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The benefits of gratitude are plentiful. Yet there’s a tendency to take things for granted, even what matters most. How can gratefulness be cultivated without the painful experience of a wake-up call? Our guest, Kristi Nelson, author of the new book Wake Up Grateful, shares her wisdom on how to develop the mindset and practices to be grateful in our day to day lives. Kristi and I discuss: The mission of her organization A Network for Grateful Living The distinction between gratitude and gratefulness – and why it matters The role gratefulness has played in her life Why gratefulness is especially important now How being grateful can help relationships Why Thanksgiving can be a springboard to gratefulness year-round Her new book: Wake Up Grateful: The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted What one thing you can start to do if you want to be more grateful in your life Kristi joins us from Massachusetts. __________________________ Bio Kristi Nelson is the Executive Director of A Network for Grateful Living (gratefulness.org).  She’s also the author of a new book Wake Up Grateful: The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted. Kristi has spent most of her adult life in non-profit leadership, fundraising, and organizational development. In a wide variety of roles, she has helped to lead, fund, and strengthen organizations committed to progressive social and spiritual change. In 2001, Kristi founded a values-based fundraising consulting and training, and leadership coaching business, and in this capacity worked with organizations such as the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Spirit in Action, Wisdom 2.0, and The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. During this time, she was also founding Director of the Soul of Money Institute with Lynne Twist, Director of Development at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and Director of Development and Community Relations for the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society. Kristi received her BA from UMass/Amherst, a graduate certificate in Business and Sociology from Boston College, and her Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) with a concentration in Leadership Studies, from Harvard University. Kristi is a stage IV cancer survivor who feels blessed to work with her beloved colleagues in sharing the gifts of gratefulness with people around the world. She lives in Western MA with her family, and gives thanks every day to be surrounded by the glories of the natural world and a vibrant, loving community. ______________________________ Wise Quotes On Gratitude versus Gratefulness “And I’ve done some pretty deep dives into the exploration because we love feeling gratitude. It’s a fantastic feeling and we love inciting gratitude and other people helping other people feel grateful and yet gratitude tends to be conditional it’s fleeting. It’s transactional. Often we wait for somebody to do something for us or for something to happen. As we said from the outset it’s something that is ephemeral and difficult for us to put our hands around. How do I get more gratitude inducing experiences? And it ends up being a little bit like the pursuit of happiness. I think in that way it’s elusive. And it feels out there gratefulness, as I was saying before, is something that we can cultivate as a practice, very similar to mindfulness. And it’s a beautiful way to weave together more moments of gratitude. And to learn how to find those experiences of gratitude and to uplift them and to deepen ourselves into them more often. So it’s not about being grateful for everything, but gratefulness as the ability to be grateful in every moment. And that’s something that we can learn.”   On What’s Essential  “So this has been a really tough year. I think it’s taught us what’s essential and helped us come home to that question of How do we value and really live into what is essential for us? Because we don’t take the next moment for granted. We say: This is the moment that’s mine. This is the day that’s mine. This is the life I’m living. How do I live gratefully into what is most important to me right here right now, and not count on anything else, because that’s the way we live a regret-free life. That’s really the way to live without regrets and not put anything off. And so I think that’s really come home to roost – as what’s essential. And I think the lessons are continuing to unfold.”   On Gratefulness as an Action “I will say that it’s not just feeling grateful. It’s being grateful. It’s an active verb. It’s like love. You can feel a lot of love. You can feel a lot of gratitude, but until you express it, it doesn’t necessarily transform your relationships. And so the invitation is to live it out loud. Don’t take the people in your life for granted. One of the things I say is that when we take things for granted, they become lifeless. They become literally kind of dead to us. We get into a trance. We sleepwalk. We walk past people who are miracles in our lives, and we don’t appreciate them. And we take a drive that we’ve taken off and in our lives.  And we don’t appreciate it because we’re asleep to it. And yet somebody who takes that same drive and goes by these trees and on this road might say, Wow, this is extraordinary! …But I think [with] the people who become invisible to us in some way, what we have to do is to be really awakened – and then actively express all of the appreciation that we feel. And one of the things that I’ve really experimented with is: Is it possible to really be too grateful for the people who we appreciate and whose presence in our lives matters deeply to us.? And I kind of have not found the threshold. I’ll just tell you there’s a huge amount of capacity for us to express appreciation.” ____________________________ For More on Kristi Nelson Wake Up Grateful: The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted on Amazon A Network for Grateful Living ____________________________ Podcast Episodes You May Like The Mind-Body Connection and The Rabbit Effect – Kelli Harding Are You Ready for The New Long Life? – Andrew Scott Is It Time to Break Up with Busy? – Yvonne Tally Tiny Habits Can Lead to Big Changes – BJ Fogg Why Settle for Happiness in Your Retirement? – Emily Esfahani Smith How Seniors Are Saving the World With Activism – Thelma Reese Not Exactly Retired – David Jarmul ___________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring from their primary career – and aren’t done yet – discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. _________________________ Retire smarter. Explore retirementwisdom.com

What’s the ideal retirement lifestyle in today’s Baby Boomer retirement? I’ve had the opportunity to read Shifting Gears, the new book by Richard Haiduck. Through interviews with Baby Boomers in retirement, he paints the picture of the diverse retirement life different Baby Boomers are living today. Whether you’re planning for retirement or you’re in retirement, you’ll benefit from the stories and life lessons he’s captured and chronicled. Why he wrote Shifting Gears:50 Baby Boomers Share Their Meaningful Journeys in Retirement. The themes that emerged from his interviews  – and what surprised him Insights people shared about deciding when to retire Lessons learned from retirees on choosing where to live in retirement One of the many compelling stories in the book – and what it taught him How the stories he heard have influenced his own retirement What’s on his recommended reading list _________________________ Bio Richard Haiduck is the author of the new book  Richard is a former life sciences executive and mentor and now has an active retirement. He is becoming the Voice of Boomer Retirement Stories. He is immersed in challenging the boundaries of his own retirement while observing the experiences and areas of curiosity of his fellow retirees. At age 7, he was sure he wanted to be an author.  Now, 66 years later, that dream has become a reality.  The inspiration for the book came from hearing about the meaningful journeys in retirement taken by friends and colleagues. They were doing fascinating activities at this stage of their life, and often completely new directions from their prior careers.  The idea that these stories could become a book became a driving force for Richard. His 75+ interviews and his frequent social media interactions have developed his perspectives and insights on the retirement activities of the boomer generation.  Richard’s prior roles as both a leader and a mentor have been based on his ability to listen and to get people to share their feelings.  He uses a style of interviewing with short, open questions to get people to open up about their retirement stories. The result is Shifting Gears; 50 Baby Boomers Share Their Meaningful Journeys in Retirement. He graduated from Miami University and got his MBA from Xavier University.  He is happily married to his wife of 52 years and has 2 daughters and 4 grandsons. His own retirement has been hyperactive.  He learns new things through weekly interactions at Stanford, formerly via attending lectures and via Zoom during the pandemic.  Each year he reads about 100 books and bikes more than 3000 miles.  He mentors organizations serving refugees and small farmers in Ghana.  He combines family time with domestic and international travel. _________________________ Wise Quotes On the Freedom to Retire – and Trial & Error “While you’re working, there are things that you don’t have the time to do, but you want to do. And they may be things from when you were seven years old. This guy who was fishing, my guess is he may have been fishing when he was seven years old and always wanted to do more. And I think through some of the other stories as well, people decided to go back to an earlier passion, an earlier hobby, an earlier goal – and rejuvenated it in retirement. You get to do whatever you want in retirement if you can deal with the health and wealth challenges. If you’re not broke, and you’re not sick, then you get to do whatever you want. And that means if you’ve got a passion for something, then go do it. And that passion can be whatever is important to you, but you’ve got the freedom and you’ve got the freedom of trial and error too.  You can try something. One of the guys in the book said, ‘I know I’ve got certain wishes, but I don’t know exactly how to do it. I’m going to do trial and error until I get this right.’ And in his case, he was looking for the ideal volunteering opportunity. And he went through four different ones in a fairly short period of time until he found the one that was perfect for him. Because he says, ‘That’s what I get to do. I’m retired. I get to do trial and error. And if I don’t like something, I move on and do something else.” On Baby Boomer Retirement “There’s a generational theme. That’s probably not surprising, but it’s more pronounced than I thought. And that is Baby Boomers are going to continue to be Baby Boomers in retirement. You know, we’ve been an active generation. We were protesting in the sixties. We were inventing things in the seventies. We were doing all sorts of things that were breaking new ground. So, you know, some would think, well, this generation has accomplished a lot. It’s been an interesting generation when it retires, it will just slow down and relax wrong. That isn’t the way it’s been at all. This generation has continued to innovate, continue to have new passions, continued to do things, to have a retirement that isn’t like our parents’ retirement or retirement that has. And they’re not all earth-shattering kinds of things. So of the things are, are more personal and what’s something someone wanted to do all their lives. One of the guys moved to a place near Yellowstone national park. He’s within an hour’s drive of four great rivers. And he goes fishing every day. He said, and he said, well, once in a while, I’ll miss a day if the event, but he says, Oh, I love it. And I, that is my passion. And it’s just neat to see how much joy he gets from that and how important that is to him and what it means to him in terms of his own satisfaction.” On How the Stories Have Influenced His Retirement “I like to think of myself as open-minded and listening and all that sort of thing. But you hear a story like the one about Bruce and Jill and you say, Wow, they’re out there doing something really amazing! And asking myself, what can I do differently? What influence does this have on my behavior? I think it’s given me a stronger sense of wanting to give back. And I do mentoring of social enterprises that are trying to solve major social problems, mostly in the developing world. And I think I’ve gotten a lot of reinforcement from the interviews that I’ve had with people who are doing similar kinds of things.” On Work in Retirement “Work in retirement? I don’t think is an oxymoron. I think work can do a lot of things for people. It can provide income if that’s necessary or income to do special things –  like I’ll work a little bit so I can take that special vacation or I can go out to dinner to a fancy place on Saturday night. So it’s almost financing a luxury. I think it provides mental stimulation or physical activity that is important to some people. But I think the thing that there are two stories [in the book] that I just was really very gratified to hear about working in a way that the job looks like a hobby, but the job is like  I’d do this even if I wasn’t getting paid for it.” ___________________________ For More on Richard Haiduck Buy Shifting Gears: 50 Baby Boomers Share Their Meaningful Journeys in Retirement – Available now Richard’s website  __________________________ Podcast Episodes You May Like Are You Ready for The New Long Life? – Andrew Scott Retirement Planning Includes Getting Good at Getting Older – Rabbi Laura Geller The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler Not Exactly Retired – David Jarmul How Life Hacks Can Help Make Your Retirement the Best Time of Your Life – Sam Horn Are You Thinking About Going Back to School in Retirement? – Nell Painter What’s Next for You? – Jeff Tidwell __________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring from their primary career – and aren’t done yet – discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. _________________________ Retire smarter. Explore retirementwisdom.com      

What second career ideas are you considering? The best second career jobs aren’t often posted on job sites – you create them. One approach is to build a portfolio career, consisting of several activities that leverage your skills, experience, and interests. Our guest, Kate Schaefers, shares her story of how she created a portfolio career – and her observations on how Baby Boomers and organizations are evolving. I discuss with Kate: What led her to build a portfolio career. How the Advanced Careers Initiative at the University of Minnesota was created – and how it works. What attracts people to the program. The benefits, and perhaps challenges, of multigenerational groups. Her perspective on working in the second half of life. The role of lifelong learning. What innovative organizations are doing to tap into the skills and knowledge of older workers. The mission of The Encore Network.  Her advice on how to create a portfolio career/life. Kate joins us from Minnesota. __________________________ Bio Kate Schaefers weaves a portfolio of work into a career with one unifying theme: to help individuals and organizations shine. She is Executive Director, University of Minnesota Advanced Careers (UMAC) Initiative, a gap year for experienced professionals as they transition from career jobs into meaningful post-career lives. She is a psychologist and leadership coach, partnering with leaders and organizations to strengthen leadership competencies and organizational effectiveness. She is an adjunct psychologist and coach with The Bailey Group. Kate is a skilled educator, facilitator and trainer. She has taught graduate-level courses at both the University of Minnesota and the University of St. Thomas and was part of a team of educators that designed a coaching certificate program. Kate is actively involved in nonprofit and community work. She is Volunteer State President of AARP-MN, convening the AARP Executive Council and contributing to local and regional strategies for the organization, especially around the aging workforce, intergenerational teams and caregiving. Kate was appointed to the Citizens Commission on Minnesota’s Aging Workforce. She is a member of the Encore Network, a founding board member of SHIFT, and a member of Pollen Midwest. She received the Jules Kerlan Outstanding Achievement Award in 2012 from the Minnesota Career Development Association for contributions to the field of career development. __________________________ Wise Quotes On Building a Portfolio Career “It’s hard to find a ready-made cookie-cutter job when what you’re wanting to do is something new – and something that there’s no job description for. So this is how I ended up coming to a portfolio career. I looked at my skills, I tried to distill down what am I good at? What stands out with me? How do I make sense of all of the things that I can do – and create this brand around what I want to do? And so, I struggled with that for a while. I ended up saying yes to a lot of things. Some of them were from paid work, just to broaden my horizons, some was unpaid work and some was volunteer work…So I just took all of these things and tried to look at what skills do I have? How do I redeploy them? And then how do I tell a story about the work I want to do next?”   On the Multigenerational Teams “Our workforce is intergenerational. So we have four generations in the workplace today – some say five. We still have some of the silent generation in the workplace. Yet most college students learn in an age-segregated environment. And so if we talk about even preparing them for the workplace, they’re not necessarily having those discussions and conversations in a way that reflects what they’re going to experience when they get out of college and then move into the workplace. And we also do know in the workplace that diversity is so important, including age diversity. It enhances performance and creativity. Multi-generational teams in the workplace tend to perform better. I do think some organizations are understanding that when you connect the generations, you can fuel innovation and productivity.”   On Following a Path with Heart & Generosity “You need to be curious, you need to learn from people, you need to reach out, and you need to build your network. Also, you need to have a level of trust. Trust that you’ll figure it out. You have to have a level of Okay, I may not know what I’m doing, but it’s okay – I’ll figure it out. Follow a path with heart, give back to others, tell your story in a compelling way, work with generosity,  pay it back, pay it forward – just put it out there, with generosity.” _________________________ Learn More Kate Schaefers on LinkedIn Twitter @KateSchaefers University of Minnesota Advanced Careers Initiative The Encore Network __________________________ Podcast Episodes You May Like How to Build a Non-Profit Encore Career – Betsy Werley Are You Ready for The New Long Life? – Andrew Scott Advice for Successful Career Women Transitioning to Retirement – Helen Dennis Why People Make a Career Change with Purpose Top of Mind – Chris Farrell What Can You Do to Age Better? – Anna Dixon The Exciting Potential of Intergenerational Mentoring – Charlotte Japp ____________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring, but not done yet, discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. We help you design the life and/or the second career you want. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you. _________________________ Explore retirementwisdom.com  

When you choose to retire, what happens to your To-Do list? Of course, it follows along – and now you’re populating it with a whole new set of items that you finally have the freedom to do. But it doesn’t take long to get the familiar feeling that many things are competing for your time and attention. I’ve used David Allen’s Getting Things Done® method for years, and I’ve been thinking about how it can be very useful in transitioning to ‘retirement’ and in later life. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to discuss with David Allen: His concept of getting things out of your head to create the calm state of a “Mind Like Water.” The key principles of his Getting Things Done ® method How to activate your Someday/Maybe list when Someday arrives How his Horizons of Focus can help you prioritize Why renegotiating commitments can help you regain control of your time What his day-t0-day life is like today after moving internationally What he’s learning in the pandemic – and what questions he’s asking himself days How to think about reconfiguring our living spaces in a COVID world How to bring more Joy to your daily life David Allen joins us from Amsterdam. _________________________ Bio David Allen is widely recognized as the world’s leading expert on personal and organizational productivity. His thirty-year pioneering research and coaching to corporate managers and CEOs of some of America’s most prestigious corporations and institutions has earned him Forbes’ recognition as one of the top five executive coaches in the U.S. and Business 2.0 magazine’s inclusion in their 2006 list of the “50 Who Matter Now.” Time Magazine called his flagship book, Getting Things Done, “the definitive business self-help book of the decade.” Fast Company Magazine called David “one of the world’s most influential thinkers” in the arena of personal productivity, for his outstanding programs and writing on time and stress management, the power of aligned focus and vision, and his groundbreaking methodologies in management and executive peak performance. David is the international best-selling author of Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity; Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life; and Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life. He is the engineer of GTD®, the popular Getting Things Done® methodology that has shown millions how to transform a fast-paced, overwhelming, overcommitted life into one that is balanced, integrated, relaxed, and has more successful outcomes. GTD’s broad appeal is based on the fact that it is applicable from the boardroom to the living room to the class room. It is hailed as “life changing” by students, busy parents, entrepreneurs and corporate executives. David is the Founder and Chairman of the David Allen Company, whose inspirational seminars, coaching, educational materials and practical products present individuals and organizations with a new model for “Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life.” He continues to write articles and essays that address today’s ever-changing issues about living and working in a fast-paced world while sustaining balance, control, and meaningful focus. _________________________ Wise Quotes   On Your Vision for Retirement “What’s your vision of how you’re going to be lifestyle career-wise or retirement-wise, three, four, or five years from now – if your life was as good as can be. And do you have that picture? And that’s where you might have the same purpose as your next-door neighbor, but you’ve got very different pictures about what you’re going to be doing. If you were fulfilling that purpose, you may be researching medical experiments, you may be writing a novel, you may be doing other kinds of things, or you may be being a great service. A lot of people in, you know, in their retirement years are looking for ways to be of service to people, given what they’ve learned in their lives. And so that, that may be what your vision is.”   On Activating Your Someday/ Maybe List “That’s why people are walking around with this ambient anxiety. That’s creating so much stress for people. It really is the stress of opportunity. There are so many things to do, to your point. There are so many things you could do now that you’re retired. I know a lot of people that are flunking retirement, cause they just don’t know what to do with themselves. And you know, that’s understandable, but if they’d been keeping a list of their Someday/Maybe list, as it’s called, now, okay, which Someday/Maybe shall I activate now? Do I really want to write the great American novel? Is it time to start thinking about learning to paint? Is it time to learn the flute?  You just need to identify: What are those things? What are those things that have your attention?”   On Planning in Retirement “So, make some choices and then say, okay, let me try this – for now. And I think for a lot of people, especially at retirement age, it’s kind of nice to go look over the next six months. Here’s the thing I really want to focus on. Or here’s the thing this year I really want to do. I really want to put this in place and I’ll put all these other on the back burner. If they show up, that’s fine, but I’m not going to pressure myself to be having to move on to all that stuff. So those are always good, healthy conversations to have with yourself.” __________________________ For More on David Allen The Getting Things Done Workbook: 10 Moves to Stress-Free Productivity Getting Things Done ® website  YouTube Channel __________________________ Podcast Episodes You May Like Tiny Habits Can Lead to Big Changes – BJ Fogg The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler Your Retirement Won’t Come with a Road Map – Carol Hymowitz Are You Ready for The New Long Life? – Andrew Scott Why Settle for Happiness in Your Retirement? – Emily Esfahani Smith Design Your Life and Get Unstuck – Dave Evans What Can You Do to Age Better? – Anna Dixon Not Exactly Retired – David Jarmul ___________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring, but not done yet, discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. We help you design the life and/or the second career you want. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you. _________________________ Explore retirementwisdom.com  

Have you ever wondered how to become a filmmaker? As your second-act career? Melissa Davey knows how – she’s done it and she returns to our retirement podcast to share her lessons learned. Her story is about smart risk-taking and the value of a growth mindset. But it’s also about the courage to walk away from a career to follow her dream when the opportunity presented itself. She took it and her story is one that’s sure to inspire people. Risk-taking Can Lead to New Avenues When people think of a calling they think of people like Steve Javie and his compelling story. But many have other types of callings they carry inside. These are dreams deferred, often from passions developed early in life and interests put to the side during working lives. But later life can serve up opportunities to do what you really want to do. __________________________ We discuss with Melissa: The story of how she became a documentary filmmaker The lessons she learned from the people in The Beyond Sixty Project film What she learned from the experience of making it The stories from the film that resonate with her even more today How her life has changed since the release of The Beyond Sixty Project The benefits – and the challenges – of working with an intergenerational creative team What’s it been like to be a grandparent during COVID Her advice for people who may want to pursue a Second Act career And what’s next for her ________________________ Bio  Melissa Davey is a documentary filmmaker who lives in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. She is a wife, a mother and a grandmother to three young boys. She is a world traveler and curious about everything unknown. She recently retired after more than two decades from GENEX Services Inc., the largest Managed Care case management organization in the U.S, where she was recruited to build and operate the company’s Social Security representation division. Prior to GENEX, Melissa had almost twenty years of diversified experience in the field of disability. She held senior leadership and management positions throughout her career. Melissa’s second act is fueled by a lifelong passion for film and story-telling. _______________________ Wise Quotes On Second Acts “What I have found is that there are huge numbers of people in their sixties and seventies who are finishing careers, or maybe even already a second career and are saying, Okay, I’m done with that. I don’t want to work at that pace. I don’t want to work possibly for another individual or a big corporation or whatever it might be. I want to do something meaningful for me that will also benefit others. That’s what I’m hearing all the time. What can I do to keep going, but improve upon myself? And one of the greatest things we can do is try something new and something that might impact others in a positive way.” On Dreams (and Deadlines) “I think people need to not discount dreams. And I think a lot of times messaging when we were growing up was, Oh, that doesn’t, that doesn’t make sense. You go to college, you get a job, and you build a career. And that’s what you do. People might have other artistic dreams or, any type of dream, that might be pooh-poohed by either family members or society in general. I think that we should not ignore that. And I think that we should – especially – not ignore that as we get older because of the calendar, because we only have so much time left.” On Taking Calculated Risks “Taking risks is one of the most important ingredients in life. If we don’t take risks to step out of the boxes that we construct for ourselves, we don’t experience new things that may challenge us – and may change the way we view life, people, ourselves, etc. So in order for growth to occur, I think we need to take risks. And I certainly heard that from all of the women that I spoke with [for the film] and, in retrospect, I look at my own life and I do see that the risks I took – and I took many –  some calculated, some just happened. They paid off no matter how uncomfortable they were.  If you wanted to categorize them as right and wrong, no matter how wrong they were, they all paid off – and they all led to this self-reliance this resilience that, I think we don’t really recognize until we’re a bit older.” __________________________ For More on Melissa Davey The Beyond Sixty Project website Our first conversation with Melissa (our 5th episode) __________________________ Other Podcast Episodes You May Like I’m Not Done. Are You? – Patti Temple Rocks Retired, But Not Done Yet – Dr. Cynthia Barnett How Life Hacks Can Help Make Your Retirement the Best Time of Your Life – Sam Horn What’s Next for You? – Jeff Tidwell Will You Be an Entrepreneur in Your Second Act Career? – Dorie Clark With the Freedom to Retire, Where Will You Plant Your New Tree? – Don Ezra From the NBA Hardwood to the Altar – Steve Javie __________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring, but not done yet, discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. We help you design the life and/or the second career you want. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you. _________________________ Explore retirementwisdom.com

Advances in science and technology are creating healthier and longer lives. Our guest today has referred to it as a Longevity Dividend. But increased longevity leads to many questions. How can you maintain health and fitness in this era of longevity? How does longevity affect your retirement planning, and how will you grow and protect your non-financial assets? How will you invest your extra years? And how can you experiment with new ways of living and working that are evolving?   Andrew Scott, is the co-author of the new book The New Long Life with Lynda Gratton. In their first book, The 100-Year Life, they laid out the sweeping changes that longer lives are introducing that will lead individuals governments, educational institutions, and corporations to adapt in innovative ways. Their new book is a practical guide on how to navigate and thrive in an era of longer lives. They introduce a new framework for a multi-stage life, encompassing working longer (and differently), ageing well, cultivating good health and meaningful relationships. We discuss with Andrew: How we should be thinking about ageing in this era of longevity How a multi-stage life unfolds How people can create a new map of life – and get better at navigating transitions With lifelong learning becoming more important, what makes for a supportive learning environment The impact that technology and AI will have on longer lives How governments, educational systems and corporations need to change with longer lives How he sees intergenerational relationships evolving in the future What are we learning from COVID-19 that relates to longer lives – and what he’s doing differently in the pandemic Andrew joins us from London. ________________________ Bio Andrew J Scott is Professor of Economics, former Deputy Dean at London Business School and Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research.  His research focuses on longevity, an ageing society, and fiscal policy and debt management and has been published widely in leading journals. His book with Lynda Gratton, The 100-Year Life, has been published in 15 languages, is an Amazon bestseller and was runner up in the FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2016 and Japanese Business Book of the Year Award 2017. His recent 2020 book, The New Long Life, considers how the challenges and opportunities of social and technological ingenuity might shape a new age of longer lives. He was Managing Editor for the Royal Economic Society’s Economic Journal and Non-Executive Director for the UK’s Financial Services Authority 2009-2013. He has been an advisor on policy to a range of governments and government departments. He is currently on the advisory board of the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility, the Cabinet Office Honours Committee (Science and Technology), co-founder of The Longevity Forum, a member of the UK government’s Longevity Council and the WEF council on Japan and a consulting scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Longevity. With a unique perspective as a global economist, professor, and government advisor, he draws upon a range of disciplines. His ground-breaking work on longevity, economics, and the value and effect technology and longevity combined, will have on the wider society, is shaped by his professional connections to academia, industry, social pioneers and policymakers around the world. Andrew previously held positions at Oxford University, London School of Economics and Harvard University. His MA is from Oxford, his M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and his D.Phil from Oxford University. __________________________ Wise Quotes On the Longevity Dividend “…we discovered to a new degree, that age is malleable. There are things we can do to help how we age, how we exercise, how[ we change] our environment, how we live our life. And that means we’re aging differently. Yes, there are more older people, but how our aging is changing – and that’s a great opportunity to be seized. And if you think about what’s really happened, did I say most of these years of extra life are healthy? Not all of them. So that period at the end of life has got longer, which is a challenge. But most of those years have been healthy. So what’s really happened is we kind of added something on to middle age – from sort of 50 plus – that’s where most of those extra years of life have come from. And people tend to think that aging is about just the end of life’s got longer, but really it’s about all of life.” On Measuring Age Differently “And the metaphor I give is, imagine your day went from being 24 to 32 hours long. That’s not just about what you do differently at the end of the day. It’s what you did differently over the whole day. And that’s I think the challenge we’ve got, – how do make the most of this longer life and in particular, how do we invest in making sure that our future self is as healthy as possible? So there are new risks around, but there are also great opportunities, but the public narrative tends to focus on the negative. Oh, we must be older because we’re living longer – as opposed to the good news that we’re living better. At the heart of this is our reliance upon chronological age – we measure age chronologically – how many candles on your birthday cake, which means you’re living for longer, you’re kind of older. But we really need to think about biological age. Are we fit and healthy? I also would argue that we need to think in a more forward-looking manner, not how many candles are on our birthday cake, but how many more birthday cakes do we still have to come – and using that people are got a lot more future they need to prepare for. So it’s an opportunity.” On the Multi-Stage Life “So we’ve said there’s going be a multi-stage life –  and a multi-stage career, where you may have three or four different stages to your career. One may be focused around making money. One may be about balancing your family responsibilities. One could be doing something entrepreneurial. And of course, that’s already beginning to emerge. You’re seeing people at 50 plus being one of the most popular age groups for starting up a company, for instance. And just, as I said earlier, we invented teenagers and pensioners. We’re starting to see people behave very differently in their forties, fifties, and sixties, and doing these mid-career transitions. So many people that come up to me and either said, You know,  this is exactly what I’ve been doing or saying, I realized now I’ve got another 25 years ahead of me. I need to reskill retool, take a break, and do something else.” On Navigating Transitions “I think it’s going to be a really big skill cause you know, the longer life goes on, your ability to think long term is going to become ever more important. Your ability to invest in your future self is going to be key. And that’s something that not everyone finds easy. And then as you say, transitions will become more common. And how do I plan for them? What can I expect and how do I deal with them? I think one of the challenges here is that we don’t really know how to live these long lives. Because our parent’s generation isn’t going to really give us much of a guide because we’re on average living longer than them. So you need to look around and sort of see what people are doing. See what experiments are happening. Just as it took a long while to work out what to do with teenagers and how they spend their time, and how it took a long while to work out what retirement was, what kind of exploring these sort of mid-life transitions as well.” __________________________ The New Long Life Book Amazon US Amazon UK Website __________________________ Related Podcasts You May Like What Can You Do to Age Better? – Anna Dixon The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler How to Build a Non-Profit Encore Career – Betsy Werley Design Your Life and Get Unstuck – Dave Evans __________________________ Related Book Review The 100-Year Life  __________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring from their primary career – and aren’t done yet – discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. _________________________ Retire smarter. Explore retirementwisdom.com  

  Our guest, Cindy Cox-Roman, a market researcher and gerontologist, joins our retirement podcast to share her perspective on the vital role of Personal Agency. Psychologist Albert Bandura defines personal agency as “the human capability to influence one’s functioning and the course of events by one’s actions.” As you plan for your life in retirement, it’s wise to include personal agency so you can be in the driver’s seat of your retirement. I discuss with Cindy: How she became interested in Gerontology What themes are emerging in her research on people 50+ What personal agency is – and why it’s important How personal agency can change over the life course – and any gender differences she sees What influences agency How agency can be strengthened What she’s learned about mindful aging – and her advice on aging mindfully Her new additional role with HelpAge USA Cindy joins us from Washington, DC. __________________________ Bio Cindy Cox-Roman is a market researcher, gerontologist, and founder of WIT Consulting LLC, a strategic research firm based in Washington, DC. She works with clients to bring the voice of older people to the design of products, services, and systems. As of October 1, Cindy became the Interim CEO of HelpAge USA, the only US nonprofit that is exclusively focused on the wellbeing and inclusion of older people in low- and middle-income countries. ​Earlier in her career, Cindy headed up the New York Custom Research practice of Yankelovich Partners, a social trend research firm studying the attitudes and opinions of the American public and business leaders. Before that, as a Vice-President at Y&R, she led the development of consumer insights and strategy for global advertising campaigns. She also helped establish the company’s first office in Budapest, Hungary, soon after the Berlin Wall came down in the early 1990s. Cindy holds a Bachelor’s degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and a Master’s degree in Gerontology from the University of Southern California. Recently she has been conducting independent research on older people and personal agency, or the idea of being in the driver’s seat of your life. She’s passionate about this topic and is here to talk more about it today. ___________________________ Wise Quotes On Uncertainty “And [the research] is a work in progress, but I’ll share some themes that have come out, which are also supported by other academic research. And they’re very clear and they’re very compelling. A major theme is a disconnect between what we often hear about people in their fifties, sixties, seventies, et cetera – that this is the time when you really know yourself. You have life figured out. You have a lot of self-confidence. You see these quotes all the time in interviews with celebrities and things like that. And certainly, there can be a lot of that, but there is a disconnect between that and the reality that for a lot of people, this can be a time of great uncertainty and that’s not talked about as much. So in the first research study that I did, I talked qualitatively to primarily women, but also some men about this time in their life.  And one thing I asked a typical research question: If there were three words to describe this time in your life, what would they be? And there was a wide variety of things, but one consistent theme made it clear that this is what I’d call an ‘UN’ time – because the words that people tended to consistently use to describe this time of the life were words like unpredictable, unsure, and unsettling. Part of it can be the political environment and the economic environment, et cetera. Those are all [key] things, but this was more about internal uncertainty and being unsettled. And as I probed further, it really came down to the fact that for the first time in their life, there is no roadmap.” On Personal Agency “So another great metaphor is being in the driver’s seat of your life. So when you have agency, you’re in the driver’s seat of your life. So the travel analogy comes up a lot here, but you’re figuring out where you’re going. You’re figuring out what speed you’re going. You’re figuring out what paths you take, what road you take… Are you going to follow GPS? – or are you going to go a back way? It’s the opposite of being in the passenger seat, where you are completely at the whim of whoever’s behind the wheel and you might be able to offer a suggestion, but you’re not actively in charge. So I really like that metaphor and it seems to fit well. And it’s important because having a sense of agency is really directly tied to our life satisfaction because deciding where we’re going to go and how fast we’re going to go. And what routes we’re going to take is linked to our, our deepest desires and our motivations and our sense of our uniqueness. So it helps us be happier. We may not always get what we want, but we have a sense that we are where we’re trying to head.” On Losing Personal Agency “And a lot of what we talk about when we think about Agency is that the very real social norms and social pressures and social reaction from family and friends and society that we can face. So I’ll just wrap up by just saying that in my research that I did, and I found this in academic research, is that it is a fact that we can begin to lose a sense of personal agency or being in the driver’s seat of our life in our fifties and sixties. So in the survey that I had done, there was a statement: Do I agree or disagree – I’m in the driver’s seat of my life. And women 45 to 55, fifty percent strongly agreed with that statement compared to only a third of women, 75 to 84, who strongly agreed. So people themselves can feel a loss of agency for a bunch of reasons, which is a problem because it can make us feel unfulfilled and bitter.” ___________________________ For More on Cindy Cox-Roman You can follow Cindy on Twitter @CindyCoxRoman Business website: www.witconsulting.net HelpAge website: www.helpageusa.org ____________________________ We mentioned an autobiographical reflection exercise in this episode. I decided against posting an isolated exercise, because upon reflection, I think it’s best to do this with someone trained in guided autobiography. A great resource is The Birren Center for Autobiographical Studies, created by the late James E. Birren, the founding dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. Another resource I’d recommend a fellow Life Planning Network & Encore Network member Dr. John Countryman. Here’s a short interview  with John Countryman ___________________________ Related Podcast Episodes with Examples of Personal Agency  How Seniors Are Saving the World With Activism – Thelma Reese Retired, But Not Done Yet – Dr. Cynthia Barnett I’m Not Done. Are You? – Patti Temple Rocks The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler Your Retirement Won’t Come with a Road Map – Carol Hymowitz How to Build a Non-Profit Encore Career – Betsy Werley Advice for Successful Career Women Transitioning to Retirement – Helen Dennis Retirement Planning Includes Getting Good at Getting Older – Rabbi Laura Geller ____________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring, but not done yet, discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. We help you design the life and/or the second career you want. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you. ____________________________ Explore retirementwisdom.com

2020 is changing life in many ways, including the way we work.  The trend toward working virtually was already well underway, but now remote work from home jobs may become more common going forward. Working virtually expands options for older workers who want to work longer, but with greater flexibility. Kerry Hannon joins our podcast to talk about her new book Great Pajama Jobs: Your Compete Guide to Working from Home. She notes how remote work from home jobs level the playing field by focusing attention on performance and productivity. I discuss with Kerry her views on: The benefits of working virtually for mature workers – and the upside for employers. If it’s possible for people to redeploy their skills in new areas, while also shifting to remote work from home jobs. How someone knows if they’re a good fit for working virtually. How to be successful – and happy –  working virtually. How people working remotely should approach networking. What someone who wants to create ongoing remote work with their current company should do. What people should pay attention to in a job search targeting remote work from home jobs, beyond the technical skills a job requires. Kerry joins us from Washington, DC. _________________________ Bio Kerry is the best-selling and award-winning author of 14 books. Her latest book, Great Pajama Jobs: Your Compete Guide to Working from Home is now available. Never Too Old to Get Rich: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business Mid-Life, published by John Wiley & Sons, in 2019, and is a #1 bestseller on Amazon and was selected by The Washington Post for its Book-of-the-Month Club in September. Other best-selling and award-winning books penned by Kerry include: Money Confidence: Really Smart Financial Moves for Newly Single Women, Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy . . . And Pays the Bills, Love Your Job: The New Rules for Career Happiness, Getting the Job You Want after 50, and What’s Next?: Finding Your Passion and Your Dream Job in Your Forties, Fifties and Beyond. She has spent more than three decades covering all aspects of careers, business and personal finance as a columnist, editor, and writer for the nation’s leading media companies. Kerry is currently an expert columnist and regular contributor to The New York Times, MarketWatch, Forbes, and is personal finance and entrepreneurship expert on the PBS website NextAvenue.org. Her areas of expertise include small business, personal finance, retirement, wealth management and career transition. She has appeared as a career and financial expert on The Dr. Phil Show, ABC, CBS,, CNBC, NBC Nightly News, NPR, Yahoo Finance and PBS. In addition to delivering practical advice for mid-life workers seeking to land rewarding jobs, find financial and personal rewards and ride the age wave of longevity with grace, a key passion for Kerry is helping and advising women on how to take charge of their own financial planning, at all stages of their lives, to prepare themselves for a financially secure future. Her earlier books include Suddenly Single: Money Skills for Divorcees and Widows and The 10-Minute Guide to Retirement for Women. Kerry is a former National Press Foundation Fellow, a former Fellow of the Columbia Journalism School and the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center’s Age Boom Academy. She is also a former Metlife Foundation and New America Media Fellow on Aging. She has testified before Congress about the importance of older workers. Kerry graduated from Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she serves on the Board of Visitors. She received a bachelor’s degree from Duke University, where she is currently a member of an editorial board. Kerry lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, documentary producer and editor Cliff Hackel, and her Labrador Retriever, Zena. _________________________ Wise Quotes On the Benefits of Working Remotely “I really truly believe that for older workers, the opportunity to work remotely offers several benefits that you might not have considered. And the number one really is truly getting at the core of ageism, right? This is the ‘ism’ that has been around forever. And nobody really talks about it in a concrete way that helps move the ball forward, but we’re all very acutely aware of it. Here’s the deal. When you’re working remotely, you have the opportunity to be judged on your performance and on your productivity. So you’re not being judged by a cover, but really what’s inside and what you produce. So it sounds a little simplistic, but I honestly think this option offers a great opportunity for experienced workers to be considered on an even playing field by their performance.” On Networking as a Remote Worker “…My favorite little slogan is networking is one letter away from not working. So it’s not one of those things that’s expendable. You have got to network and you can’t be ‘too cool for school’, especially if you are looking for a job.  Don’t be bashful. Look at everyone. You know, it’s the only way. And I’m meaning this that you truly get hired these days is you got to know somebody who knows somebody – or you have to have some kind of connection to that employer. [If you] have somebody who can refer you, they’re not going to get you that job, but if they can get you in the door for that first interview, you can shine and sell yourself at that point. But it truly is getting somebody to give you the inside scoop about who you’re going to talk to there, who you can talk to, what the culture is like and what is out there and the best way to find out.” _________________________ For More on Kerry Hannon KerryHannon.com Her new book: Great Pajama Jobs: Your Complete Guide to Working from Home Her 2019 book: Never Too Old to Get Rich: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business Mid-Life Visit Kerry’s Website Follow Kerry on Twitter: @KerryHannon __________________________ Related Podcast Episodes You May Like I’m Not Done. Are You? – Patti Temple Rocks The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler Retired, But Not Done Yet – Dr. Cynthia Barnett A Second Act after The Law – Mark Shaiken How to Make a Wise Career Switch – Dawn Graham Why People Make a Career Change with Purpose Top of Mind – Chris Farrell ___________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring, but not done yet, discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. We help you design the life and/or the second career you want. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you. Explore retirementwisdom.com

  Ageism in the workplace is increasingly an obstacle to working longer. Patti Temple Rocks, author of I’m Not Done: It’s Time to Talk About Ageism in the Workplace, shares her story and why she’s fighting for change. Her book offers a portrait of the costs of ageism and recommends solutions that CEOs and HR can implement. We discuss with Patti Temple Rocks: Why she’s on a mission to combat ageism in the workplace When she first noticed ageism in the workplace The signs and subtle signals of ageism Why ageism is bad for business How companies benefit from a multigenerational workforce What CEOs and HR can do to create an inclusive culture with age diversity What she’s learned for her personal journey How 5:45 AM Soul Cycle sessions helped in her transition Her advice for people who aren’t done and want to work longer Patti joins us from Chicago. __________________________ Bio Patti Temple Rocks is the author of I’m Not Done: It’s Time to Talk About Ageism in the Workplace. Her book, an Amazon bestseller, was ranked as one of INC Magazine 9 Books Every Professional Should Read in 2019 and Kirkus described her book as a “compelling argument and a spirited call to action against workplace age discrimination.” Patti is also a Forbes contributor and public speaker. In close to four decades in the communications business, Patti has held senior leadership positions in four different areas of the industry: PR, Advertising Corporate, and Start-up. Patti is known as an inspirational leader, innovative thinker, problem-solver, growth driver, passionate brand steward, and both an agent for change and a counselor during that change. Patti was the Managing Director for the Chicago office of IPG Public Relations agency, Golin, and led the agency to consistent growth, while providing counsel and ideas to clients including McDonald’s, Walmart, Humana, Tylenol, Unilever, Discover, Dow, and ConAgra. As the Chief Reputation Officer at Leo Burnett, Patti sat on of the agency’s Global Leadership Council, where she provided global strategic leadership of communications, and experienced first-hand the seismic shifts that were happening within the ad industry. While Chief Brand and Reputation Officer for Dow Chemical, Patti was the principal architect behind the company’s “Human Element” campaign, an award-winning rebranding effort that lifted Dow’s reputation scores by the most significant margin in its history. And as Founder of Temple•Rocks Communications in the 90s, she learned how to serve a wide variety of smaller clients while simultaneously getting married, giving birth, making cold calls, fixing copy machines, and built a successful start-up agency along the way. Most recently, proving that she truly wasn’t done, Patti rejoined the creative agency world. In April of 2019, she accepted a role as Senior Partner ICF Next (formerly Olson Engage) where they utilize her “Wisdom, Experience & Connections” (Chapter 6 in her book) as she leads Client Impact across their combined advertising and PR group, Brand Engage. Patti, an avid traveler who never says no to a travel opportunity and a lifelong Cubs fan, is most proud to be mother to Jake, step-mom to Eric and Danielle, and “Gigi” to five-year-old twins, Liam and Teagan. She lives in the Chicago suburb of Geneva, with her husband Bob and her two golden retrievers, Rose and Rizzo. __________________________ Wise Quotes On First Noticing Ageism “And so I started to realize that there was a code language that maybe I didn’t fully understand. And so from that moment on, I just think I became acutely aware of some of this behavior that exhibits in workplaces because there is just this unchecked assumption that people reach a certain age and it’s over for them. They either will want to go off and do something different or the organization wants them to, but it was much more prevalent than I realized.” On Taking Ownership “…That’s one of the things that makes me saddest about ageism because I think it erodes people’s confidence. And so I think that’s probably why it is hard for people to take the next step…, because you’re not confident that the next step will work. And I’ve always sort of felt like, well, if this doesn’t work, I’ll try something else. So some of that I think must have to do with how I was raised, or I have taken a lot of risks in my career, but I also found when I described what happened with my boss and mentor at the time, I thought I’m not gonna let this happen to me. And I’m not going to be surprised. And if the workplace decides that I’m not relevant anymore, I’m going to be prepared to take that next step to move to that…second act.” “And that’s when I realized Hell No!… I am still in my first act. I am still good at this career that I’ve spent 30 plus years building. I am not going to go to something else. I’m going to find a way to keep doing what I’m doing. So some of what I think fueled me was I thought I want to change the narrative …in the simplest way: I say, It’s not you. It’s them’  as long as the older worker, so-called older worker is still showing up and doing a good job every day. If the workplace makes a decision that that person isn’t valuable anymore, it’s the workplace, not the person. So I was honestly pretty ticked off when I wrote the book and thought I need business leaders to wake up and realize that they can.” __________________________ For More on Patti Temple Rocks Patti Temple Rocks’ book: I’m Not Done: It’s Time to Talk About Ageism in the Workplace Next Avenue Article: The Most Insidious Form of Age Discrimination at Work: The ‘I’m Not Done’ author on the demoralizing practice of marginalization ___________________________ Related Podcasts You May Like Navigating An Unexpected Career Change – Maggie Craddock The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler If You Plan on Working Longer, How Do You Best Prepare? – Kerry Hannon No Finish Line – Meyer Feldberg How to Make a Wise Career Switch – Dawn Graham We’re All Ageing. Are You Up for a Bolder Approach? – Carl Honoré ___________________________ About Retirement Wisdom   We help people who are retiring, but not done yet, discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. We help you design the life and/or the second career you want. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you. Explore retirementwisdom.com __________________________

What’s life in retirement like for a retired lawyer? And what does a career change for lawyers look like after years in practice? In this episode of our retirement podcast, we talk with retired attorney Mark Shaiken, about his book And… Just Like That: Essays on a life before, during, and after the law, about his story and his advice on second careers for lawyers (and non-lawyers as well). We talk with Mark about: How he decided to become a lawyer His replacement word for retirement – and what his afterlife is like as a retired lawyer What his transition to retirement was like How a teacher may have put his interest in art on hold – and what it’s like working in a creative field today What he’s learned about himself in his life as a retired lawyer How lawyers can use their skill-set in other ways in second careers for lawyers His advice for those considering a career change for lawyers – or a career change or non-lawyers as well. Mark joins us from Denver, Colorado. _____________________ Bio Forty-one years in the law and then one day, no more law, just like that. After retirement, Mark Shaiken authored: And… Just Like That: Essays on a life before, during, and after the law. Mark is a survivor of a decades-long career in the corporate bankruptcy trenches. He sat for 10 years on his law firm’s board of directors and was a member of its strategic planning committee. He holds his B.A. from Haverford College and received his J.D. from Washburn University. He is a graduate of the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts’ Leadership Arts program. He holds seats on Art Boards, sits on Habitat for Humanity, Metro Denver’s audit and finance committee, and is a member of the Downtown Denver Partnership’s Mobility and Housing Councils. He now measures his life by what he gives and enjoys that immensely. Mark has now started his next book “Fresh Start,” a bankruptcy novel. ______________________ Wise Quotes On Transitioning to Retirement “I think that I am correct that lawyers go through this process of why did I become a lawyer? Was this really the thing I should have done perhaps more than other professions? Because I think I hit a chord that resonated with the readers about that path. And I sure spend an awful lot of time during my career, trying to think of other things to do, maybe dreaming of other things to do, and certainly negotiating with myself as to how much longer I would hang on as an attorney. But I finally found my path out and I took it. And now I’m in the not-for-profit world where I feel like I get to ask every day at the end of the day, what I gave and I’m, I enjoy that immensely. That’s quite different than what you find in the law firm world, where you, you tend to be measuring your career by what you get. And I certainly did some of that during my career, but now I get to measure my life by what I’m giving. And that makes me really happy.”   On the Non-linearity of Life    “I don’t think there’s much about life that’s linear – even if it’s somebody that’s always known what they wanted to do. And then, [once you decide to do something different] there’s nothing about life that’s linear, which makes it kind of interesting. The ups and the downs can be scary, but that’s what living on Planet Earth is. So nothing that I have ever done has been linear, including in this afterlife. I’ve learned a lot of things, post my law career, but I didn’t know about myself. That makes even what I’m doing now, not particularly linear, but I’m used to that at this point. And so it doesn’t scare me as much as it might have when I was, you know, 25 or 30.” ______________________________ For More on Mark Shaiken Mark’s Website  Mark Shaiken’s book on Amazon: And… Just Like That: Essays on a life before, during, and after the law. ______________________________ Related Podcast Episodes You Might Like The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler How to Make a Wise Career Switch – Dawn Graham What’s Your Exit Strategy? – Ashley Micciche Are You Thinking About Going Back to School in Retirement? – Nell Painter Take the Detour – A Second Act Career Story – Melissa Davey Is It Time to Break Up with Busy? – Yvonne Tally _________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are “retiring” from their primary career – and aren’t done yet – discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. _________________________ Explore retirementwisdom.com      

Do your ideas about retirement include volunteering? Retirement is not the end, it’s the beginning of a new phase of life. And a volunteer opportunity provides a new pathway. Two retirees volunteer, become friends, and later write a book about it. In this episode of our retirement podcast, we talk with the authors of  The Paths We Cross. The book is a joint memoir detailing their lives and their experiences as volunteers with AARP. We discuss with the authors: What attracted them to AARP’s Tax-Aide Program What they think people need to know about volunteering, and how to find the right volunteer opportunity What led them to write a book together –and what was it was like to write a book together What they know now about retirement that they didn’t know before What they are finding to be the best things about life in retirement –and the biggest challenges Their advice on retirement for someone who’s planning to retire soon _________________ Wise Quotes On Retirement “…Retirement can be fun if you choose to do the right thing.” On Goals “…Set goals for yourself, goals that will fulfill your needs. Think about what you’d like to do that you couldn’t have done before. Maybe a hobby, maybe something else, but set your goal before you retire.” ________________________ Bios Noam Eimer is an information technology professional with a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Newark College of Engineering (now known as NJIT). Born in Israel only a few years before the country’s declaration of independence, Noam immigrated to the United States in 1964 to pursue his education after serving in the Israeli army and has lived there ever since. He has extensive experience in project management, business process engineering, large-scale application development, and new business development projects. After a 35-year career, he retired from active employment but continues to contribute his knowledge, expertise, and time to create value for his community on a volunteer basis, most notably through the AARP Tax-Aide Program. Noam has resided in the Philadelphia area with his wife for the past five decades where they also raised three children. Bruce Satalof is a business professional with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from St. Joseph’s University. Born in West Philadelphia, Bruce was the youngest of four boys to parents whose Depression Era roots were a strong influence. Whereas he thrived in sports and business endeavors, it wasn’t until his 30’s that he felt compelled to pursue a college degree in order to realize his full potential. After attending night school while working full time and helping to raise two children, Bruce achieved his dream in 2004 when he received his degree in Business Administration. Having retired from active employment after a 32-year career, he was able to continue applying his management skills as a volunteer in the AARP Tax-Aide Program. Bruce continues to live in the Philadelphia area with his wife and has found his post-retirement ventures to be a fulfilling part of his life’s journey. ____________________________ Related Podcast Episodes You May Like The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler How Seniors Are Saving the World With Activism – Thelma Reese From the NBA Hardwood to the Altar – Steve Javie How to Live Your Legacy Now – Barbara Shaiman Retired, But Not Done Yet – Dr. Cynthia Barnett Making Sense of Medicare – Dan Petkevich Retirement Planning Includes Getting Good at Getting Older – Rabbi Laura Geller ___________________________ Related Blog Post https://www.retirementwisdom.com/find-the-volunteer-opportunity-thats-right-for-you/ __________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring, but not done yet, discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. __________________________ Retire smarter.Explore retirementwisdom.com  

  Parenting adult children and maintaining strong relationships with adult children, takes adjustment and flexibility. As parents get older, so do their children. While you’ll always be their parent, the lives of adult children bring new dynamics and complexities. Careers, spouses, and in-laws enter the picture. And sometimes family estrangement can occur. In this episode of our retirement podcast, our guest is Tina Gilbertson, author of Reconnecting with Your Estranged Adult Child. We discuss with Tina: What the research shows about how common this is and how it’s trending What causes some relationships with adult children to fracture The different types of estrangement How the path to reconciliation begins What successful reconciliations have in common How to keep relationships with adult children healthy Tina joins us from Denver, Colorado. __________________________ Wise Quotes On Compassion “The first step to reconciliation is to recognize that reconciliation is required and find compassion for yourself for finding yourself in this painful, difficult, sometimes excruciating position. Compassion is always the very first step…So the first step is self-compassion. That’s also important because when you can find compassion for yourself, you naturally find that you feel more compassion also for your child. And that is a good basis for forming a connection. That mutual compassion is sort of I’m okay. You’re okay. I’m a good person. You’re a good person. That’s why that in my mind is Step One.” On Boundaries “…When we talk about healthy relationships, one thing that almost automatically comes up is boundaries and respecting boundaries. And some people don’t like the concept of boundaries because it feels aggressive or it feels cold. But I think that is a misinterpretation of what boundaries are meant to do. We have fences around our yards, but we also have always a gate in the fence that can be opened and closed. It’s not a moat. It’s just saying, this is my yard. And that is not my yard. And so respecting boundaries is an important thing for parents to do with adult children. But it’s also a thing too, that they need to require of everyone else, including their adult child. “And it may seem it’s counterintuitive to talk to a parent. Who’s been rejected on willingly about holding her own boundaries. And yet it’s terribly important because many parents feel like doormats like their child is walking all over them.” _________________________ Bio Tina Gilbertson is a psychotherapist who specializes in supporting parents of estranged adult children and is the founder of the Reconnection Club, the essential online resource for parents of estranged adult children. She is the author of Constructive Wallowing: How to Beat Bad Feelings By Letting Yourself Have Them and Reconnecting with Your Estranged Adult Child. Her weekly podcast is called The Reconnection Club Podcast. As an expert on relationships and communication, she’s been featured in dozens of media outlets including Forbes, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and Fast Company. Tina holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology, is licensed as an LPC in Colorado and Oregon, and is also a Board-Certified Telemental Health Provider, offering online therapy to clients in both states. Though her office is currently in Denver, she offers training and consulting all over the world. ___________________________ For More on Tina Gilbertson Tina’s website Her latest book Reconnecting with Your Estranged Adult Child  ___________________________ Podcast Episodes You May Like The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler Can You Grow Younger? – Marta Zaraska How Life Hacks Can Help Make Your Retirement the Best Time of Your Life – Sam Horn Why Settle for Happiness in Your Retirement? – Emily Esfahani Smith Advice for Successful Career Women Transitioning to Retirement – Helen Dennis The Mind-Body Connection and The Rabbit Effect – Kelli Harding ____________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring from their primary career – and aren’t done yet – discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. _________________________ Retire smarter. Explore retirementwisdom.com  

Are You Ready for Your Next Transition? Life’s transitions come at you more often than you might think. And when you’re transitioning to retirement, you may be dealing with other life transitions simultaneously, such as becoming an empty nester or relocating. Author Bruce Feiler’s new book reveals interesting data points on various types of life transitions and how often they tend to occur. Based on 225 interviews with people from all walks of life, Feiler details the common types of transitions – Disruptors and Lifequakes – and examines how they arise, involuntarily, and voluntarily. Best of all, the second half of the book outlines valuable tools you can use to manage transitions effectively. Bruce Feiler is a master storyteller and this book is a pleasure to read. Most important, it’s a Gamechanger. It’s a paradigm shift that will reframe how you view the transition into retirement life. We talk with Bruce Feiler about: What inspired him to write Life Is In The Transitions Why we expect life to unfold in a linear fashion, yet it is inherently non-linear What surprised him in the data that emerged from the interviews How Disruptors become Lifequakes Why we resist transitions How creativity can be useful in transitions How this can be used in education, so it’s not always ‘learned the hard way’ His advice for people transitioning to retirement, perhaps earlier than planned ____________________ Bio Bruce Feiler is one of America’s most popular voices on contemporary life. He is the author of six consecutive New York Times bestsellers; the presenter of two prime-time series on PBS; and the inspiration for the drama Council of Dads on NBC. Bruce’s two Ted Talks have been viewed more than two million times. Employing a firsthand approach to his work, Bruce is known for living the experiences he writes about. His work combines timeless wisdom with timely knowledge turned into practical, positive messages that allow people to live with more meaning, passion, and joy. His new book, LIFE IS IN THE TRANSITIONS: Mastering Change at Any Age, describes his journey across America, collecting hundreds of life stories, exploring how we can navigate the growing number of life transitions with greater purpose and skill. For more than a decade, Bruce has explored the intersection of families, relationships, health, and happiness. His book The Secrets of Happy Families collects best practices from some of the country’s most creative minds. The Council of Dads describes how, faced with one of life’s greatest challenges, he asked six friends to support his young daughters. The book was profiled in PEOPLE, USA Today, and Time and was the subject of a CNN documentary hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Since 2001, Bruce has been one of the country’s preeminent thinkers about the role of spirituality in contemporary life. Walking The Bible describes his 10,000-mile journey retracing the Five Books of Moses through the desert. The book spent a year and a half on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into fifteen languages. Bruce Feiler has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and Gourmet, where he won three James Beard Awards. He is a frequent commentator on radio and television. A former circus clown, he has been the subject of a Jay Leno joke and a JEOPARDY! question, and his face appears on a postage stamp in the Grenadines. A native of Savannah, Georgia, Bruce lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Linda Rottenberg, and their identical twin daughters. __________________________ Wise Quotes On Life Transitions “…there has not been a book on life transitions, a major book in 40 years. Like this is a concept that we have expelled from our culture. And a lot of what I’ve been believing for years is that we need to do is kind of re-understand and re-embrace the idea of a life transition as a meaningful way to get through a change in your life. And then, as I said, now, suddenly it’s urgent and everybody realizes, Oh my gosh, I’m going through this. I need help.”   On Involuntary and Voluntary Life Transitions “So I went into it thinking that most of these transitions would be something happened to you, right? You got a diagnosis, you were laid off, you lost her limbs. You got cancer. Because a lot of the ones that inspired me were things that happened to me. It turns out that again, I was wrong. 53% of our life transitions are involuntary, but 47% are voluntary. And I’m guessing people who are listening to this conversation can relate to that right in retirement.  They say, Finally, I’m going to make the change, right? I’m an empty nester now, right? I’ve either put the kids or mostly put the kids through college or I want to move, or I want to bike more or right. Open up an Airbnb or travel more, whatever these are, these are still like quakes. These are still big life changes, but we initiate them.”   On Disruptors & Lifequakes “…we go through more changes of a wider variety of aspects of our lives over a much wider span in our lives than most people anticipate. So I tallied up all of the changes that people experience in their lives. And I came up with three dozen. So that’s one life change every 12 to 18 months, but most of these are small and most of these, we get them. So I call this a Disruptor – and I called it a Disruptor because I didn’t like the other language that was out there. The other language that is out there was things like stressor or crisis. But as I said, some of these are wonderful, like getting married is a disruptor, having a child is a disruptor, getting a pet can be a disruptor. Moving can be a disruptor, retiring can be a disruptor. And again, most of these we get through. So that’s one disruptor every 12, 18 months. And by the way, that’s more often than many people see a dentist, but one in 10 of those becomes a Lifequake and it’s a massive life change. So why is it? And so that’s three to five times in our lives. And by the way, the average length of time to navigate this is five years. So you think we go through three to five, they take four or five years. That’s 25 years. That’s half of our adult lives.” ____________________________ For More on Bruce Feiler Read Life Is in the Transitions  Bruce Feiler’s website Follow on Twitter ____________________________ Related Podcast Episodes You May Like How to Make a Wise Career Switch – Dawn Graham Navigating An Unexpected Career Change – Maggie Craddock From the NBA Hardwood to the Altar – Steve Javie Retired, But Not Done Yet – Dr. Cynthia Barnett If You Love Your Work, What Challenges Will You Face in Retirement? – Michelle Pannor Silver Tiny Habits Can Lead to Big Changes – BJ Fogg _________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring from their primary career – and aren’t done yet – discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. _________________________ Retire smarter. Explore retirementwisdom.com      

How to Take Control of Your Career in Turbulent Times Is it time to switch careers? Or perhaps pursue early retirement and create a second career? Savvy career planning requires you to be thinking two steps ahead in the best of times. However, in times like these, your awareness needs to be sharpened. It’s wise to tune in intently to what’s happening, in and around you, that may affect what’s next for you. Maggie Craddock’s new book Lifeboat: Navigating Unexpected Career Change and Disruption, offers a strategy and valuable guidance on how to take control of your next career move in a dynamic and uncertain world. In this episode of the Retirement Wisdom podcast, we discuss: What inspired her to write her third book Lifeboat How a Big Ship mindset can take a toll on you How to spot Icebergs that may affect your career planning and direction Why you need to be aware of inner icebergs as well as external ones Her own Lifeboat experience that spurred a career change to more meaningful work How cultivating courage, inner wisdom and emotional agility can help you take control of your life & career Her advice on how to start building a Lifeboat mindset __________________________ Bio Maggie Craddock is an executive coach who has worked with clients at all levels on the professional spectrum – from people entering the workforce to Fortune 500 CEOs. She has been featured on CNBC, National Public Radio and quoted in national publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. Maggie is the author of “Lifeboat: Navigating Unexpected Career Change and Disruption”, “Power Genes: Understanding Your Power Persona and How to Wield it at Work”, and “The Authentic Career: Following the Path of Self-Discovery to Professional Fulfillment”. She has also written several nationally syndicated articles on behavioral dynamics in the workplace, and her work has been discussed in publications ranging from Harvard Business Review to Oprah Magazine. She is a popular keynote speaker at leadership conferences for her corporate clients and industry networking associations. Before building her executive coaching business, Maggie worked for over a decade on both the buy and the sell sides of the financial services industry. As a Portfolio Manager at Scudder, Stevens & Clark, Maggie managed $3 billion in short-term global assets. She received two Lipper Awards for top mutual fund performance: Best Short-Term Multi-Market Income Fund, ranked #1 by Lipper in a universe of 77 funds, and Best World Income Fund over $1 billion in size, ranked #1 by Lipper in a universe of 7 funds. She also served as a National Director of Consultant Relations at Sanford C. Bernstein, representing the firm across all asset classes including emerging markets, domestic and international fixed income, and domestic and international equity to major consultants and pension fund clients nationwide. __________________________ Wise Quotes On the Lifeboat Mindset “This is about actually tapping into difficult feelings, acknowledging them. If you’re anxious, if you’re envious, if you’re resentful, whatever it is, face it, acknowledge it. And then bring yourself back to the present moment so that you don’t get pulled into a narrative from the past and capsized by the feelings. It’s really about learning to process that emotional energy. And the reason it’s so important to be in touch with what you’re feeling, particularly when the feelings are big, is in situations where you have more questions than answers. You need to notice those red flags because you may need to course-correct. And then finally the Lifeboat process is about what I call this inner alignment of really aligning your thoughts, your feelings, and your intentions in the present moment, and not trying to take these grand actions that assume you have all the answers right now. And you’re just going forward with that. But look for practical, positive opportunities in the moment to do the next right thing, the next row of the oar – and if you do that, you’ll keep moving in the right direction. And eventually, you will align yourself with opportunities. You’ll navigate this period of uncertainty and you’ll be there for positive opportunities when the crisis abates.”   On Wisdom “I think that wisdom… and accepting reality are very kissing cousins on this one, right? Because the more that I progress through the journey of life – and of course I’ve got good days and bad, like everybody else – the more that I realize my wisest moments are when I’m being authentic with myself, particularly around uncomfortable feelings. So if I feel frustrated with the kids or the grandkids now, I’m not necessarily going to hopefully react to that in the moment, but I need to acknowledge what I’m feeling and I need to be okay with it. I’m not the perfect person. Sometimes I’m frustrated, sometimes I’m short-tempered. And if I can acknowledge that within myself with good humor and perspective, the odds of my being able to respond in a way that’s most effective [increase].” ___________________________ Read Maggie Craddock’s New Book: Lifeboat: Navigating Unexpected Career Change and Disruption ___________________________ Related Podcast Episodes You May Like How to Make a Wise Career Switch – Dawn Graham The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler Design Your Life and Get Unstuck – Dave Evans How to Build a Non-Profit Encore Career – Betsy Werley Why People Make a Career Change with Purpose Top of Mind – Chris Farrell Take the Detour – A Second Act Career Story – Melissa Davey _________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring from their primary career – and aren’t done yet – discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. _________________________ Retire smarter. Explore retirementwisdom.com

The Keys to Growing Young Can friendship, optimism, and kindness help you live to 100? Marta Zaraska, author of Growing Young joins The Retirement Wisdom Podcast to explain how the research indicates it can through the mind-body connection. We discuss with Marta: What inspired her to write Growing Young Where some of us may be overinvesting and underinvesting based on scientific research on longevity How optimism and pessimism may affect longevity Why superfoods, supplements and “quick fixes” aren’t the wise moves to make Her favorite stories from her travels and experiments while researching her book Which things lower and which things raise mortality risk based on the research, including a few that may surprise you Lessons that may be helpful in quarantine What Longevity Habits to create __________________________ Wise Quotes On Optimism “There is so much research showing that optimism can add anywhere from four to 10 years of life.  The number 10 years keeps reappearing in studies over and over. For example, Catholic Nuns, which are perfect groups of study because, you know, they all live in basically the same environment, their whole lives, especially those who entered very, very young. And there was a study exactly like that. They eat the same thing. They wake up at the same hour, they live in the same place doing exactly the same things. And there was one famous study that analyzed their diaries and those who are using the most cheerful language, the most optimistic language outlasted those who are using very gloomy, pessimistic words in the writing by exactly about 10 years. And the same was shown, for example, on autobiographies of famous psychologists on even the orangutans in zoos, you know, when they are evaluated by the zookeepers. Those who have the most cheerful, outgoing personalities outlive the more pessimistic, gloomy orangutans by 10 years as well. So it keeps coming back to the 10 years.” On Longevity Habits “When I think about diet and exercise, which again, are still important, but it’s very much inward-looking. So it’s very much an ‘all about me’ kind of thing – my body, my diet, my exercise. But when I think about those soft longevity habits, it’s more about looking outwards outside of yourself. I’m thinking about other people. So, when you wake up, just think: What can I do for others today? How can I be nicer? How can I contribute to my neighborhood, to my family? How can I be nice to my partner or to my neighbors or to my friends? –  things like that. Very, very simple, but this is a change of perspective. And I think that this can make a tremendous difference. Of course, there are very practical suggestions in my book as well. For example, do more things in synchrony with others. On Synchrony “There is an amazing effect with synchrony actually has an asset. For example, when we do things in sync with others, that boosts of those social hormones that we get out of it is actually double. So for example, when you dance with other people and when you sing with them, it makes you feel connected. And it releases all the social hormones that have beneficial health effects for you, such as endorphins, which are natural painkillers. But when you do it in synchrony, the effects are doubled. So for example, chorus singing or line dancing is kind of my career. So there are very, very practical tips out there as well for people to try.” __________________________ Bio  Marta Zaraska is a science journalist whose work has been published in The Washington Post, Scientific American, New Scientist, and The Atlantic. ​Her first book, “Meathooked: The History and Science of Our 2.5-Million Year Obsession with Meat” was chosen by the journal Nature as one of “the best science picks” in 2016. Her new book, “Growing Young: How Friendship, Optimism and Kindness Can Help You Live to 100” was published in May 2020 and endorsed by Dan Buetner, (author “Blue Zones”), Emeran Mayer (“Mind-Gut Connection”), Shawn Anchor (“Big Potential”), among others. It’s a research-driven case for why optimism, kindness, and strong social networks will keep us living longer than any fitness tracker or superfood. Marta’s articles and books have been turned into TV programs in the US, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, Bulgaria, Germany and Poland, and reprinted around the globe from Oman and Dubai to Australia and Singapore. She has been interviewed by dozens of radio stations in North America and across Europe.  She has given a TEDx talk at Bocconi University, Milan, and has been featured as an expert in several documentary films. ​She has visited over 80 countries around the world and lived in six of them. She has reported from Rwanda, DR Congo, Nicaragua, India, Togo, Cameroon, and many other places. She lives in a tiny French village with her husband and daughter. ___________________________________ For More on Marta Zaraska Buy Growing Young: How Friendship, Optimism &  Kindness Can Help You Live to 100 on Amazon Her website Our review of her new book ____________________________ Podcast Episodes You May Like Tiny Habits Can Lead to Big Changes – BJ Fogg The Mind-Body Connection and The Rabbit Effect – Kelli Harding How Can You Be Better with Age? – Alan Castel We’re All Ageing. Are You Up for a Bolder Approach? – Carl Honoré What Can We Learn from Blue Zones? – Richard Eisenberg How Seniors Are Saving the World With Activism – Thelma Reese __________________________ Looking to Create New Healthy Habits? Retirement Wisdom’s Tiny Habits ®Coaching Program __________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring, but not done yet, discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. We help you design the life in retirement that’s uniquely right for you. Retire smarter. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great.  

The Ripple Effects of Giving Back Giving back is admirable. But in the midst of a busy and successful career, it’s can be easy to put off giving back to the community. Donating financially is impactful, especially now, but many people feel a tug that they want to do more. The freedom to retire offers opportunities to do just that. Our guest today, Barbara Greenspan Shaiman, encourages people to think about the impact on future generations. She urges people to get involved and to live your legacy now. Barbara and I discuss: What inspired her to become involved in social activism Why she created a not-for-profit Champions of Caring What drives her to do what she does What it means to Live One’s Legacy What she sees inspires people to give back in retirement Why people put off living their legacy and what often gets in the way Her advice for someone who wants to Live Their Legacy – Now __________________________ Bio A noted educator, businesswoman, and social entrepreneur, Barbara Shaiman has used her skills and ability to empower others to create social change. She began her career as a teacher, developing curriculum for at-risk youth, and later directed Eisenbud & Associates, an executive search firm that specialized in recruiting physicians and healthcare executives nationally. As a leader in this field, she presented frequently on human resources issues at conferences. In 1995, she founded Champions of Caring, a non-profit organization that has empowered more than 10,000 youth in Philadelphia and South Africa to become leaders in service and active, engaged citizens. The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Barbara’s mother was incarcerated in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and is the sole survivor of a family of 65 people. Her father worked for Oskar Schindler, on whose story Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List was based. This family legacy, coupled with her professional experience and work with Champions of Caring, has motivated Barbara to help others to live their legacies. For 20 years, Barbara has created programs that have inspired and empowered youth with the skills to create service projects to address local and global issues and create cultures of caring within their schools and communities. With her strong background in human resources, entrepreneurial spirit, and 30+ years speaking publicly, Barbara created Embrace Your Legacy to share her message and encourage youth and adults of all backgrounds, locally and internationally, to embrace and live their legacies. Barbara often is called upon to share her message at community events, conferences, and workshops. Her audiences include corporations, financial advisors, universities, educators, faith-based communities, women’s groups, service organizations, trade associations, and professional groups. Through speeches, workshops, and consulting, she shares her highly effective and replicable 10-step approach to provide participants with the necessary tools to create social change in an informed and creative way. Barbara earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and education from Hunter College in New York City, and a master’s degree in education from North Adams State College in Massachusetts. Barbara has served on the boards of numerous community organizations, including the Greater Philadelphia Consortium of Holocaust Educators, The Transition Network, Chemical People Project, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross, and Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. She founded the Philadelphia chapter of Life Planning Network and has served as board chair of the Women’s Division of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires and the Memorial Committee of the Six Million Jewish Martyrs for the Greater Philadelphia Jewish Community Relations Council. Residing near Philadelphia, Barbara speaks five languages and loves to travel. Her greatest joys are her children and grandchildren. ________________________ Wise Quotes On Living Your Legacy “Well, to me, it’s about what is your story? Can you create and write your own story of your life? We’re born tabula rasa with a blank slate. And of course, circumstance has happened to us, a lot of positive and negative, but how we deal with that is really the core issue. And truthfully, I started this book as an ethical will for my children and grandchildren. I wanted to share my values with them, and what was important to me in life. And I wanted my voice and my writing to be heard so that when I am gone, they can look at this and say, this is what she was really all about. And my husband was an estate planning lawyer. And he said to me, you know what? I think this is bigger than just the family. Take out the very personal things and leave that as a separate document, but write this book and have people really reflect on their lives and the vision they had for how they were living their lives.” On How You Show Up “David Brooks talks about two kinds of values: Resume Values, and Eulogy Values. Resume Values, as we all know, cover I had this job from this time to this time, and this is what I accomplished. These are my skillsets, but let’s look at those Eulogy Values. What are the things that you did to live through your soul, to make social change, to live your values, to share those values with others? So I think legacy living is something we do all the time and it doesn’t have to be huge. It’s did I show up as a mench today? Was I kind? Was I caring? Did I make a difference in someone’s life? So it is what you live and how you live your life with your values in the forefront of your thought process?” ________________________ For More on Barbara Shaiman Champions of Caring Embrace Your Legacy Now ___________________________ Related Podcast Episodes The Mind-Body Connection and The Rabbit Effect – Kelli Harding How Seniors Are Saving the World With Activism – Thelma Reese Why Building Resilience is Vital in Midlife and Beyond – Jan Zacharjasz From the NBA Hardwood to the Altar – Steve Javie Not Exactly Retired – David Jarmul Retirement Planning Includes Getting Good at Getting Older – Rabbi Laura Geller __________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring from their primary career – and aren’t done yet – discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. ___________________________ Retire smarter. Explore retirementwisdom.com

At some point, you’ll become eligible for Medicare. And you’ll be faced with a number of options. But how do you know which choices are the right ones for you? There are a number of misconceptions about how Medicare works, so it’s important to do your homework. Today we talk with Dan Petkevich about Medicare 101 and discuss: What makes Medicare complicated What people are most surprised by when they begin to look into Medicare Common mistakes to avoid How far in advance people should begin to look into Medicare Options for people who work for a corporate employer, and will be eligible for Medicare, but have a spouse who’s younger than 65 Dan’s advice for listeners who want to get their Medicare options right __________________________ Bio Dan Petkevich is the CEO of Fair Square Medicare, a company he started when he saw his own parents struggle to understand their health care insurance options when they turned 65. Prior to founding Fair Square Medicare, Dan founded Trim, a financial health company that’s generated over 40 million in cost savings for its customers. Previously, Daniel co-founded Octane Lending, a venture-backed financial technology company. He graduated from Yale with a degree in Physics. ________________________ Wise Quotes On Why Medicare Can Be Complicated “I think it’s why the system is the way it is, I would say, is probably this dynamic between public and private partnership. Where you have Medicare Parts A and B, which are provided directly from the government from Medicare – and Medicare is the payer there. And that’ what a consumer needs to figure out when you enroll in Parts A and B what do they cover? And then there are all the supplement plans. So that’s hard for the consumer because they need to choose one out of maybe 37 plans available to them. And when I say supplement, I mean that in the generic terms, meaning  Medigap and Medicare Advantage plans. But I think like there’s complexity from that because all those plans are actually provided by private carriers. And so there’s just like a lot of complexity derived from the interaction between the public part of Medicare, which is Parts A and B and the private part, which is a Medigap or a Medicare Advantage plan.” On a Common Mistake to Avoid “Many people will sign up for a plan with a low sticker price. And then it turns out that plan doesn’t cover their Doctors, which is obviously no good – or it’s a PPO. And there’s some Doctor you need to see and he or she is out of network, and now you have to pay an exorbitant price to see him or her.” _________________________ Related Retirement Podcast Episodes You May Like Are You Ready For The New Retirement? – Stephen Chen How Can You Be Better with Age? – Alan Castel Are You Ready to Follow Your Own Path in Retirement? – Bob Lowry The Mind-Body Connection and The Rabbit Effect – Kelli Harding How to Build a Non-Profit Encore Career – Betsy Werley The Joy of Movement – Kelly McGonigal _________________________ Related Blog Posts  Medicare 101 _________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring from their primary career – and aren’t done yet – discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. _______________________   Retire smarter. Explore retirementwisdom.com   _______________________ The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Retirement Wisdom Podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the host or Retirement Wisdom, LLC. The Retirement Wisdom Podcast covers the non-financial aspects of retirement. From time to time we may invite guests who discuss other aspects of retirement planning, solely for educational purposes. Listeners are advised to consult qualified financial and/or medical professionals on those matters.                  

The New Retirement is Here – and It Keeps Evolving Planning for retirement is not the type of thing you set and forget. Retirement continues to evolve. And in times like these, you want to make sure that your retirement plan is current and up to speed for a changing landscape. Our guest, Stephen Chen, has his finger on the pulse of retirement today. His company, New Retirement, is an online retirement planning service, with one of the top-rated retirement planning calculators, along with other robust tools and advisory services. Steve offers his perspective and opinions on: The story of his company: New Retirement How retiring is different today The building blocks of a sound retirement plan The expenses people aren’t adequately accounting for – but should be How the pandemic is changing retirement planning How COVID-19 is affecting the FIRE Movement What people should be aware of if they want to start a business How people who’ve put it off can get started on preparing for their retirement ___________________________ Bio Stephen Chen is the founder and CEO of NewRetirement, an online retirement planning service focused on helping people prepare for and make the most of their resources in retirement. He focuses on product management and business development at NewRetirement. His experience spans financial services, education, investing, and retirement planning across firms that include Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo, Embark, SEC Ventures, and Dimensional Fund Advisors. Chen has worked in Fortune 500 firms and has also started venture-backed firms that have raised $40 million in capital. He is an honors graduate from Boston University with a bachelor of science in systems engineering. ___________________________ Wise Quotes On The Importance of Planning “First, it’s just having a plan. Right. So getting organized and kind of seeing what’s possible. For many folks, healthcare is the number one thing they’re thinking about when they’re looking at the transition to retirement. So, there are three parts. There’s the healthcare you get while you’re working, which people take for granted. Then there’s usually a gap between when you’re working and before Medicare. And then there’s your plan for Medicare, but then there’s thinking about your healthcare. There’s thinking about your income, right? So how do you claim social security? How do you draw your assets tax efficiently? How do you manage risk in your portfolio and in your own situation? So there are different ways that you can hedge risk in your portfolio and there are ways you can use other resources”. On Purpose in Retirement “We’re definitely seeing people ask in our community for ideas on how to spend their time, if it’s volunteering or if it’s work or starting companies. Being thoughtful about purpose –  it’s worth it to take some time and think about how you’re going to spend your own time, where you want to see that invested in and what you want to see the result of that time.” On The Impact of COVID-19 on Retirement Planning “I think another thing that’s happened is like the people are getting a preview of what retirement could be if they are not too thoughtful about it. It’s like Groundhog day, right? It’s like the same day over and over – What are we doing today? We’re going to go for a hike. What’s for dinner? That’s anybody watched the movie Groundhog day again. Doesn’t look like a lot of fun. Let’s be thoughtful about how we’re going to spend our time. __________________________ For More Information on Stephen Chen  NewRetirement.com _________________________ Related Podcast Episodes You May Like How to Make a Wise Career Switch – Dawn Graham The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler What’s Your Exit Strategy? – Ashley Micciche What Are The Keys To A Successful Retirement? Fritz Gilbert How to Retire Early and Live Your Life Fully – Leif Dahleen Making Sense of Medicare – Dan Petkevich _________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring from their primary career – and aren’t done yet – discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. ________________________ Retire smarter. Explore retirementwisdom.com ________________________ The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Retirement Wisdom Podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the host or Retirement Wisdom, LLC. The Retirement Wisdom Podcast covers the non-financial aspects of retirement. From time to time we may invite guests who discuss other aspects of retirement planning, solely for educational purposes. Listeners are advised to consult qualified financial and/or medical professionals on those matters.                

What’s a business owner’s retirement plan? It’s often based on the business itself. And to retire smarter, that means you need a sound exit strategy. Don’t Put Off Your Exit Strategy An exit strategy is easy to put off. But it’s a crucial component of retirement planning for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Putting it off can create unnecessary risk and uncertainty. In fact, a surprisingly high percentage of business owners do not know the valuation of their business. And that leads to the possibility that you won’t be able to retire on your own terms when you’re ready. Our guest today is Ashley Micciche, QPFC®, CRPC®, who specializes in qualified retirement plans like 401(k)s, Profit Sharing Plans, and Cash Balance Plans. Ashley shares her wisdom on developing an exit strategy and what she sees with business owners planning for retirement. We discuss with Ashley: How she became involved with exit planning What she thinks are the essential components of a good exit strategy What gets in the way of having a sound exit strategy in place How far in advance of retirement should business owners develop an exit strategy The unique things business owners need to think about with retirement planning What she hears from business owners these days on planning for retirement Ashley joins us today from Portland, Oregon. _________________________ Wise Quotes “What I found was a lot of these business owners I have been working with and was working with at the time; a lot of them were close to retirement. A lot of them had pretty much everything tied up in their business. And when you’re a business owner, the decision to retire is much more complicated because not only do you have to figure out what you’re going to do about when you retire. [There’s ]Social Security and do I have enough to retire? All those things. But then you have this big elephant in the room, which is the business.” “And so that led me down this path to focusing more on, ‘Okay, how is your business a component of your retirement?’ It’s usually a pretty big component. And so I started talking with my business owner clients more and more about that. And then about eight years ago, one of my business owner clients died very suddenly of a heart attack. And he had done no planning or anything. And I watched from the sidelines as his business crumbled, his long-term employees were very quickly let go and laid off. The company was sold for pennies on the dollar to an East Coast competitor. We’re on the West Coast here. And just everything that could have gone wrong after he died did go wrong. And it was very hard to watch. And I thought, I need to go deeper into this with clients; talking to them and helping them and carving out a plan for exit. And along with that, what happens to your business? How can we protect your business and protect your family, if things don’t go as planned.” _________________________ Bio Ashley Micciche specializes in qualified retirement plans like 401(k)s, Profit Sharing Plans, and Cash Balance Plans, and has earned both the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor® and the Qualified Plan Financial Consultant® designations. Ashley works with her business owner clients to help build and maintain successful retirement plans that recruit, reward, and retain good employees while controlling costs. Most importantly, her goal is to help maximize the number of employees who retire with adequate savings. Ashley started her career as a financial advisor in 2007 after graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Finance from Portland State University. When Ashley joined David as a financial advisor in 2007, she jumped in with both feet. “My dad threw me to the wolves,” she laughs, explaining that she took on some complex clients right from the start. She noticed that the vast majority of financial planners offered a “something for everyone” service model, but very few specialized in the unique set of needs and challenges that business owners face. So she developed expertise in qualified retirement plans and earned both Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor® and the Qualified Plan Financial Consultant® designations. Ashley continues to guide business owners in developing highly customized, successful retirement plans. She and her high school sweetheart husband, Troy, are both Oregon natives and live in Happy Valley with their two young children and two stubborn dachshunds. In her free time, she enjoys reading, running, and tries to sneak away to the golf course whenever possible. ___________________________ For More on Ashley Micciche https://truenorthretirementadvisors.com/valuemybusiness/ ____________________________ Related Podcast Episodes The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler Design Your Life and Get Unstuck – Dave Evans What Are The Keys To A Successful Retirement? Fritz Gilbert If You Love Your Work, What Challenges Will You Face in Retirement? – Michelle Pannor Silver What Will You Do When Work Becomes Optional? – Stan Corey Can You Grow Younger? – Marta Zaraska ________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring from their primary career and are not done yet, discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Retire smarter. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. ____________________________ The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Retirement Wisdom Podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the host or Retirement Wisdom, LLC. The Retirement Wisdom Podcast covers the non-financial aspects of retirement. From time to time we may invite guests who discuss other aspects of retirement planning, solely for educational purposes. Listeners are advised to consult qualified financial and/or medical professionals on those matters.  

  Making a career change at 50 isn’t something you should do on a whim. It takes planning and savvy networking to create the right encore career in the non-profit sector. Our guest on this podcast, Betsy Werley, of Encore.org, made such a transition to an encore career to the not-for-profit world herself after a successful business career. And she’s helped many people make smart transitions to second careers. We discuss with Betsy: What led her to pursue an encore career in the non-profit sector Why the missions of The Transition Network and Encore.org attracted her What the transition was like coming from the corporate arena into the non-profit world The benefits – and challenges  – of  second act careers How volunteering helps pave the way The biggest obstacle many people face in landing the right non-profit role Her advice for people considering a move into a non-profit encore career What resources people should tap into when considering a career in the non-profit sector Betsy joins us from New York City. _____________________________________ Bio Betsy Werley is Encore.org’s Director, Network Expansion. She has dedicated this phase of her career to building the encore movement and making later life a time of opportunity and contribution. Betsy moved to the nonprofit sector in 2005, as The Transition Network’s first Executive Director. She led that organization through a growth phase from one chapter to 12. Her encore transition was profiled in Marc Freedman’s The Big Shift and Kerry Hannon’s What’s Next?  In her Transition Network role, she was a founding member of Coming of Age New York City and the Encore Network Steering Committee. Betsy joined Encore.org in 2013 as an Innovation Fellow, expanding connections between Encore.org and on-the-ground programs in the US and around the world. Betsy spent the first 26 years of her career as a corporate lawyer and a business executive at JPMorgan Chase. She served as a long-time board member and President of the Financial Women’s Association, and in 2002, launched a mentoring program for Baruch College undergraduate women business majors. In 2017 she received Baruch’s Community Partner Award for her leadership of that program. Betsy has also been honored as the 2019 recipient of the PSS Impact Award for Leadership in Positive Aging.  Betsy is frequently quoted by the media and invited to speak on issues related to older adults as assets in society. _______________________________________ Wise Quotes   On Networking “I think people should always be aware – and people should always think life is long and thee people around me now are people with whom I want to maintain a positive relationship with. And to know that at some point they would think of you if they are looking for something – and you would think of them. And sometimes, I think people don’t realize how big a network they have already. So your dentist is in your network. Your doorman is in your network. That guy who sells you your car is in your network. So with that specific message of ‘Here’s what I’m looking for’, those are all networks that you can tap. So I think one challenge for a lot of people is that they are shy about leveraging their networks and saying to people, just for the heck of it,‘I hear something, I wonder if you have any advice for me. So really talking to people and learning how to leverage the networks that they actually have. It’s pretty diverse.”   On Volunteering “You can certainly start out getting involved in volunteering in Board work while you are continuing to do your day job. In fact, I strongly recommend that to anyone I talk to as they’re looking ahead at a future career in the non-profit sector – so they can make connections. Tthey can build credibility, they can learn what they like and what they don’t like. And that will stand them in good stead at a time when perhaps they can afford to transition to the non-profit sector. And certainly, I advocate volunteering of all kinds during people’s whole career. I think it’s extremely important because it builds skills. It allows you to incorporate passion into the whole portfolio of your life in a way that your job may not. So again, I think people can build toward a later nonprofit job while still getting a lot of the satisfaction of engaging in the nonprofit sector. Even while they’re heads down in a for-profit day job.”   On Creating an Encore Career “I encourage people to start now. I  love David Brooks’ formulation, encouraging people to switch their thinking from their resume to their eulogy at their funeral. What is the impact you want to make in the world? And how can you start out on a journey that will allow you to bring your skills and your passion to make that impact that you want to make.” ______________________________________ For More on Betsy Werley How to Land that Late-Life Job: Tips from a Nonprofit Executive – Encore.org The Encore Network (Full disclosure: Joe Casey & Retirement Wisdom are members of The Encore Network)  ____________________________________ Resources Recommended in this Podcast The Encore Career Handbook by Marci Alboher The Chronicle of Philanthropy The Chronicle of Higher Education Encore.org _____________________________________ Podcast Episodes You May Like Why People Make a Career Change with Purpose Top of Mind – Chris Farrell Retired, But Not Done Yet – Dr. Cynthia Barnett Not Exactly Retired – David Jarmul Advice for Successful Career Women Transitioning to Retirement – Helen Dennis How Seniors Are Saving the World With Activism – Thelma Reese How to Make a Wise Career Switch – Dawn Graham _____________________________________ Related Blog Posts How to Change Lanes to a Second Career Find the Volunteer Opportunity That’s Right for You ______________________________________ About Retirement Wisdom We help people who are retiring from their primary career and are not done yet, discover what’s next. A long retirement is a terrible thing to waste. And a meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how we can help you make yours great. ______________________________________ Explore retirementwisdom.com