Stay as Sharp as a #2 Pencil: Tips for Continued Education

Sipping lemonade on the front porch day after day? Playing backgammon with your cronies at the diner? Taking the RV somewhere warm in the winter? Those are certainly relaxing ways to spend retirement, but that much downtime isn’t for everyone. Today, retirement can be a time to re-energize your life, and part of how you can do that is by putting continued education into your plan.

There are more educational opportunities for nontraditional students (i.e., grown adults) than ever. That means you should easily be able to find a program that helps you achieve your goal, whether you want to start a brand-new career, expand you existing skillset, or gain the knowledge you need to finally dive into a passion project.

In retirement, it’s all multiple choice

As with most important things in life, continued education begins by identifying your goals. This can put you on the path to choosing the types of schools or programs you should be researching and get a sense of the financial impact your choice will have. Using the following chart may help you plan.

Make your money smarter

Your educational costs will differ depending on your goal. The cost of non-credit community college classes probably won’t shake up your budget too much, so the adjustments you need to make to pay for classes may be minimal. And when you find colleges that allow retirees to audit classes, you’ll also discover they often let you take these courses tuition-free.

With your goals set, plans in motion to achieve them, and your days of hangover-fueled procrastination hopefully far in the past, you’ll discover that higher education can be easier the second time around.