If you’re asking yourself how to meet other people in retirement, don’t worry, many retirees find this challenging. I did some research and created this list with helpful 10 tips so that you can get out there and meet other, like-minded, retirees. Ready to learn how? Continue reading!
1.) Take A Class
When you keep learning, you’ll keep your mind active and stay sharp. And with most classes, you’ll get to know other people as well. You can even enjoy high discounts on colleges and universities when you’re retired or reach a specific age in the United States. Here’s a list of colleges that offer programs for seniors.
Retirement is the perfect opportunity to go back to school and make some new college buddies! But you can also start online with some great online courses to learn from the comforts of your home.
Online classes are very popular platforms to keep learning. Many people think that it is less social, but it’s quite the opposite. With most online courses, you also get access to a community of other students.
Have you ever heard of Masterclass? Masterclass is an online streaming platform where you can follow different classes in all kinds of categories. And the teachers? They happen to be the best and most famous people in the world.
Gordon Ramsey teaches you how to cook like a chef. Robin Roberts teaches about effective and authentic communication, and Ron Finley teaches an interesting and hands-on course about gardening.
Those are just a few of the available courses. Masterclass platform has over 80 different courses and more than 1000 lessons.
Get yourself an Annual Membership to Masterclass Today.
2.) Contact Old Friends
You probably didn’t have much time to meet with old friends during the time you were still working a busy job. So now that you’re retired, it is a perfect time to catch up with the people you didn’t see or spoke to in a while.
Go to your contact list and ask yourself with whom you want to reconnect. Sometimes you lost contact because that’s just something that happens over time. Or maybe you got different interests than your (old) friends. But it is always a good idea to look up some old friends.
Maybe it will grow to new friendships again, and you never know what happens. Just pick up the phone or send a text and go from there, don’t make it to hard for yourself. Meeting people you didn’t see in a while is supposed to be fun!
The good thing if you haven’t spoken to each other in a while, is that a lot has happened over time, so there’s a lot to talk about! 😉
3.) Look Up Family
Retirement is a time to spend more time with your (close) family. And just like with your friends, there’s a good chance you didn’t see some family members for a while. Now that you have more time, it is an excellent opportunity to visit them.
Maybe your family members live further away, which makes it difficult to visit each other often. But since you’re retired, you have more time, and you can easily plan a road trip to visit your family. And maybe you’ll make some new friends along the way as well!
If you have children and maybe grandchildren as well, retirement is a perfect time to spend more time with time. You probably see your children quite often, but maybe you can also help them out with taking care of your grandchildren once a week or so.
If so, it’s also a great way to meet other people. You can take them to the park, or when you are bringing them to school. Maybe you meet other grandparents who are also babysitting, and you can start a grandparents-babysit-club together!
4.) Get A Retirement Job
Working a retirement job is a great way to meet other people in retirement. The best thing about a retirement job is that you don’t have to work full-time. It’s less stressful, and you often can work flexible hours, one or two days a week. Whatever fits your schedule the best.
And you’ll earn some extra money, which is also a great benefit of having a retirement job.
When your main goal is to meet other people via your retirement job, make sure to start with a job where you’re part of a team. This way, it is easier to connect with your colleagues, and thus easier to meet other people.
Avoid getting a job where you work most hours alone, like working as a mailman or delivery guy.
If you want some help with finding ideas for a retirement job, I recommend reading my article, 50 Best Jobs For Retirees.
5.) Start Volunteering
Volunteering is a great way to spend your time in retirement and to meet new people in retirement. Often when you’re volunteering, you commit yourself to a task or specific hours a week. So before you start with volunteering, you must ask yourself if you want to do that.
The best thing about volunteering is that you can help other people. Sometimes you help people that are in need of help, but often also just to have a fun time with people that are more lonely in life. So, you’re not only helping yourself reaching more fulfillment, but also help other people feeling happier. It goes both ways, which is the thing I love most about volunteering.
Many volunteering jobs are in a local community or via a church or foundation. For some volunteering, when it’s a more serious role, you’re obliged to get through some background checks. But for most volunteering jobs, you can just apply and start.
In my article, Why Do Retirees Volunteer?, you’ll find more information about the benefits of volunteering, and how to get the most out of volunteering in retirement.
6.) Travel
I definitely feel that traveling is one of the best ways to meet other people. If you already read some of my other articles, you know I’m a bit opinionated about traveling. I travel almost fulltime around the world myself, together with my family.
I’ve been traveling since I was still in college and worked in different countries around the world. Being on the road is truly one of the most easiest ways to meet new people.
The thing about traveling is that other travelers are also open-minded. Somehow it’s easier to connect with a fellow traveler than, let’s say, someone that lives further down the street. Funny how that works, actually.
When you travel for a longer time, and maybe in other states or countries, you’ll also meet people from different cultures and backgrounds.
It’s one of the best things you can do when you want to meet other people in retirement. If you have the chance, get out there and start traveling!
I can imagine that if you’re not experienced travel, it can be a bit scary sometimes to make longer trips to a different country or state, where you never have been before. Give it up for group travels! Or you can go on a cruise with a fully organized trip.
There are so many opportunities where you can see more of the world, and meet other people. If you want some more inspiration, I recommend reading our travel articles;
- How To Travel The World In Retirement?
- 20 Amazing Vacations And Trips For 60-Year-Olds
- Road Trip Ideas For Retirees
7.) Join A Club
Joining a club is one of the best ways to meet other and like-minded people in retirement. There are many different clubs you can join, depending on your interest.
If you find it challenging to join a new club at first, maybe you can ask your spouse or a friend to come with you. It’s often easier to attend to something new when you’re in the company of someone you trust.
Some ideas of clubs you can join are;
- Sportsclub
- Bookclub
- Swimmingclub
- Golfclub
- Chess club
- Writing group
- History club
A great way to find clubs that are nearby is using the app Meetup.
8.) Attend Events
If you’re serious about meeting other people, you can attend (larger) events like a sports event or a community event.
Most events attract a lot of people, and just like with traveling, people are more open-minded during those gatherings. Just find something close to your home that interests you, buy tickets, and have a good time. Maybe you can go with your spouse and make a date out of it, or perhaps you can gather with some friends and meet other people during the event.
9.) Start Dating
When you’re single in retirement and what to meet other people, you can start dating. Many single retirees find it a bit scary to start dating at an older age, but why not give it a shot?
There are many dating events for elderly where you can meet other people. And if you just want to start from your home, maybe you can start with a dating app or something. I don’t know much about online dating, but when I did some research online, I found silversingles.com, a dating site for people that are 50+. Maybe you’re lucky, and you’ll find the love of your life in retirement!
10.) Become A Coach
As a retiree, you have some knowledge that you can use to coach others and younger people. Maybe you worked in a job where you can become a mentor for younger professionals. Or maybe you love to help others getting their life on the right track. If so, you can become a life coach as a retiree.
Becoming a coach is a great way to meet other people int retirement. If you know that you have got a lot of knowledge to share, but aren’t an experienced coach yet, you might want to follow a coaching course. Coaching Training Alliance is a great way to start with your first steps as a life coach.
Following a Coaching Training Alliance course will get you certified as a life coach so that you can start with your coaching in the best way possible. Get started today!
Recommended Articles
There are many ways to stay active and get the most out of your retirement. One of the most important things is that you prepare for the things you want to do as a retiree. Many of the articles that I wrote can be helpful for you. Some of the most popular articles on this website are;