Explore Best Volunteering Opportunities for Seniors in India

Volunteering is greatly rewarding for everyone, especially for seniors and retirees. It makes you think that you accomplish something and you are giving it back to the society. Volunteering opportunities for seniors in India also provide you the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends and take a break from your regular life.  You can volunteer for a day or two or a week and sometimes even for a few hours a day. It is true that older adults who volunteer are said to be endowed with greater well-being.

Volunteer Opportunities for Retirees

If you love volunteering, here are some of the things that you can try to make the best of your time.

·       Work and volunteer for animals- The love that animals show to human is completely selfless. So, it is only fair that if you love animals you can go ahead and do your bit for animals too. Animal shelters are an obvious choice for animal lovers. Whether you want to foster a pet or provide help care for animals at the shelter, and a large number of other tasks also.

·       Volunteer at helping others at providing income tax returns for others- If you would like to volunteer you can help low-income families or seniors by offering them to help in the preparation of their income tax returns.

·       Mentoring young students- If you want to volunteer, you can also mentor students online. Your wealth of experience, professional as well as personal can help influence the young person’s live positively. E-mentoring has an almost similar impact as face to face mentoring. Helping them with the various day to day problems and also helping them choose the right career path can bring a great transformation in a young person’s life. 

·       Creative help- Whether you had a career in the creative field or your hobbies always veered towards creativity.  You may try your hand at photography or graphic designing, doing something which has always been interesting and fun will help you invest into it mentally and it will also prove to be more sustainable. 

Volunteering can make you feel good from the inside. After retirement, you must have had enough time and opportunity to do something selfless which would be good for not only you but also to others. You can select volunteering opportunities in India at various websites and newspapers. Choose the one which you like and start offering your valuable services.

Senior Citizen Savings Scheme - How it Takes Care of your Finances

When it comes to retirement planning, the best thing to do is start early. Your investment will have a great impact on your life when you need it most. This is the time when your salary stops being credited to your bank account. So, the best way to plan your finances is to start early. A proper planning will help you save money for your future and for emergency situations. 

Reliable Retirement Plans – Secure Your Future

Check out some of the below-mentioned retirement plans, which will help you garner the right funds when the time is ripe. 

•ELSS funds: The equity-linked mutual funds is what everyone is investing in for higher returns and ELSS scheme is really lucrative as it has the lowest lock-in period, only 3 years. It is a good option for you to try as it helps beat inflation and ensures good returns, as they invest in stock markets. Another key feature of ELSS funds is they only become tax-free after you hold them for more than a year.

•Public Provident Fund (PPF): This is a very popular tax-saving investment. There are more advantages to this scheme as it offers guaranteed returns, it becomes tax-free as it matures and it shields your capital too. The only disadvantage is its long lock-in period, it is 15 years.

•National Pension System (NPS): This is an equity-based scheme and the maximum exposure to equity is 50%. The disadvantage of the NPS is that you can withdraw the money only after you retire retirement and it is fully taxable. Also, you have to use a mammoth portion of your corpus, read 40% to buy the annuity after your retirement. 

•Tax-saving fixed deposits:  These works for most retired persons as it has a lock-in period of five years and offers great returns besides offering capital protection.

Besides the retirement planning schemes, discussed above there are also Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme. This investment is suitable for seniors who are either equal to or are over the age of 60. Voluntary retirees can also invest in it as they reach the age of 55. You can open a joint account with your wife. The uppermost limit is Rs. 15, 00,000 and it does not matter how many accounts you have. The current rate of interest is 8.5%. The interest is paid quarterly. 

 So amongst a plethora of retirement plans, which one should you choose? Whatever you choose you to have to realize that you need diversification and your future should be secure and the Senior Citizen’s Savings Scheme offers just that.

Know Before You Go: Travel Tips For Seniors

To most of us, retirement means staying at home and not being brave or adventurous enough to travel to different places. But times are indeed changing and with improved medical care and more facilities for the seniors making traveling easy, senior citizens are breaking the stereotypes and attempting to explore the world!

 While traveling is indeed a great way for the seniors to enjoy their retired life. Proper planning is indeed essential to ensure that things move smoothly. Here are the five travel tips for seniors to make the most of their travel time. 

1. Research more about travel destination and other nitty-gritty: Planning out ahead is almost half the job done. The list of things to research for includes information about the hotel, the area, the mode of travel, the places to visit, the weather, altitude and so on. Planning ahead ensures you get the best of the trip and avoid mishaps or other troubles. Also, if you need any particular travel specifications such as a wheelchair, product allergies, food allergies or specific medical facilities, do remember to share it with the management where you would stay.

2. Keep Proper Documentation handy: If you are traveling to far off places, it is imperative to keep all the important files of medical reports and prescriptions, besides of course the passports, visas and other identification documents handy. Remember it is always better to opt for travel insurance, to protect yourself from any mishap or emergency.

3. Pack all Medications: Replenish your stock of the medicines for the entire vacation. Pack extra medicines, if you decide to stay extra. Get a thorough medical check-up done before you embark on your traveling journey to ensure that you are fit and fine to take up the travel.

4. Pack light: When you are traveling it is better that you stick to essentials and not go overboard in packing extra. Keep the medicines in your handbag so that you can get easy access during the journey. Pack well keeping in mind the current weather of the place you will be visiting.

5. Stay safe: Remember to keep family members in the loop if you have planned for a solo trip. Keep the emergency numbers handy. It is always better that you tie up with travel groups. Don’t pack up too many expensive items like watches, gold and so on.  Have more than one accesses to money.

6. Eat light: Do not go overboard on food, try to eat light. Avoid eating food like junk or sweets and stick to your regular eating plan as much as you can. This will help avoid any stomach upsets or infection or allergies. Also, keep clean bottled water handy to stay hydrated.

7. Have fun: Lastly stop worrying too much, just try and have a good time. Bond with other fellow travelers and make beautiful memories, and try not to overtire yourself. So, ensure your itinerary is light and fun.

Follow the above traveltips for senior citizens to make your journey interesting, fun and safe! Bon, voyage!