Top 5 Retirement Activities for Men

Give a man a flat screen and a remote, and he'll find a sporting event to watch somewhere, even if the announcer is speaking a different language. A fascination with sports isn't the exclusive province of the young. Older guys are as passionate about their spectator pastimes as their younger counterparts, but with more time to indulge and a longer history of loyalty to their respective teams.

Check out the parking lot of your local sports arena a couple of hours before the big game. Among those hundreds of happy tailgaters, you'll find a fair share of devoted retirees who know the score and plan on keeping it that way.

Where a woman might head out for a bracing hour of yoga or tai chi, her retired spouse is more likely to pursue a competitive activity with a little more at stake than just breaking a sweat. Sports like golf and bowling are popular for male retirees. Fishing is too, but the fish probably get more of a workout than the fisherman.

A 2003 study conducted by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association revealed other popular physical activities for men 55 and over: day hiking, fitness walking, calisthenics and recreational vehicle camping and hunting. Although it doesn't require sports gear, getting some of those chores off the honey-do list can provide a workout, too.

Retirees may feel their talents are being wasted once they make the transition to a more leisurely lifestyle. Finally having the time to read the paper from cover to cover may not provide enough of a diversion. Retired professionals constitute a huge pool of untapped talent, and organizations make use of this retiree brain trust by matching retired volunteer mentors with fledgling entrepreneurs.

Donating time is a form of community involvement that can be uniquely satisfying in retirement. It makes use of hard-won skills and provides worthwhile opportunities for social interaction.

The money manager in the family is probably spending more time in front of a calculator these days. Overseeing the family's financial portfolio can be a time-consuming activity. It can also be an engrossing and satisfying occupation that's as much an art as a skill. Economic woes and uncertainty about the future have turned money management into a big job -- especially for retirees. Learning to live with less, protect existing assets and discover new places to invest funds for safe growth may not be as much fun as fishing, or as exciting as a good game of golf, but it's a big concern for seniors in today's financial climate.

One of the dreams of retirement is having the time and freedom to travel. That goal is motivating retirees to indulge their wanderlust and incorporate their love of the open road with other passionate interests. From wine tasting vacations in France to packaged tours that make the rounds of Civil War battlefields, seniors are finding travel opportunities covering hundreds of topics and pastimes.

As much as 80 percent of recreational travel in the U.S. involves Baby Boomers and seniors, and themed and educational travel venues speak to that market in a big way. Elderhostel (also known as Road Scholar), a U.S. based educational travel service, offers lifelong learning programs in 90 countries and all 50 U.S. states. It's one of many alternatives available for retirees who want more from a holiday than a hotel and a seat on a tour bus.

Retirees aren't just taking the traditional two week vacation once a year, either. Without the responsibilities of work and young children, more and more seniors are heading out on day and weekend getaways. With the family RV and a trusty GPS device, the world awaits.