Retirement can be a traumatic experience for most Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and the question, ‘Where to retire?’ often daunts them, says a New Jersey (US) based Retirement Life Specialist.
According to Dr Anita Bist, Indians living abroad have always faced East-West conflicts when adjusting to a new life in a different culture.
“In most cases, these immigrants arrived looking for economic opportunity but when faced with retirement, many of them are torn between wanting to return to their native land or continue staying in their adopted countries with their children and grandchildren,” she said.
Such a predicament is typical of first generation immigrants.
“I am one such,” she said.
Spicy lifestyle
Dr Bist has just released a book titled, ‘Masala for Retirement: How to add Zest to the Rest of your life,’ which reportedly answers many questions that people facing retirement are often afraid to ask.
Masala is a colourful metaphor for all important life areas that constitute a retirement lifestyle, she said.
“There are more than 30 million Indians living abroad according to Census Bureaux worldwide. The US alone accounts for about three million NRIs, while there are more a million people of Indian origin in many other countries including Canada, Britain, South Africa and the Middle East,” she said.
Dr Bist said that NRIs carry with them memories of their younger days and seek to recapture those feelings in the land of their birth as they get older.
We await the arrival of her book for a review.
“Masala for Retirement speaks of the conflict of ‘Where to retire’ that NRIs face when planning their retirement as well as other important issues such as filling retirement time, staying healthy, supplementing retirement income and finding a sense of purpose,” she said.
The book is said to contain case studies, self-assessments and practical steps to plan a successful and meaningful retirement.
Dr Bist is a Retirement Life Specialist, Naturopath and Spiritual teacher, with a doctorate in Naturopathy, an MBA and Certifications in Retirement Coaching.
Email: anita@masalaforretirement.com; Website: www.masalaforretirement.com
