DO YOU LOOK AND FEEL YOUR AGE?

With all the anti-ageing products on the market today, it's becoming increasingly difficult to tell a person's age. We have often heard (or received) comments like "Oh, you look so young for your age!" or "Is that your mother / father? Looks more like your elder sister / brother!" Are these real compliments or mere flattery?

For me personally, I go by how my body feels when I get out of bed in the morning, and how I look in the mirror before I wash my face. There are days when I feel great, and there are days when I wish I were 30 years younger.

For a more reliable age indicator, you might want to take this series of tests published in The Daily Mail on 28 Dec. They are easy and fun to do. Here are the first three tests. Go to the website for the rest.

TEST ONE: BRAIN

WHAT TO DO: Count backwards in sevens from 100. If you are under 40, it should take no longer than 20 seconds. If you are between 40 and 60, it should take no longer than 40 seconds.
WORK OUT YOUR SCORE: Take off two years if you’re quicker than these times. Add two years if you’re slower than these times.

TEST TWO: SKIN
WHAT TO DO: Place your hand flat on a table and pinch the skin on the back of the hand, grabbing as much as you can. Hold it for one minute, then let go. Watch how long it takes to regain its normal appearance.
WORK OUT YOUR SCORE: Less than one second: take three years off your age. 1-2 seconds: stay the same. 3-4 seconds: add one year. 5-10 seconds: add two. 11-30 seconds: add three years.

TEST THREE: MUSCLES
WHAT TO DO: Stand on one leg and hold on to the other by bending it at the knee back towards your buttocks. Place your hands on your hips and close your eyes. Time how long it takes you to lose your balance.
WORK OUT YOUR SCORE: If you last one minute, take off four years. For 30 seconds: take off two years. Less than a few seconds: add three years.

Or you could try this one at Real Age, designed by Dr Mike Roizen and Dr Mehmet Oz, authors of the best-selling series of health and wellness books YOU. The test is rather detailed. Working through the questions was a wake-up call for me to pay more heed to certain areas of my health. I will turn 63 next year, but my real age as determined by my answers in the test came as a shock to me.

Would you have the curiosity and courage to find out how old or young your body really is??

THE 8 TRAITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL RETIREES

With a little help from the Retirement Docs' Quiz you can rate yourself and find out whether you have the traits that are prerequisites for achieving retirement happiness. If you don't, it's not too late to make adjustments or changes for a new YOU in 2011.

I took the quiz and my score put me in the top 40 percent, indicating that I still need some "fine-tuning in specific traits". Do take the quiz and find out how you fared.

The quiz is a condensed version of the much larger Retirement Docs' Survey conducted by medical doctors F.T. Fraunfelder and J.H.Gilbaugh. More than 1500 of their patients, all retirees, participated in the survey. The data collected forms the backbone of their book "RETIRE RIGHT".

From the survey results the doctors discovered that the top 20% of the respondents shared the same traits. The conclusion - if we possess these traits, the authors guarantee that we too will have a highly successful (=happy+fulfilling) retirement.

HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL RETIREES have

• the ability to plan ahead
• a positive attitude
• an acceptance of change (learn to adapt and adjust)
• a support network of family and friends (even pets!)
• a healthy lifestyle
• a sense of purpose
• a variety of enjoyable leisure activities
• a belief in God, religion or spirituality

For more details on each of these traits, you will have to read the book. It's available on Amazon. I managed to borrow a copy from the National Library of Singapore.

I intend to start working on improving my score right away. That's my retirement investment plan for 2011. Much more meaningful than making new year resolutions.