recovery journey is slower, that doesn’t mean it has to come to a grinding halt. You may be able to help yourself by doing some of the following things:

You may be surprised at how beneficial it can be to rely on experts for help while recovering from an accident. For example, a law firm like Onder Law can fight for your right to compensation so that you can afford the care you need.

You can also tap into many different resources like home help for meal preparation, cleaning, and gardening, and specialists for health and medical treatments. People with expertise in recovering from an accident or injury can be a guiding light through what may be one of the most challenging times of your life.

If a medical professional has advised you to rest, relax, and take it easy while recovering, try not to go against doctors’ orders. You might need to hire someone to take care of your property to avoid hurting yourself and even stop engaging in your regular exercise routines for a while, such as long walks, cycling, swimming, and intensive social activities.
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While a slow transition back into these activities is likely sensible for muscular strength, allow medical professionals to advise when it’s safe to do so.

As your body recovers from painful injuries, it never hurts to give it a helping hand. Encourage the healing process through healthy food choices. For example, you might eat more leafy greens that are packed full of folate, magnesium, and manganese, and even include more vitamin C-rich food that helps with wound healing.
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Some excellent foods to include in your diet during the recovery process and at any other time are green vegetables, eggs, salmon, berries, poultry, and nuts and seeds.

It’s never easy trying to recover after an injury or even surgery, especially when you can feel like your independence has been taken away. Don’t be afraid to rely on friends, family, and partners for support during this challenging time. Social visits may help you cheer up, and you may even be able to rely on them for errands like groceries and medication.

Depending on how you were injured, you may be suffering mentally as well as physically. While you likely have plenty of medical professionals assisting with wound care and physiotherapy, don’t underestimate the importance of mental health support to help with depression, sadness, anger, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety.

If you need to, make an appointment with a therapist who can listen to your concerns and provide helpful tools and coping mechanisms. While you’re healing physically, you can also be healing mentally at the same time.

Recovering from an injury or surgery can be challenging, especially when you don’t recover as well as you used to. However, by focusing on your diet, surrounding yourself with a support network, and taking it slow, you may be on the journey to improved health in no time.

Also referred to as a life plan community, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) offers everything that older adults need during various stages of aging. These communities address seniors' unique needs after retirement, such as housekeeping, transport, meals, fitness, and wellness programs. Below are important things you might not know about CCRCs.

Even couples that have lived together and aged together won't develop the same conditions or have the exact same needs. The declining health of one partner shouldn't be a cause for separation, and many retirement communities accept and accommodate couples.
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If one partner is in good health, but the other suffers a stroke or develops a chronic condition, caring for their partner might prove difficult. Juggling between doctor's visits, timing medications, providing personal care, and maintaining the house is overwhelming, and might lead to isolation and the onset of health problems.

If sending your spouse to a retirement facility alone isn't appealing, most facilities have options that allow couples to share with the residence while receiving care and assistance. Most retirement communities have one and two-bedroom units with different floor plans for couples.

Similarly, pets are also welcomed to these centers. Generally, animals help reduce stress and blood pressure while increasing physical activity and social interactions for old adults.​

Most retirement communities don't provide a general experience to all residents. Instead, you get to choose the level of care based on your unique needs. At Riverview Retirement Community, residents can choose between:

• Independent living
• Assisted living
• Memory care

Independence is best for aging citizens who want to live a free life after retirement. Here, you won't have to worry about maintaining your house or yard. Seniors who need assistance with their daily activities can choose assisted living options. Facility staff provides care and assistance according to your needs. Memory care is best for old adults who need compassionate care.
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The benefit of choosing a community with all levels of care is that you won't have to move if your status changes. For instance, suppose you chose the independent living option on admission, but your health condition changes some years later, necessitating assisted living services, you will get these services within the community.

​Most people mistake retirement communities for nursing homes. Unknown to them, retirement communities and senior apartments are far from their antiquated misconceptions. Modern retirement communities are designed to meet aging adults' physical, emotional, mental, and social needs.
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This loosely translates to beautiful décor, good meals, exercising opportunities, professional staff, onsite entertainment, and endless opportunities of connecting with peers. A recent report concluded that seniors consider the quality of services when choosing a retirement community. Fortunately, this is what current retirement communities focus on.

​Whether you are looking for perfect retirement ideas for you, your spouse, or your parents, which allow them to maintain their independence, retirement communities are an ideal solution. These facilities also care for seniors who need assisted living services, memory issues, such as dementia, and other old-age associated conditions.