Congratulations! You’ve finally retired and are ready to settle into your life of freedom. We’re here to help you do that.
Arizona hosts several retirement communities, and now that you’re retired, you may be considering moving into one. Wickenburg Ranch, as one of the most luxurious retirement communities in Arizona, can give you the community you need to enjoy the retirement you’ve earned.
With our tips for a happy retirement, you can’t go wrong.
1. Simplify Your Life
You’ve worked hard your whole life. Between supporting your family and holding down a job in an unstable economy, you’re stressed and tired.
Now that you’re retired, it’s time to take a hard look at your life and decide what you need and what you don’t. And what you want or don’t want in your life.
So simplify.
If you have too many projects sitting around, get rid of some. If your house has a lot of maintenance that you can’t do or don’t want to do, sell it. If you want to live closer to your family, move closer to them.
Moving is a great way to simplify your life, especially if you move into one of Arizona’s retirement communities. Moving forces you to go through everything you have in your life to figure out what you really want, but it also means gaining a new community and purpose in your life.
2. Head to the Heat
Heading to a warm, relaxing place is a hallmark of retirement. And you won’t find somewhere warmer than retirement communities in Arizona.
No more will you have to worry about shoveling snow or slipping on ice. Instead, take in the year-round warmth of Arizona’s desert while you enjoy sitting by the pool or hopping in a golf cart to the next hole.
After all, nothing makes retirement better than having warm, clear weather all year long.
3. Buy Your Dream House
Now that you’re retired, you don’t have to base where you live on your job location. You can move closer to family or head to the warmth of retirement communities in Arizona.
Retirement communities offer high-quality homes to their residents. These homes are designed to build community between the residents and, at Wickenburg Ranch, to enhance and match the community’s surroundings.
Most retirement communities provide various floorplans for residents to choose from. For example, Wickenburg Ranch has floorplans specific to different parts of the community, but they also have an area of the community with highly customized homes.
The best part is these homes are fairly affordable, depending on how customized the house is and which floorplan has been chosen. To give you an idea of a baseline, Wickenburg Ranch starts pricing their homes at $200,000.
So build yourself a dream home – but do it in an affordable, convenient way in a retirement community.
4. Join a Community
When you retire, you no longer have a social life built into your workplace. To have a good social life, you probably have to go look for it.
What you don’t want to do is abandon any sort of social life. Having no social life can bring loneliness and lack of purpose. If you want to enjoy a happy retirement, build a social life into it.
One of the best ways to do that is by moving to a retirement community in Arizona. Retirement communities give their residents personal homes, but also offer countless activities and venues for meeting new people.
If you want your retired social life to be simpler, a retirement community is your best choice for building up a rich social life.
5. Embrace the Active Lifestyle
The last thing you want to do when you retire is let yourself go. After all your time in the office, you deserve to make the most of your life. So don’t sit around on the couch watching TV and doing nothing else. That might be relaxing for a day or so, but it won’t be fulfilling.
Instead, find some new activities. You could try taking a morning walk or run every day. Or start biking. Arizona has lots of hiking trails, so you could take some time exploring nature. You might even take up horseback riding on those trails instead.
And if the outside isn’t for you but you want to stay active, try joining a gym. Many retirement communities have gyms on their premises, which makes finding a gym simple.
However you choose to be active, set up an active routine and stick with it. You’ll feel happier and stronger, and you’ll have plenty of energy to keep you going through any other activities you want to try.
6. Learn to Relax
This is for you workaholics out there. After retiring, you can sometimes feel like you are being lazy or unproductive. Or maybe you just feel a constant need to be working on something – a project, a business, a goal.
And those are good things to do.
But you’ve been working for decades, and now you have a chance to rest. So learn to relax.
You could go to the pool, wade around, soak in the sun, and read a book. Try out a spa, (many retirement communities in Arizona have one) and get a massage or manicure. Or just sit in the park with your dog, chatting with family and neighbors, watching the world go by.
Remember, it’s healthy for our bodies and minds to relax. Take some time for yourself, and let the stress go.
7. Taste Fine Dining
What if you could eat amazing food, sample delicious wine or other drinks, and not have to be the one cooking?
Of course, you could travel around the world eating all the best foreign foods, but that gets to be pretty expensive after a bit.
This tip is something retirement communities can help you with. Retirement communities in Arizona, like Wickenburg Ranch, have high-quality restaurants available for their residents. Sit near a golf course, take in the views, and enjoy your diverse menus and carefully selected range of drinks.
8. Take Day Trips
If traveling the world isn’t in your budget, try taking day trips. Day trips are a great way to get out of the house and spend some time experiencing new things.
Visit a nearby museum, do some shopping, hike a mountain, learn about historical sites, or experience new cultures. You could also take your grandkids to the zoo or lake.
But to do these things, you need to live in a community that is near both the outdoors and a city. Otherwise, your options for day trips may be limited.
Some retirement communities in Arizona are better placed than others. Before you rush to move into a community, check the surrounding areas for potential day trips so you know that you are in the best place for you.
9. Lower Your Golf Score
Another hallmark of retirement is golf, and for good reason. Golf is a great way to spend time outdoors while being active, and when you’re retired, you actually have the time to go through all 18 holes without rushing. You can finally take the opportunity to improve your golf skills and score.
If you’re a golfer or want to be a golfer, try moving to a retirement community that includes a golf course. As part of the community, you should have full access to the course year-round. And living in a warm place means the weather almost never gets in the way of your golf game.
A top golf course in Arizona and the country is Big Wick, an 18-hole, 71-par course that can be both fun and challenging. For a smaller course, try the Li’l Wick, a 9-hole course that fits all levels of golfers and has nighttime lighting for anyone wanting to keep golfing after the sun is down.
10. Try New Hobbies
Not only does retirement give you the time to golf, but it also gives you the time to learn new hobbies. And in an Arizona retirement community, that’s a pretty simple feat.
Like we’ve said in this article, retirement communities offer lots of activities to their residents. When you move to one of these communities, take a look at what they offer and pick something new to try.
You could try your hand at art. You could get into swimming laps. Or take a cooking class. Even do some outdoor yoga or stargazing. Spend some time at sports courts learning pickleball.
Just try something new and get out of your comfort zone. It’s a great way to make retirement more meaningful.
11. Gather Your Family
Moving to a retirement community doesn’t mean cutting off family or friends. And with a new home in Arizona, you’ll be ready to host your family anytime they come over.
Your home will have plenty of space for everyone, you’ll have stunning views to share with your kids, and plenty of activities to include the grandkids in.
Retirement should be a time to bring your family closer to you, no matter how far apart you live.
12. Decide Now
Moving is a big decision, but the sooner you decide that moving to a retirement community in Arizona is right for you, the sooner you’ll have the retirement you’ve been dreaming of.
As one of the top-ranked retirement communities in Arizona, with award-winning amenities and a nationally ranked golf course, Wickenburg Ranch would like to invite you to take a tour of our facilities today. Our location in the Wickenburg mountains put us near mountains, hikes, the nearby town of Wickenburg, and we’re only a short drive away from Phoenix.
Come see if Wickenburg Ranch is the right community for you, and we’ll look forward to seeing you soon.