Beautiful surroundings. Healthy activities. Friendly neighbours. And not least, a good investment return. Recreation property developers can deliver those benefits, whether you're an urban sophisticate or more of a nature lover. However, careful planning is very much in order. No one wants to find himself old and lonely among strangers or watch pine beetles raze every tree around her dream home.

Post-career living represents a formidable challenge, especially for hard-driving individuals who really enjoy their jobs. "Most of us derive more of our social identity and stimulation from the workplace than we realize. When that support disappears, we can develop a sense of being invisible, of becoming a collection of spare parts that serves no useful purpose," cautions John Osborne, an educational psychology professor who retired in 1993 from the University of Alberta...