Once you retire, you suddenly have a lot more free time on your hands. While that can sound nice in theory, you may find that you crave something to do. Volunteering in retirement is a wonderful way to spend your extra time, and not just because it’s a way to help others. Volunteering can help you physically, mentally and socially – and you might even live longer as a result.
Why Should Retirees Volunteer?
Many charitable organizations depend on the work of volunteers. When you were employed, you might not have had much time to donate. Now that you’re retired, you can spend more time giving back to your community. You won’t get paid for your time, but you can get a lot out of it.
Here are six things you can achieve by volunteering in retirement.
1. Find a New Purpose
Many working-aged people tie their identity to their job. This is understandable considering how much of your waking time you spend at work, but it can cause something of an identity crisis once you’re ready to retire.
Without a regular schedule and a reason to get out of bed in the morning, some retirees find themselves sinking into depression. In fact, Healthline says the primary cause of retirement depression for most people is a lack of purpose.
Volunteering in retirement can give you a new purpose. When you agree to volunteer, you’re giving yourself a new routine and a reason to get up and ready each morning. You can also feel good knowing that you’re helping others and making a difference in your community.
2. Put Your Skills to Good Use
Perhaps you hated your job and you’re glad to be done with it. However, there’s also a chance that you loved your job. You excelled at what you did, and you genuinely enjoyed using your skills. In retirement, you can continue to use your skills as a volunteer. For example, if you were a teacher, you could volunteer to tutor underprivileged children. Or if you were involved in business or marketing, you could volunteer to help with fundraising activities for good causes.
You can also use skills that aren’t related to your old job. For example, maybe you were an accountant, but you also love animals and are very good with them. You might want to consider volunteering at an animal shelter.
3. Meet New Friends
If your social network revolved around your job, retirement could leave you feeling lonely and socially isolated. This can be a serious problem. According to the National Institute on Aging, loneliness and social isolation are associated with higher risks for many health problems, including dementia, high blood pressure, and heart disease. People who are lonely tend to sleep poorly, drink too much, and exercise too little, putting them at risk for even more health problems.
Adjusting to retired life can be difficult, but it’s possibly to overcome loneliness and isolation by staying active and making connections with others. Volunteering is a great way to get out there and meet people. If you’re volunteering for a cause you are passionate about, the people you meet will likely have similar interests, and that can make it easier to build friendships.
4. Stay Physically Active
The CDC says adults aged 65 and older should get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise every week, plus activities to strengthen muscles at least twice a week and activities to improve balance.
Many types of volunteer work are a great way to stay physically active. If you’re walking dogs and cleaning up parks, you might get all the aerobic exercise you need just through volunteer work.
5. Improve Your Mental Health
Do you feel good about yourself when you help someone else? It’s a natural human reaction.
Because you’re helping others, volunteer work can cause your body to release dopamine, a natural chemical that plays a role in the brain’s reward system. The Mayo Clinic says volunteering can reduce stress and increase positive and relaxed feelings because of this dopamine release.
6. Increase Your Life Span
According to the Mayo Clinic, by reducing stress levels, volunteering can also reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, depression, anxiety and general illness. In fact, people who volunteer have lower mortality rates when compared to people who do not volunteer.
What Type of Volunteer Work Should Retirees Do?
Volunteer work can be extremely rewarding. However, if you hate the volunteer work and you don’t believe in the cause, you might not experience all the benefits. To reap all the rewards of volunteerism, it’s important to find a good match.
- What are you good at? This might be something related to your old job, or it might be related to a hobby. It could also be a natural talent that you’ve always had but never had time to nurture before.
- What type of environment do you want to work in? Some volunteer jobs are done inside, where you get comfortable chairs and air conditioning or heating. Other volunteer jobs are done outside, where you get to enjoy sunshine and nature. Think about what appeals to you.
- How much physical work can you do? If you’re physically fit, a volunteer position that requires movement might be good for you. However, it’s important to be realistic about your physical limitations. Some volunteer jobs can be very physically demanding.
- What are you passionate about? This might be the most important question to ask. Do you want to help children, veterans, the disabled or the poor? Do you want to help animals or save the environment? Are you interested in volunteer work that’s connected to your religion? Volunteer work is often driven by passion, so think about the causes that are near and dear to your heart.
How to Find Volunteer Opportunities for Seniors
Many organizations are always looking for volunteers, so finding volunteer opportunities shouldn’t be hard.
- Reach out to the organizations you’re already involved in. This could be a church you attend, a museum that you’re a member of, or a charity you’ve given money to in the past. Reach out and see if they need any volunteers.
- Find out what your local non-profits need. Find your local animal shelters, food pantries, homeless shelters and other non-profits and see what they need.
- Go online. There are websites that help match volunteers with opportunities. For example, VolunteerMatch lets you look for volunteer opportunities in your area. If you don’t know what type of volunteer work you want to do, you can just browse everything available. You can also focus on opportunities in specific categories, such as arts & culture, education & literacy, or animals.
Just because you no longer earn a paycheck doesn’t mean your days can’t have structure and purpose. Volunteering in retirement is a fantastic way to give back to your community, and it can also help you live a healthier, happier, longer life.
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