Jan Cullinane - The New Retirement

If you're thinking about getting a formal degree, many colleges exempt “mature” students from the SAT or ACT. CLEP, the College Level Examination Program ( https://clep.collegeboard.org), allows you to earn college credits by passing exams in a variety of subjects. Cost per exam is about $90 (often free for military personnel).

OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, www.osherfoundation.org), offered in more than 120 U.S. institutions of higher learning, is a philanthropic organization that supports lifelong learning for adults 50 and older. OLLI offers member-driven classes (no credit/no assignments/no grades) facilitated by peers and college faculty. Using Arizona State University as an example, there is a small membership charge (about $20/semester) and then a reasonable charge for a class (Example: $14 for a 1.5 hour class); you may need to pay for parking/transportation on campus. Classes can literally range from A to Z. For example, “Ancient Etruscan and Roman Art” to “Zhivago: The Novel and the Movie.”

Be sure to investigate what your local library, community center, school system and/or county offers. You'll be surprised how many quality and free (love that word!) classes/lectures/workshops are out there. (I am on the Board of Trustees of my local library and the number of no-cost courses that are offered, both in person and virtually, is impressive.)

Podcasts(audio files) have exploded in popularity. Americans aged 55 and better are among the fastest growing listeners, comprising 40% of the podcast audience in 2019, according to Marketing Charts. Download and learn from your laptop/phone/computer/mobile device while you're comfy and sitting at home or at Starbucks, on the beach or taking a walk, or in your car. A few suggestions from various genres (all of these sites offer free podcasts):

History: Dan Carlin Hardcore History ( www.dancarlin.com); Fall of Civilizations ( www.fallofcivilizationspodcast.com); The Explorers ( www.explorerspodcast.com/urdaneta/); Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History ( www.revisionisthistory.com).

Health/Science/Culture/etc.: How Stuff Works ( https://www.howstuffworks.com/about-hsw.htm), is “an award-winning source of unbiased, reliable, easy-to-understand answers and explanations of how the world actually works.”

Psychology: Hidden Brain ( https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain); Freakonomics ( https://freakonomics.com/). This last is a personal favorite of mine.

Massive Open Online Courses are known as MOOCS ( www.MOOC.org). There are approximately 3,000 free courses in all disciplines from stellar universities such as MIT, Yale, and Princeton. You can spend your 168 hours/week on this site alone.

Coursera ( www.coursera.org) is another MOOC with free offerings from more than 200 top-tier universities such as Duke, Stanford, and the Imperial College of London. Sign me up!

If you want to learn from titans in their respective fields, check out Masterclass ( www.masterclass.com). Writing for TV? Shonda Rhimes is your instructor. Songwriting? Alicia Keys. Photography? Annie Leibovitz. Cooking? Gordon Ramsay. Chess? Gary Kasparov. You get the idea. More than 100 classes covering nine categories, and a PDF workbook for each class, which averages approximately 20 ten-minute lessons. New classes are added monthly.

All this accumulated knowledge at your fingertips, and the time to indulge your interests. Sweet!

Besides the obvious perk of making a difference for others, volunteering bestows benefits on the volunteer: new friends, meet others with similar interests, learn new skills, gain confidence, tackle challenges, have fun, find purpose, combat depression, lower stress levels, become healthier physically, and perhaps delay or reverse declining brain function, according to a study at Johns Hopkins University. As Gandhi noted (yes, I am quoting him again!), “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

AmeriCorp reports that more than 30% of American adults volunteer (women volunteer more than men), and the economic value of their time contributions equals $167 billion. More than half of all Americans donate money to charity as well.

If you plan to give money to an organization, it's important to know the percentage of donations that go directly to the cause. For example, the American Red Cross spends more than 90% of its income on programs that directly benefit communities. Choose a charity that dedicates fewer than 30% of its total costs to fundraising and administrative expenses. Two websites to check out a charity you're considering are Charity Navigator ( www.charitynavigator.org) and CharityWatch ( www.charitywatch.org). Be sure your donation gets the biggest bang for the buck.

Here's a list of in-person and/or virtual volunteering opportunities from (literally) A–Z. Of course, there are many, many worthy organizations and most gladly accept monetary donations as well, but check them out on CharityWatch and/or Charity Navigator first.

Adult Literacy ( www.proliteracy.org). Provides basic literary, math or computer skills to the more than 20% of adults in the United States who struggle with literacy issues.

Big Brothers/Big Sisters ( www.bbbs.org). “Ignite the power and promise of youth.” Connects volunteers to children in mentoring relationships.

Create the Good ( www.createthegood.org) is an AARP site (you don't have to be an AARP member.). Find volunteer opportunities, virtual or in person, based on your ZIP code. When I put in my ZIP code, hospice helper, teaching a one-hour virtual class to older adults (with the volunteer's choice of topic), and being a garden volunteer at a local state park popped up.

Disaster Response. Provide food, drinks, snacks, and donated goods following a disaster through The Salvation Army ( www.salvationarmyusa.org).

E-volunteering. As an example of volunteering from your home, check out https://www.dosomething.org/us/articles/9-places-to-volunteer-online-and-make-a-real-impact. This site lists a number of ways to volunteer online; how about volunteering at a crisis text line?

Food for the Homebound. As Meals on Wheels ( www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org) notes, “Nine million seniors in America face the threat of hunger” and “millions more live in isolation.” The first meal was delivered in 1954, and 221 million meals are served to 2.4 million older adults by two million volunteers each year.

Guardian ad litem ( www.guardianadlitem.org) Represent the best interests of a child in judicial proceedings that include child abuse, custody issues, child support, and so on.

Hospice Foundation of America ( www.hospicefoundation.org). My dad had incredibly compassionate volunteer hospice workers at my parents' home when my father was in the final stages of lung cancer. (Background checks, orientations, and training are required as a prerequisite to volunteering.)

Income tax preparation ( https://www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-tax-volunteers). Volunteers learn how to prepare tax returns and help those who need assistance through VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) or TCE (Tax Counseling for the Elderly). Nothing better than perhaps learning a new skill and making a difference in others' lives.

Job assistance. The stated mission of Dress for Success ( www.dressforsuccess.org) is to “empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire, and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.” Ladies, a great opportunity to declutter your closet and assist disadvantaged women.