Stay-Home Vs Retirement!

Retirement from a job or service acquires a new COVID-19 significance if you had retired at the end of last year, like this writer. Superannuation or retirement-at-60 normally signifies that you had had enough toil and turmoil in offices and now you deserve to relax at home which basically translates to stay home. Normally you don’t smell a rat in being told about staying at home; but when people around you start reacting to your out-of-job status you find that they react in the same-rather abominable-manner. They say, ‘so, you’re retired… you’ll now be sitting at home! Relax and enjoy!’ Now, you see the difference between stay at home and sitting at home, the latter being a ‘looked down upon thing’ rather. You really get dismayed when some of your dear relatives and even your dearest spouse also react in a similar way. Particularly your spouse who has been so much used to your going-to-office every morning without fail that s/he may start getting irritated or finding faults eternally with your sitting-at-home incarnation. You may still get on with your normal activities as earlier, that of marketing, kitchen-assistance and having occasional outings; but the ‘sitting at home’ stigma doesn’t go away. There is a meaning why I’m using the word ‘stigma’. Of course, my intelligent readers must have guessed the ‘significance’ already.

A bit unnerved by the ‘stigma’ you might as well try giving a good fight against: that you are a writer or painter or musician or a professional and so your work would continue or that you explain to them the beauty of the majestic saying ‘you retire from a job only, not from life and work.’ Unfortunately, neither of these would hold water with any of the people or spouse; because whatever be the scenario you’ll perform that from ‘sitting at home’ only.

Your nervous bearings get further hit by the general belief that retired people are mostly useless and spent, and are hardly sought after by anybody except perhaps the life insurance companies. The combination of such ‘forces’ makes a retired soul desperate; they get the feeling that they are unemployed again, and unwanted and so, they try searching for new jobs or engagements. Some of them, fortunately, do find opportunities and accept those gratefully; not because they find those exciting and lovable, but only because of the overpowering urge to avoid ‘sitting at home’. However, they feel very satisfied with one discovery: experience, if not skills, is still valued by some in the society.

Spread of the new Coronavirus or the COVID-19 pandemic has somewhat merged the distinction between ‘stay home’ and ‘sitting at home’, because suddenly everyone, from the busiest professionals to the most gratefully retired the world over, have begun staying at home, and most of them would contest the ‘sitting at home’ syndrome with the stout defense of ‘working from home’ which, in a way, has come as a huge relief for the retired-working. Their stigma gets negated by a disease which was also being considered a stigma; that particular word finally getting neutralized in both cases.

The biggest crisis ever for humankind has taught us the significance and the beauty of ‘home’: where you stay safe and happy always, and from where you can work as well, or perhaps even better than from offices thanks to the state-of-the-art connectivity and the coming of the whole world into a cohesive single unit. More changes in the way we behave or think are bound to come by the time the crisis finally exits, maybe over the next few months or years. For now, people over 60 years of age are specifically advised to stay home irrespective of whether they sit there or work from there. Conclude with a disclaimer: there has been no generalization of the retired people referred to here.

Chinmay Chakravarty is a professional creatively engaged in writing. He

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White Point Estates – Affordable Living and Retirement In Nova Scotia, Canada

Affordable Living and Retirement in Nova Scotia, Canada

If you’re budget-minded, don’t mind a bit of cold weather (or are seeking the perfect warm-weather retreat), love seafood, and have a historic mindset, then Nova Scotia is the place for you.

During the late 19th-century, Nova Scotia beckoned a select group of wealthy families, who traveled by train and steamer to their grand seaside Victorian “cottages” from New York, Boston, Philadelphia and other industrial hotbeds.

Little has changed in 100 years at this summer colony in the North Atlantic: The atmosphere is still somewhat staid, unhurried and family-oriented. The pristine coast is uncrowded and less developed than anywhere in North America; the real estate still costs just a fraction of that in the United States and Europe.

Nova Scotia, located on Canada’s Atlantic coast east of Maine, is shaped like a lobster with its claws grasping toward the remote province of Newfoundland and its tail pointing in the direction of New York and Boston. Latin for “New Scotland,” Nova Scotia is named for its resemblance to the homeland of some its first European settlers. The Scottish print on this land is large, but so is that of the Irish, French and the British–with each culture having left its mark.

About half the size of New York State with a population just under a million, Nova Scotia boasts 3,600-miles of craggy shoreline sprinkled with scenic fishing villages and quaint small towns. Long a destination for vacationers and retirees from throughout Canada, in recent years, the once sleepy region has been attracting American and European transplants with its seductive beauty, rich history, slow pace, proximity to the United States and, of course, affordable real estate.

Perhaps nowhere in Nova Scotia is the official label “Canada’s Ocean Playground” more pronounced than on the South Shore. In the heart of this region along Nova Scotia’s picturesque Lighthouse Route lies White Point Estates, a charming oceanside residential community developed amid White Point Beach Resort & Country Club–once a private lodge for well-heeled outdoorsmen. On prime oceanfront fringed by white sand beaches, lush woodlands and a flowing river, White Point, is a microcosm of the best of Nova Scotia. With its laid-back historic ambience and hypnotic water views, the new seaside enclave seems almost too good to be true.

In the midst of a sprawling 159-room resort with lodges and private cottages and a 9-hole CPGA-rated golf course to boot, White Point offers a variety of lots to build on. They range from 3/4 of an acre to roughly 2 acres and are priced starting at $45,000. Building lot choices offer something for everyone; including gently-sloping wooded spreads and stunning oceanfront (and waterview) sites. Here, in-the-know expatriates and Canadians are buying lots to build vacation and full-time residences in an area where they will rub elbows with cosmopolitan transplants, tourists, seafarers and locals. So far, a handful of lots have been sold, but given their prices and the accompanying amenities, including a a host of services and recreational opportunities, they are sure to go fast. And, White Point will work with you through every step of the home-building process.

Sales of vacation and future retirement properties in places like White Point Estates are booming, real estate specialists say. Cost-conscious and city-weary arrivals from afar increasingly seek respite and new starts in Nova Scotia. No wonder the maritime province is increasingly lighting up the radar screens of those searching for an affordable alternative to traditional vacation, second home and retirement retreats, where rising home prices have left many priced-out of the market.

Since the media–including the likes of Consumer Reports, International Living and CNN–have begun to rate Nova Scotia among the world’s best places to vacation, live and retire, property costs have risen as much as 50% annually in some areas of the province. Yet despite the price increases, property here remains a fraction of what one would pay for similar real estate back home. And with enticements like some of the world’s most spectacular scenery, a relatively temperate climate (winters are milder than the northern U.S.), and a low profile, stress-free lifestyle far from the rat race, wars and terrorism, it’s easy to see why life looks so good under the Maple Leaf.

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