Rock Your Retirement Show

This Caregiver Agency provides a free venue for people to get to know caregivers

Douglas Breuer started MyCareMatch.com with one objective: Make the process of finding the right care solution less complicated for seniors, people with disabilities and their loved ones.

Douglas’ motivation stems from his direct experience in senior care and case management over the last 10 years.  He started his career in Adult Protective Services. Doug investigated cases where vulnerable adults were being exploited or abused.  He then moved on to act as District Manager for the State of Oregon (“DHS”).  While there, he directed the delivery of long term care services throughout the Central Oregon region. Douglas had the opportunity to work with seniors and adults with disabilities as well as their families.  In his role he coordinated with staff, individual care providers, home care agencies, care communities and countless other service providers to develop care arrangements for seniors and adults with disabilities.

In our interview, Doug explains what MyCareMatch does that is different from home care agencies.  He also talks about why you might want to use it.

Caregivers can build profiles detailing their experience, education, photos, references, resumes and even videos.  If you've ever tried to find a caregiver, you'll probably see how this is helpful.

The organization also can provide extensive background checks with the caregiver's permission. They also provide reference checks and can even provide DMV checks all at very reasonable prices.

We discussed the Caregiver Registry for the state of California..

Caregivers now go through an intense State screening process. Doug recommends that even if a Caregiver has had a background check a few months ago it is always best to get a more recent one.

The website offers a search tool and educational resources you can explore. If you decide you want to contact a caregiver or care agency, you contact them directly. It is a one to one process.

We also discuss “Ray” who was one of his first clients when working for the state of Oregon. Ray was developmentally disabled.  Ray, who was also a senior, didn't let his disability stop him.  He lived in the home his parents left him, and some people wanted to take that away from him. Doug would get lots of calls about people trying to take advantage of Ray. He talks about the relationship he built and how he helped intervene to keep him protected, and helped maintain his independence

Find out more at http://www.mycarematch.com

This post on Retirement Lifestyle first appeared on RockYourRetirement.com

Doug Nordman is the author of ‘The Military Guide To Financial Independence And Retirement'.

Doug's writing has to do with Military Transitions.

If you think he's doing it for the money, you're wrong.  All of his writing revenue is donated to military charities. He's a retired submariner who's been living in Hawaii for over fourteen years. So if you hear the birds in the background, it’s because he is in a tropical area!  He and his wife, (who is a retired Navy Reservist), raised their daughter in the islands.    They enjoy slow travel all over the world (some of it on military Space A flights) and DIY home-improvement projects.  After retirement, he was “bit” by the surfing bug and learned to surf with his family.  Their daughter is now on Navy active duty with her spouse.

Doug gives great advice about military transitions for services members and their families

A few years after retirement, Doug stumbled into writing and became an author. His book provides service members, veterans, and their families information on military transitions into retirement or a new bridge career. Some advice Doug offers in our interview:

* Prepare 18 months in advance if possible

* There are a lot of Clubs and Associations for people after they leave the military. The common goal is to assist with military transitions.

* Both the active service members and their spouse should attend military retirement transition seminars. Doug mentions that there is a lot of written material online.  He thinks that attending a live seminar is best.

* There are numerous options for military retirees who want to start their own businesses

Being alone together in the same house

I asked Doug about spending so much time with his spouse now that they are both retired. He says he doesn't get tired of spending too much time together. It is important to have a plan before retirement and talk with our spouse about it. Doug and his wife still have alone time even when they are both home. Learn to adapt to renegotiating roles as things change in your lives. Doug also says it is ok to keep separate interests and priorities.

What advice would you give to a retiree who feels stuck? 

You've already worked out the finances, and now you're “working” on your lifestyle.  Make the time to practice it before you permanently retire.  Take at least 2-3 weeks of vacation to fully unplug from your career. Give plenty of time for contemplation and thoughtful discussions with your family.  Don't take on huge projects during this time. Instead try to catch up on your sleep, enjoy some long walks, and build a list of activities that you'd like to try.

If you would like a copy of Doug's Book, The Miliary Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement, go to Amazon or Impact Publications (Which sells a 64-page “Pocket Guide”) You can also find it in the GSA catalog if you are on a military base or check your local public library or military base library

Contact information: [email protected] or you can use the contact me section on his website at http://the-military-guide.com

Get today's Freebie, 10 tools and tactics for your military transition at http://RockYourRetirement.com/MilitaryTransition

Links to the  people/organizations we mention in the interview

SCORE

Patriot Boot Camp

Podcast Movement

Why not write a book in retirement?

In this episode, my guest was John Grantham. I usually conduct my interviews via Skype, but John and I did a face to face interview on a ship. I met John on a Celebrity Cruise that my husband and I enjoyed, where he was the cruise director.

John's an interesting guy…In the past, he was a stunt man appearing on shows such as Days of our lives, Get Shorty, and Will and Grace just to name a few.

Now,  on top of being a cruise director, he wrote a book called The World's Hardest Music Trivia. John was doing music trivia on his ship and he came up with the idea to write a book about it. The book is not just a trivia book, but has a lot of fun behind the scenes information on music from the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's.

 No story is undeserving of being told…

This interview is full of information on how to write a book. We go over the following tips:

* Determine your story. Remember it is the story that sells not only factual information.

* What is your platform that is going to attract publishers and readers?

* Should you self-publish or go out and solicit a publisher?

* How to get an agent

* How to write the book it self!

* Be passionate and bring your love of your subject to the reader

All though actually getting a book published can be difficult, John says to be patient and be persistent. It takes time and you may get a lot of “No's” before you get one yes.

Where to buy John's Book:

Nautilus Publishing Company

Amazon

Contact information: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theworldshardestmusictrivia/

Other links and sites we mention in our interview:

Bill Hancock- Riding with the Blue Moth

The writer’s market place

Celebrity Cruises

This post on Retirement Lifestyle first appeared on

Are you Making a Move soon?  This is the episode to listen to!  Jami Shapiro is the owner of Silver Linings Transitions. She is a single mother of three girls, an 11 year thyroid cancer survivor, a community volunteer and a Realtor.

Believing everything happens for a reason, Jami discovered the National Association of Senior Move Managers in 2014. They were holding the national conference in San Diego.  She attended the conference, met other Senior Move Managers and knew she'd found the work she was meant to do.

Silver Linings Transitions is a bright spot for people facing difficult transitions AND making a move.

The company specializes in seniors who are downsizing or making a move into senior communities as well as couples going through divorce. As someone's who's faced cancer and divorce, Jami understands personally how important it is to find the “silver lining” when life doesn't go the way we'd hoped.  When working with clients through their transition, the Silver Linings Transitions team focuses on what's positive during a difficult time and helps the client navigate through the move as gently as possible.

The most important work we do is helping people with the emotional aspect of making a move.

In this episode Jamie and I talk about:

* The secret of getting 3000 square feet worth of stuff into a 1200 square foot apartment.

* What can I do now if I don’t want to move, but I just have a lot of clutter that I want to get rid of?

* How do you deal with those boxes and boxes of photos?

* What is the difference between a mover and a move manager such as Silver Linings Transitions?

* How to diffuse any needless fighting over belongings and keep the stress level down for everyone.

Be mindful of how much “stuff”  you buy. Spend money on experiences rather than stuff.

Spend more time focusing on the present and what you are able to do. Don't worry about the future or the past. Focus on what you can do and not what you can't do. Do something you have never done and always wanted to try.

Contact Information: Phone 858 522-9518 * Email: [email protected] * Website: www.SilverLiningsTransitions.com

National Association of Senior Move Managers  https://www.nasmm.org/

Get Today's Freebie, “10 Steps to get ready for a move” at http://RockYourRetirement.com/ready

This article on Retirement Lifestyle appeared first on http://RockYourRetirement.com

Aimee Davis began her role as director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at San Diego State University in October 2015. She has been working as a director for SDSU for three years in the College of Extended Studies after having worked for San Diego Hospice for 9 years as a volunteer coordinator and program manager. Aimee is passionate about providing meaningful experiences through lifelong learning to students 50 and better. Through OLLI at SDSU's vibrant and diverse learning community, Aimee works to provide about 125 new course offerings every year – from art history and music to politics and religion – there is always something new to learn!

This is learning for the sake of learning and is strictly for fun…

OLLI courses are very reasonably priced and membership is only $30 per semester for new members and $25 per semester for renewing members. Membership is not required, but there are some good benefits to having one.

* Early registration the following semester (so you get to register before everyone else and get first dibs on seats for the most popular courses that tend to sell out quickly)

* Exclusive access to book clubs

* Plus the cost of the membership goes towards all courses, lectures, and edventures. What are edventures? These are various offsite learning events including things like a Culture and cuisine series or The Old Globe – Sense and Sensibility.

Yes, at OLLI there is always something new to learn.

However, it's more than learning. You can also volunteer. There are various committees people volunteer for. This includes the “curriculum and instructor community where volunteers give feed back and on courses and instructors. There are also opportunities to help with events and marketing.

Aimee says the classes build learning, connections and friendships!

What do you think people should know BEFORE they retire? If you haven't already, learn to say no! Once people find out you're retiring they start to ask for your help with all sorts of things.  It's easy to get pulled in a lot of different directions. Here at OLLI we have lots different volunteer opportunities and our students have so much experience and talent to bring to the table. But I'm always careful to check-in with people and make sure they don't feel any pressure to help.

What advice would you give to a retiree who feels stuck? Take time to learn about who you are as a person right now. What are you passionate about? What brings you joy and energy? Figure out what those things are and spend your time doing that.

Contact information: 619-594-2863 * [email protected] * http://neverstoplearning.net/olli

Get Today's Freebie, “Five Fabulous Reasons to never stop learning” at http://RockYourRetirement.com/Olli  (And it includes a FREE guest pass to OLLI)

Here's a sneak peak at the interview that Kathe did on Hillbilly Nerd Talk.  Hank and Petra talked to me about their own retirement.  During the interview, we wondered if stuff and retirement don't go together.  And, is “Retirement” even the right word? Many Baby Boomers are redefining what they want to do in their later years.  They can be more care free than the generations that came before.  That is, if they have prepared Financially.

We talked about the fact that there are two types of Baby Boomer Retirements:  Those who planned financially and those who didn’t.  For those who have the financial resources, their retirement is more like a teenager’s life, but with the ability to do more.

Even though the show, Rock Your Retirement, doesn’t specifically discuss finances, it is true that if you are completely financially strapped, you’ll be thinking about putting food on the table and a roof over your head.  We assume that the listeners to Rock Your Retirement have already done some financial planning and that they are looking for different information. We have discussed Stuff and Retirement in the past.  Check out the episode on Downsizing.

Stuff and Retirement:

We Americans are tied to our STUFF.  We talked about Wendy Holt (episode 9) who moved to Costa Rica.  She gave up all her stuff, along with the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles.

Speaking of stuff…Hank and Petra DO live differently than most of their peers.  Hank drives Elmer, a twelve year old pickup truck.  At ages 47 and 44 they could have “retired” earlier.  Living a less extravagant lifestyle gives you freedom.  Hank said that objects tie us down.  Petra said that they are invigorated by the next phase of their life.

Every town in America has storage facilities where we have to store extra stuff. People keep their stuff in their garage, and their cars on the street. Petra brought up that people could probably clear out a bedroom to keep extra stuff in, but we just have so much!

Frank brought up “First World Problems”.

Imagine trying to explain to a person in Africa or Nigeria how we have a problem in America where we have too much stuff, and we have to rent extra boxes to store it all.   Petra also talked about how you can rent shipping crates to store your stuff in your yard.

Just think:  If you die and haven’t gotten rid of it, someone else will have to go through your stuff.  Your stuff will wind up in an Estate Sale.  Frank said that you can retire earlier if you didn’t have so much stuff as you went along.  Again, Stuff and Retirement don't go together. Your STUFF can impede your retirement, and your life!

Hank brought up the Maslow theory, that once you reach a basic level of survival, more stuff has zero effect of being happy.  Petra said that when you get to a certain point, there is nothing to strive for.  It even might impede your happiness.  We all agreed that more stuff actually causes less happiness, not more.

He also said to be proactive, not only with what to do with your money, but also with what to do with your time.  Hank brought up the fact that he cannot podcast 10 hours a day (although they have a great show, check it out).

If you like the Rock Your Retirement show, please tell a friend! That’s the only way we grow, one listener at a time.

Listen to Hank and Petra's show, Hillbilly Nerd Talk, HERE.

Is the holiday season getting you down? Let us help you through it with our dumb and corny jokes episode!

Les and Kathe tell corny jokes that a 10 year old boy might laugh at (or maybe not).

To listen, click on the little arrow thingy or get the episodes on your smartphone.  Don't know how to do that?  These videos will teach you how to SUBSCRIBE to the podcast, and you can listen on your phone or tablet.

Don't forget to rate and review the show on iTunes! Don't know how?  Click HERE, and we'll teach you with a different video!

Next week the show will stop the corny jokes (thank goodness!) and resume to normal programing.

The corny jokes on this episode were taken from “Jokelpedia, The Biggest, Best, Silliest, Dumbest Joke book Ever, 2nd edition, compiled by Ilana Weitzman, Eva Blank, Alison Benjamin, and Rosanne Green. Book Copyright by Somerville House 2000, 2006 by Ken Porter and Workman Publishing Co.

 

How to take care of aging parents? Iris Waichler, MSW, LCSW is with us today to give us tips on what to do in taking care of our aging parents. You can listen to the show by clicking the little arrow button.

Iris Waichler, MSW, LCSW has been a well-known patient advocate and licensed clinical social worker for the last 40 years. She has worked with patients and families who have experienced catastrophic illnesses like strokes, cancer, amputations, and head injuries. She also worked with people battling infertility. Ms. Waichler is an author and a Mom’s Choice Gold Award Winner. She was also the winner of the (NAPPA) Gold Award for best book of the year, and winner of the finalist award for Foreword Magazine 2007 non-fiction Book of the Year. Her newest book, “Role Reversal, Taking Care of Yourself and Your Aging Parents” arrived on bookshelves August 2016.

So many people are taking care of aging parents and still have children of their own living at home. This is the “Sandwich Generation”

Iris was involved of taking care of both of her aging parents. She tells a story about noticing her father was wearing two watches while at a doctor's visit. This small detail leads to an emergency surgery for a hemorrhage in his brain.

Things to look for when visiting an aging parent or loved one:

* Demeanor

* Does their personal care seem to be getting worse?

* How are they eating?

* Condition of their home – Is the house in disarray?

* Are they showing any signs of memory loss?

* Do you see any physical symptoms or balance issues?

* Have there been changes in social behavior?

* Do you see changes in emotional status?

* Are there scratches and dents in their car?

How to bring up the difficult conversations that go along with taking care of aging parents.

* Driving and are they safe to continue to drive?

* Wills

* Advance directives

* Wishes upon death

* Power of attorneys

* Staying in their own home and whether or not is safe.

Iris also tells us about Geriatric Care managers. They can help with putting a game plan in place if it gets to be too overwhelming.

Iris's Books: 

Role Reversal: How to Take Care of Yourself and Your Aging Parents

Riding the Infertility Roller Coaster: A Guide to Educate & Inspire

Contact information for Iris:  Website iriswaichler.wpengine.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoleReversal1/

Get the 5 Things You Need to Know About Care Giving for Your Aging Parents HERE.

 

Alan Mindell is our guest for today. He's the one who taught us that life begins at seventy.  Alan Mindell’s novel, The Closer, became a bestseller, including being listed on Amazon as the number one paperback in new sports fiction. His new novel, The B Team, about horse racing, also became Amazon`s number one bestselling paperback in new sports fiction.

For Alan, his speaking topic of “Life Begins at Seventy” certainly fits.

Besides writing novels, he also dances regularly in the San Diego area, and works as a tour guide for Friendly Excursions, the tour company he founded more than forty-five years ago.

One of the things that he has been doing and getting great pleasure from lately is conducting beginning creative writing workshops.  Today he gave us some tips on writing a novel or memoir.

Alan has been writing since his late 20’s. when he turned 60, he decided to take it seriously. He found a publisher and got his first book published. Alan always has a notebook and pencil with him so he can write anywhere he is. His goal is to get people to write. He doesn’t care how they write or what they write. One of his students wrote about a pet turkey which lead me into my story about living on a commune (yes a commune) and my pet sheep.

What are 5 tips to writing a book?

Our Freebie, 5 Tips on Writing That Novel or Memoir You Know You Have in You. Can be found at http://RockYourRetirement.com/Novel but here is a brief synopsis of what we talked about.

* Don’t Edit. Don’t get stuck. Flow with your ideas. Don’t stop and edit every word that you write.

* Decide whether to write in first person or third person. All of Alan’s novels have been written in third person but he enjoys writing in first person

* Never be afraid of dialogue. Stay true to the character

* You do not have to go in time sequence. You can start in the future and then go back to the beginning. Flashbacks or backstories then you can bring the story to the present

* Have fun!

Today's Freebie, 5 tips on writing that novel can be downloaded for free at http://RockYourRetirement.com/novel

So what if you can't join Alan's writing workshop or you want to find your own? Alan says you can find a lot of workshops in your area online. He said Meetup is also a good way to find these or, form your own! You can find Meetup at https://www.meetup.com/

Remember, Life begins at seventy!

Get Alan's books!

* The B Team:

* The Closer: A Baseball Love Story

Contact information for Alan: [email protected]

If you would like to check out the tour company go to http://friendlyexcursions.net/

Let's take a look at why Bill Manassero chose to volunteer overseas. You can listen to the show by clicking on the arrows below or finding it on your podcast app in your Smartphone.

Volunteering Overseas: How it can give you a better retirement

Bill Manassero is the President and Founder of Child Hope International. It's a charitable organization that works with orphaned, abandoned, and at-risk children on the streets of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. The Manassero family's unique ministry, helped street children get off the streets, and build a promising life for themselves in the Haitian society. Bill and his family served as missionaries in Haiti from 2003 to 2015. Transitioning back to the states for retirement, he began investing in real estate as a means to fund their retirement and help fund their Haitian Mission. He now shares his real estate knowledge with other seniors through his Old Dawg’s REI Network – a website, blog and weekly podcast.

Bill tells us some amazing and touching stories of his time spent Volunteering Overseas.

Before Bill and his family went to Haiti, they had a children's music ministry. They traveled all around the world doing family concerts for various camps, schools, and groups. Bill noticed one of his daughters saving money. He asked her what she was saving for. His daughter said she wanted to build an orphanage, a school, and a church in Haiti. She was only nine years old at the time! This was the catalyst to start their Haitian Mission.

His organization is very much volunteer driven — A good majority of the volunteers are retired. The volunteers commit to anywhere from 1 week to 2 years of service. The volunteers help with things such as teaching life skills such as baking and sewing. They also show the children how to set up a business so they can become self sufficient. The volunteers feed hundreds of children every week. It was fascinating to hear how much volunteering overseas has impacted not only the Haitian Children, but the volunteers as well.

We asked, “What do you think people should know BEFORE they retire?” and he responded with:

Look forward to it. Prepare yourself for a new adventure to do anything you want to do. Take a look at the spiritual and emotional side.  Start getting excited. Don't get hung up on the money aspect. Focus on the freedom you will have.  You can use that freedom to help others and help yourself.

What advice would you give to a retiree who feels stuck?

Try to change your perspective on your retirement. Spend time with those in need.

Contact Information: [email protected] or www.childhope.org

Download TODAY's freebie at: http://RockYourRetirement.com/volunteeroverseas

This article on Retirement Lifestyle first appeared on http://RockYourRetirement.com.