I created a research guide for my LIS course on Information Services and Resources. Since I was coming to the end of a very jam-packed semester and also was recovering from a rather brutal respiratory virus, I decided to do my project on tropical island retirement. As it happens it was not all dreams of leisure. There are a number of legal, financial and psychological considerations around retiring, whether your destination includes the tropics or not.
1. A Tropical Island Retirement
By Noreen Whysel
LIS 652 Information Services and Resources
Professor Brooke Watkins
2. Overview
What is Retirement?
Who Retires?
Which Island?
What to Do on Your Island?
How Would You Meet People?
What Are Some Benefits and Restrictions?
Are You Ready to Retire?
3. What is Retirement?
Various definitions of retirement may indicate differing
expectations of what retired life entails.
Understanding what retirement means can help a patron
decide if they are ready and what to expect.
7. Additional Context
Retirement as a Career Stage
“Workers face new choices as they approach the
retirement stage of their careers….[F]ew blue-collar
workers choose to stay at the job beyond the customary
retirement age of 65. Instead, an increasing number of
workers retire and then take part-time jobs. This trend
may be caused by the early retirement incentives many
firms offer to employees. The practice has also
contributed to the growing number of older workers who
are employed on a part-time basis.”
Source: industrial relations. (2013). In Britannica Online.
8. Additional Context
Notes on Aging (human aging)
“I retired from active teaching at Harvard 22 years
ago, when I was 68 years old. This was more formal than
real…. [A]fter “retirement” the university—
faculty, students, and functions—continued to require of
me about the same effort as it had previously. Much work
for somewhat less money. I thought I would have more
time for writing; retirement made little difference.”
Source: Notes on Aging. (2013). In Britannica Online.
9. Who Retires?
Demographics of Retired Populations
Average Age at Retirement
Average Income and Net Worth
Marital Status
Disability Status
Educational Background
Sources
Alamanacs
Statistical Abstracts
10. Who Retires?
Statistical Abstract of the United States
Gale General OneFile
Google Search
United Nations, World Health Organization
Urban Institute, NYC Department for the Aging
Academic Research (Scopus, ISI Web of
Knowledge, Google Scholar)
12. Who Retires?
Clark, D. E., Knapp, T. A., & White, N. E. (1996). Personal
and location-specific characteristics and elderly
interstate migration. Growth and Change, 27(3), 327-351.
Retrieved from www.scopus.com
Le Serre, D. (2008). Who is the senior consumer for the
tourism industry? Amfiteatru Economic, 10(SUPPL. 2), 195-
207. Retrieved from www.scopus.com
Smith, K. &Toder, E. (November 2005). “Changing
demographics of the retired population,” Older
American’s economic security. Washington, DC: The
Urban Institute.
13. Which Island?
Where?
Is the patron looking anywhere in the world or must the
island be in the United States?
The United States has tropical island territories in the
Caribbean, South Pacific, as well as the state of Hawaii and
many islands in southern continental States.
Geographic Resources
Maps
Travel Guides
Travelogues
14. Which Island?
Frommer’s, Fodor’s, Lonely Planet
Visitor Guides and Regional Newspapers
Statistical Abstract of the United States
USGS National Atlas
Physical geography
U.S. territorial acquisitions
Gale General OneFile
15. Which Island?
Access to services
Assisted versus independent living
Medical care
Future needs
Resources
Retirement Living Information Center
AssistedLivingFacilities.com
Care.com
State departments on aging and housing
16. What To Do?
Travel Guides
Local Newspapers and Visitor guides
Gale Directory of Newspapers and Broadcast Media
Gale InfoTrac Newsstand
Newseum’sToday’s Front Pages
Locally produced visitor guides and community papers
17. How to Meet People?
Event listings
Alumni Associations
Trade Associations
ALA Chapters
American Library Directory
18. Benefits & Restrictions?
Retirement Income
Social Security
Investments
Medicare
Retirement Expenses
Housing Expenses
Living Expenses
Health Expenses
Recreation, Entertainment
19. Benefits & Restrictions?
General Resources
Encyclopedia of Retirement (2003)
U.S. Resources
USA.gov
Social Security Administration
Department of Labor
Banks and Financial Planning consultants
International Resources
EmbassyWorld.com
Foreign Government Resources on the Web (U of Michigan)
Source: Guide to Reference
20. Are You Ready to Retire?
Emotional and Financial Preparation
“…older people are increasingly being forced into
retirement before their productive years are
over, causing problems in their psychological
adaptations to old age. Retirement is not regarded
unfavourably in all instances, but its economic limitations
tend to further remove older people from the realm of
influence and raise problems in the extended use of
leisure time and housing. As a consequence, financial
preparation for retirement has become an increased
concern for individuals and society. ”
Source: old age. (2013). In Britannica Online.
21. Are You Ready to Retire?
Emotional Preparation
Visualization
Read fiction and non-fiction books about island living
Look at maps and video travelogues to plot out activities
Financial Preparation
Web Calculators - Cost of Living
IRS Guides to Retirement and Living Abroad
Legal Preparation
Foreign embassies
Wills
22. Thank You!
Download the research guide at:
http://www.whysel.com/pratt/652/tropical-island-
retirement.docx
Noreen Whysel
nwhysel@pratt.edu
@nwhysel