The Top Seven Retirement Activities, Part 4

We’re continuing our series on the Top Seven Retirement Activities—the key habits and routines that make for a fun, meaningful, and well-rounded life after work.

So far, we’ve covered:

• #1: Exercise and Staying Healthy
• #2: Building and Maintaining Strong Social Connections
• #3: Some Form of Work (Parts A and B)

If you missed any of these, be sure to go back and check them out to catch up.

Now it’s time to dive into the fourth essential activity.

We’ve touched on this one a bit here and there in this series, but it’s important enough to call out and discuss on its own…

4. Challenge Your Mind

I recently heard a podcast where the interviewee was talking about a survey he had taken. It asked older people what their main concern was in life. One of the top responses was concern about their minds and how to keep them healthy.

It’s something worth consideration, of course. After all, who wants all the money and time in the world and yet doesn’t have their mind strong? It’s a sad place to be in. 

What Can We Do?

In this post we’ll be talking about doing what we can do to keep our minds sharp. That said, some people may do all of this and still be doomed by their genes.

In addition, unfortunately, there seems to be little consensus on how you keep your mind healthy – at least as far as anything we can definitively prove works. 

But here are some suggestions from the Mayo Clinic  on what “you can do to help slow any decline in memory and lower your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias”:

1. Exercise regularly.

2. Get plenty of sleep.

3. Eat a Mediterranean diet.

4. Stay mentally active.

5. Remain socially involved.

6. Keep your blood vessels healthy.

We have covered all of these so far in this series except for #4. And that’s what this post is about. 😉

Just to be overly clear, if you’re following the tips given in the previous posts in this series, you are exercising, getting plenty of sleep, eating well, remaining socially active, and keeping yourself healthy. So you have a head start as you’ve already been doing several things to keep your mind strong.

In this post, we’re going to build upon those with some extra things you can do.

None of them are proven (with certainty) but many are directionally positive and they don’t harm you, so why not try them and give yourself the best shot possible of having a healthy mind for a long, long time?

Here’s what the Mayo Clinic says about “staying mentally active”:

Your brain is similar to a muscle — you need to use it or lose it. There are many things that you can do to keep your brain in shape, such as doing crossword puzzles or Sudoku, reading, playing cards or putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Consider it cross-training your brain. Incorporate different types of activities to increase the effectiveness.

Most health care teams don’t recommend the paid brain-training programs available. These programs often overpromise results or focus on memorization skills that aren’t useful in everyday life. Your brain can get just as good of a workout through reading or challenging yourself with puzzles. Finally, don’t watch too much TV, as that is a passive activity and does little to stimulate your brain.

We’ll get to the things you can do to keep your brain in shape in a moment, but let’s address TV first, the mind-numbing, life-sucking activity that seems to be a “favorite” of retirees and can be very bad for your brain.

TV Can Be a Killer

Here’s a US News and World Report piece on how retirees spend their time. Some “highlights”:

Watching television is the most popular leisure activity for retirees. People age 65 and older watch an average of 4.6 hours of TV each day, compared with about two hours among people ages 25 to 44, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. TV viewing increases in the years leading up to retirement, with people ages 55 to 64 tuning in for an average of 3.33 hours of screen time daily.

I’ll comment in a minute but for now let’s compare this to other retirement activities:

• • Home maintenance: Many retirees are interested in improving their homes, and those age 65 and older spend nearly two-and-a-half hours per day doing so, the most of any age group.
  • Working: Many people continue to work after age 65. Those ages 65 to 74 spend an average of just over an hour each day working for pay.
  • Meals: Retirees spend 1.3 hours each day eating and drinking, lingering a few minutes longer over meals than the overall population. 
  • Shopping: People between ages 65 and 74 spend about three-quarters of an hour per day shopping in person, on the phone and online.
  • Volunteering: Retirees spend an average of a little under a half-hour volunteering each day or engaged in other civic or religious activities, significantly longer than other age groups spend helping others.
  • Reading: People ages 75 and older spend about 41 minutes per day turning pages, the most of any age group.
  • Various communications: Retirees also spend about 15 minutes per day communicating with others via telephone calls, mail and email.
  • Socializing: Older people spend about 30 minutes per day interacting with friends and neighbors, which is about the same amount of time as younger people.
  • Relaxing: People age 65 and older spend almost 30 minutes each day relaxing.
  • Exercising: Time spent exercising accounts for an average of 17 minutes per day for those 65 and older.

BTW, this article is about how “retirees” spend their time, but it often quotes “those 65 and over”. Those two groups are not exactly the same, so I’m not sure what they are actually reporting, though their results are likely close, especially given the work numbers.

Here’s another post that reports similar though slightly different numbers.

My thoughts:

• Overall, this is a sad state of affairs. Do people retire to watch TV and just waste away? There’s not much else going on in their lives!
• The TV is way out of control IMO. I would personally say two hours a day (a movie) is enough if that’s all you’re doing (watching.) If you’re doing something else as well (like exercising and watching TV), then extra time is ok.
• Are retirees living in run-down places or do they simply like to fiddle around? I don’t think I could spend 2.5 hours a day on home maintenance if I had to. Maybe they include basic tasks like cleaning, yard maintenance, laundry, etc.
• My dad’s major activity before moving to The Villages (other than TV) was shopping. He’d go to Walmart or Menards to “see what was going on.” He still does some of that down there, but much less than he did in Iowa.
• The rest of the numbers tell a sad, sad tale IMO.

If you’re still not convinced, I asked ChatGPT why watching too much TV was bad for retirees. Here’s what I got:

While the occasional TV binge can be relaxing, watching a ton of TV every day in retirement can be harmful to both your mental and physical well-being. Here’s why:

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1. It’s Passive, Not Engaging

Watching TV is a passive activity—your brain isn’t actively thinking, problem-solving, or interacting. Over time, too much passive consumption can lead to mental stagnation and even contribute to cognitive decline.

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2. It Replaces Healthier Habits

Excessive TV often crowds out time that could be spent doing things that promote well-being:

• • Socializing
  • Exercising
  • Reading or learning
  • Volunteering or engaging in hobbies

When TV becomes the default, other more enriching activities fall away.

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3. It Can Lead to Isolation

TV is typically a solo activity, especially if you’re living alone. Over time, watching hours of TV instead of connecting with others can contribute to social isolation, a major risk factor for depression and even early death.

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4. It Encourages a Sedentary Lifestyle

Sitting for long periods—especially daily—is directly linked to:

• • Weight gain
  • Heart disease
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Reduced mobility

Retirees who watch too much TV often end up moving less, which accelerates health decline.

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5. It Dulls Motivation

The more TV you watch, the more tempting it becomes to do nothing else. It becomes a habit that’s easy but unfulfilling. Over time, it may lower your energy, reduce your curiosity, and rob you of the drive to try new things.

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6. It Can Trigger Negative Emotions

Depending on the content, excessive TV watching (especially news or sensationalized shows) can increase stress, anxiety, or fear—especially for retirees who already have health or financial worries.

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7. It Doesn’t Add Long-Term Value

TV rarely provides lasting satisfaction or personal growth. It may entertain in the moment, but it doesn’t:

• • Build relationships
  • Develop skills
  • Contribute to purpose
  • Improve health or wealth

In contrast, things like volunteering, exercising, or learning something new continue to pay dividends in retirement.

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In Summary:

Watching some TV is fine—it can be entertaining and even educational. But when it becomes the primary way you spend your time, it quietly chips away at the pillars of a fulfilling retirement: purpose, connection, activity, and growth.

Retirement isn’t about killing time—it’s about using it well.

That last point is what really gets me. Do you want to mindlessly sit in front of the TV year in and year out and watch your life slowly drain away?

Or would you rather have an active, diverse, challenging, and interesting lifestyle that helps you live a happier and healthier retirement for a longer period of time?

Better Options

Anyway, let’s forget what the average person does. We’re here to forge our own paths and create awesome retirements!

So let’s move on to what you can do to challenge your mind and stay mentally active (other than what we’ve already covered in this series). I’ll tell you what I do (including what we’ve covered) as well as offer some other suggestions.

How I Challenge My Mind

Here’s what I do (some things we’ve covered in previous posts):

• Exercise – Right now I’m a bit hampered physically, but am getting better. I swim seven times a week for half n hour and walk 10k steps or more. I’m working to get back into weight training and a bit more cardio.
• Sleep – Eight hours a night at least. I get this most nights.
• Diet – I am pretty good 80-90% of the time – my wife makes sure of that.
• Social – If anything I have too many friends. lol. We see our kids at least once a week as we live 5 minutes from them.
• Health – Annual check-ups, 2X dentist visits a year, and annual dermatologist visits.
• Read – Lots of reading in various forms: mostly online (Apple News+) and Millionaire Money Mentors (MMM.)
• Work – ESI Money and MMM. Learning new things (technology, new studies on money, etc.), challenged by writing posts (and defending my point of view on MMM – hahaha), and so on.
• Sudoku – I do one every morning.
• YouTube – I am always watching something there to learn about technology, the world, history, and so on. We do as much watching YT for education as we do TV for entertainment.
• Strategy games – I do two chess puzzles and play a few games (blitz against the computer) every day.
• Word games – We subscribe to The NY Times word games and my wife and I do those together every night.

There’s probably more, but you get the idea.

In the end, we all need activities that make us think, feed our brains, and challenge us. We either use our minds or lose them.

Ideas to Keep Your Mind Sharp

How about you? What are you doing to challenge your mind?

If you need some ideas, check out my list of retirement activities and try some.

Here are some you might want to pay particular attention to (in addition to the ones I do – which I happen to think are pretty great, lol):

• Take classes – Enroll in community college, university extension courses, or online platforms. I may check into this myself as we have some awesome educational programs close to where we live (Duke, UNC, NC State, etc.)
• Join a book club – Reading and discussing books engages critical thinking and improves memory.
• Attend lectures or workshops – Local libraries, museums, and senior centers often host free or low-cost learning events.
• Pick up a new hobby – Learning a musical instrument, foreign language, or new craft stimulates new areas of the brain.
• Try cooking new cuisines – Engages problem-solving and memory through multitasking and recipe recall. Plus can be very tasty (haha) and help you get/stay healthy.
• Take up gardening, photography, or painting – These combine creativity, planning, and with gardening, physical activity.
• Mentor students or professionals – Keeps you sharp while helping others.
• Serve on a nonprofit board – Involves strategic thinking and decision-making.
• Teach or tutor – Reinforces your own knowledge and hones communication skills.
• Write – Keep a journal, start a blog or contribute articles – I can attest that these force you to think critically and stay informed.
• Have meaningful conversations – Regular social interaction has been shown to lower the risk of cognitive decline.
• Join clubs or discussion groups – Stay engaged with like-minded peers.
• Replace TV time with more interactive content – Try documentaries, TED Talks, or educational YouTube channels that require attention and thinking.

There are a gazillion other ideas and possibilities. Please share what you do (or plan to do) to keep your mind healthy in retirement below in the comments.

Additional ESI Money posts to read for more on this subject include:

• The New Retirementality, Retirement Survey and The Vitamin Cs of Successful Aging – Discusses the importance of mental stimulation in retirement and offers suggestions like reading, learning new technologies, and engaging in creative pursuits to maintain cognitive health.
• What Will You Do All Day in Retirement? – Emphasizes the need for planning daily activities that challenge the mind, such as blogging, writing, or other intellectually engaging tasks.
• Three Retirement Needs You Must Satisfy – Highlights the necessity of having a plan and purpose in retirement to keep both the body and mind sharp, stressing the importance of mental engagement.
• Five Learnings from Five Years in Retirement – Shares personal experiences on the importance of staying mentally active through writing, engaging with online communities, and continuous learning.
• How to Have a Purposeful Retirement, Part 2 – Provides insights into creating a meaningful retirement by engaging in activities that challenge the mind and contribute to personal growth.

To read more on this series, check out part 5 here.