Many of us, especially those longer in the tooth, picked up a guitar in high school and have dragged it around ever since, occasionally trotting it out to pick out the opening notes of Stairway to Heaven.

But the experts say taking up an instrument more seriously in your later years can actually be more than a party trick, but a boost to your overall health. Save with SPP scoured the Interweb to find out a little more on this topic.

At the New Music World website, we find out that “research has shown that playing an instrument can improve literacy and math skills, enhance verbal memory, spatial reasoning and cognitive function, as well as increase discipline and time management skills.”

Wow!

Physical benefits of playing an instrument, the article continues, include “improved hand-eye coordination and increased fine motor skills.” Your mental health, the article adds, benefits from “reduced stress and anxiety” and “improved memory and cognitive skills.”

And on the social interaction side, playing an instrument can present “opportunities for collaboration.” We remember our basement high school band fondly – a very loud and badly tuned memory, but a good one.

The article says there are also emotional benefits that come with playing an instrument, as playing “allows you to express emotions” and can increase your empathy skills.

Canadian music company Long & McQuade provides some more thoughts on the topic.

Playing an instrument, the article notes, “promotes brain development in the same areas related to language and reasoning skills for children. Studies show that children who learn music tend to perform better in math and reading.”

It’s also a benefit, the article suggests, to your personal growth.

“Music is a lifelong journey. Learning to play an instrument provides endless growth opportunities, whether you’re a child taking your first lessons or an adult returning to an instrument after years away,” the article notes.

“Learning music encourages a mindset of lifelong learning, pushing yourself to improve and expand your skills and craft. This quest for knowledge can lead to newfound passions and interests that enrich life and make you feel like you are `levelling up,’” the article concludes.

The Scientific Origin blog points out a few more benefits of learning to play.

Music playing “increases discipline and patience,” the blog notes.

“The daily commitment to practice teaches musicians how to manage their time effectively and stay focused on their goals. For children, this structured discipline often carries over into their schoolwork and extracurricular activities, helping them develop better study habits and time-management skills,” the blog notes.

It also boosts your individual creativity; the blog tells us.

“Music provides a vast canvas for self-expression, allowing you to explore and experiment with different sounds, melodies, and rhythms. As you grow more proficient with your instrument, you gain the freedom to compose your own pieces, improvise, or re-interpret existing music in unique ways. This creative exploration strengthens your ability to think outside the box and approach problems with an innovative mindset,” the blog states.

Some final thoughts come to us from the Musical Pursuits blog.

Playing an instrument can help ward off “age-related hearing loss,” the blog reports.

“Many studies prove that musicians are less susceptible to the deterioration of the auditory cortex. It means they can hear better despite the aging process,” the blog adds.

The final, and most important thought from all the articles is that playing music makes you happy.

“Science reveals that music releases a chemical in your brain called dopamine, which not only improves your mood and decreases anxiety, but also helps the production of stress-reducing cortisol, inducing pleasure, joy and motivation,” the blog tells us.

A lot of the findings listed here have been borne out by our personal experiences. Our late father was a fine pianist – even when battling dementia, he could still play any song anyone called out, always in the key of C. There were other folks in the memory care ward who didn’t speak much but could still play harmonica or accordion.

Our mother’s folks played mandolins together for all their long marriage, and grandma lived to a ripe old age of 98.

We have had the time to play more often since our retirement from full time work over a decade ago, and we’re getting a little better. The dogs now lie down and listen rather than howling for an end to it – progress!

Getting out of the workforce is one thing, but being able to afford post-work life is another. As we always say, look for work in your younger years where a pension or retirement program of some type is offered. If there isn’t such a program where you work, consider the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, which is available for individuals to join, or can be leveraged by organizations as their company pension plan. You provide the contributions, we do all the rest – investing your savings dollars in a low-cost, professionally managed pooled fund. At retirement your income options include a monthly annuity payment for life, or the more flexible Variable Benefit option.

Check out SPP today!

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By Sheryl Smolkin

Hockey. Swimming lessons. Dance classes. Piano lessons. Just when you finish paying for back-to-school clothes and school supplies, it’s time to register your child for sports and arts activities. And depending on which activity or sport your child selects, your budget can take quite a hit.

In a November 30, 2012 article in the Globe and Mail, Roy McGregor reported that that the average hockey family spends $1,500 a year to be in the game.  He said, “Given the choice between outfitting a kid for soccer rather than hockey can be equal roughly to the choice between walking to the corner store and chartering a helicopter to pick up the milk.”

Too many or the wrong extra-curricular activities can also stress out both kids and parents. For example, parents who have fought a losing battle to get a disinterested child to practice the piano regularly may wonder whether they are getting value for the money spent on lessons.

Here are some of the things you can do to both save money on extra-curricular activities and minimize the wear and tear on your family:

1. Activities selected:
   When you are selecting extra-curricular activities for your children, consider their interests and aptitudes. If your daughter has been kicking around a soccer ball from a young age or your son begs for dance classes, the choices are obvious. In other cases you may have to be more intuitive.
2. Public/private:
   Most community centres offer swimming classes and a full range of other activities that are less expensive than programs offered by private vendors. However, registration for publically-supported programs is typically limited or may be by lottery. Find out what is available in your area, when registration opens and what the deadlines are.
3. Number of activities:
   There is no magic number of extra-curricular activities for each child. This will depend on the amount of homework typically assigned, transportation issues and the energy levels of both children and parents. With our children, I decided that two per child was more than enough.
4. Family schedule:
   Before you commit time and money to activities for your children, think about how they will integrate into the overall family schedule. If you have one car and each child has an activity at the same time at opposite ends of town, it’s not going to work. If your two children have after school or evening activities four or five days a week, there will be little if any time for relaxation and unstructured play.
5. Location, location, location:
   The best of all possible worlds is when your child’s school offers activities like sports, the school play or band practices at the beginning or end of the school day. I also struck gold the year that my son had a piano teacher who made house calls! If the only gymnastics class that trains elite athletes is miles away, driving and car pools may be unavoidable. However, whenever possible, stick to activities that are close to home, particularly for young children.
6. Saving on equipment
   For sports that require expensive gear like hockey or skiing, many communities have equipment exchanges. There are also stores like the Saskatoon Skate Exchange where used equipment in good condition is discounted. Long & McQuade, also in Saskatoon offers rental and rent-to-own programs for musical instruments.
7.  Stick with it
   Make a deal with your children that if you sign them up for a program they have to stick with it for the semester or the year. Often classes that seem onerous or too difficult get easier in time and by the end of the series a child who was initially reluctant gets great satisfaction from mastering new skills. Also, they need to understand that your budget is finite and they can’t just drop an activity and expect to be registered in another one.
8. Cut your losses
   In spite of all of your planning, sometimes it doesn’t work. If an inept program leader, unexpected homework loads or frequent colds and flu mean that you and your children simply can’t face the grind of extra-curricular activities, bite the bullet, give something up and see if you can get a portion of the fee reimbursed. It is not worth punishing the individual child or the family for one bad decision.

Do you have tips for parents about kid’s extra-curricular activities? Share your tips with us at http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card. And remember to put a dollar in the retirement savings jar every time you use one of our money-saving ideas.

If you would like to send us other money saving ideas, here are the themes for the next three weeks:

26-Sept	Employee benefits	Getting value for your employee benefits
06-Oct	Seniors	Colleges, universities offer free tuition for seniors
10-Oct	Thanksgiving	Paying it forward: Volunteer opportunities