The Retirement Wisdom Podcast

What retirement advice for women would an expert offer?  Helen Dennis has helped thousands prepare for the non-financial side of retirement planning.  She recently celebrated the 18th anniversary of her popular weekly column Successful Aging. In this episode of our retirement podcast we asked Helen to share her views on a range of topics that can help you retire smarter:

Why the term retirement needs to be retired

The backstory of Project Renewment ®

The key themes she’s seeing in Project Renewment®  groups

What the different issues are that men face in this phase of life

What gets in the way of freedom in retirement

The pros and cons of a busy retirement

What Joy has to do with retirement

Her advice on how to navigate the transition from a full-time career to retirement

Wise Quotes

On Life Purpose and Retirement

“I think that’s one of the biggest challenges for retirement. Because when you’re working, you don’t have to think about purpose. You know exactly why you’re there. You know what you’re supposed to do, you know the expectations and you know the rewards. So, someone says, what is your purpose in life? As you’re working 50 hours a week, you say: my purpose in life is I get to work, do my job to support my family. So now we take all of that away and said, you know, it’s almost existential. You say, well, who am I now? Why am I on this planet? What is meaningful to me? And if you’ve never thought about that for the past 35 years or 40 years of your career. This is possibly a new thought and a new conversation. I think it is absolutely fundamental to have a meaningful purpose in retirement,  to have some sense of purpose – and it can be a journey.”

“Your purpose in the first five years may be a different purpose in the next five years. I think it’s a journey. I think talking about it in groups, in conversation groups – even with your book group – is very helpful. I think finding purpose can be hard as a solo activity. I think it’s one of the biggest challenges in retirement. You could be busy, you’d have a full calendar, but that sense of purpose may be missing – and a big piece of purpose often is giving back. That can be a very fulfilling aspect. It’s a challenge. It’s a process.”

 

On the Freedom of Retirement – and Life Changes

“Well, I think there is this feeling, particularly if you’ve had a high-pressure job, if you’re commuting in Los Angeles, and if you’ve had 12 changes in management that now you can breathe and say, Oh my God, I am finally free. I can sleep longer. I can breathe, I don’t have to hyperventilate. And so, there is this great feeling of freedom and then the unexpected occurs.  The unexpected like your adult children move home for whatever reason. We have grandparents raising grandchildren. The biggest one that seems to move into this space of freedom is caregiving. So, I think what we need to prepare for it is that freedom is not 100% of everything. We may have freedom and spirit, freedom of movement, freedom of thought. But we do have responsibilities. And the biggest one that seems to come in is caregiving.”

 

On Joy and Retirement

“We have a lot of environmental influences that can creep into our joy. And I love the definition of joy is the feeling of grinning inside…There are a lot of complexities of life and people go through their own struggles and yet you say, okay, this is a joyful time of your life.”

“Joy is not a word that is usually associated with aging and you don’t usually hear joy and retirement. So, it’s trying to shake that paradigm a little bit to say this has the potential to be the most joyful period of our lives. And when people are looking for joy, you’re saying, all right, how do I make myself joyful?”

Can Resilience Be Learned?

In this episode of our retirement podcast we with talk with Jan Zacharjasz. Jan is a Certified Professional Coach specializing in midlife transitions, including making a midlife career change, focusing on the changing needs of Baby Boomers as they redefine aging today. Jan shares with us her insights and perspective on a range of topics:

Her story of what led her to become a coach

The key challenges she sees clients dealing with in mid-life and beyond

Why resilience building is vital – and whether it’s something you’re born with or can be learned

How she helps clients navigate transitions

Her coaching approach

The benefits of coaching for her clients

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Wise Quotes

“I think resilience is just one of the most important things that you can have in midlife. I really see resilience as an antidote for managing many of the mid and later life changes that we were just talking about. It’s really an essential tool to help you navigate through the different bumps in the road that come up – and to help you not only bounce back from setbacks or disappointments or worries. But resilience done the right way really can enable you to come out of it even stronger than ever as a result of the experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them.”

“I really see there’s just an incredibly widespread application for resilience. In midlife. And resilience is a key life skill. And, if you think about it, nobody really taught us how to be resilient in school. So that’s why I build resilience into my coaching and I actually teach it in workshops.”

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Bio

 

Jan Zacharjasz is a Certified Professional Coach specializing in midlife transitions, focusing on the changing needs of Baby Boomers as they redefine aging today.  The founder of Coaching for Resilience, Jan is passionate about helping people gain courage and resilience through significant work, health, and family changes so they can reframe their lives and thrive moving forward.  Along with individual coaching, Jan provides life purpose and energy leadership assessments and interactive workshops on resilience, retirement lifestyle planning, and how to manage change successfully.

Jan’s career spans the private and public sectors in healthcare.  Most recently, she directed an award-winning program designed to cultivate positive aging in those who are 55+.  This innovative program focused on health and wellness, social connectivity, and strategies for creating a fulfilling retirement.

Jan received her coaching certification from iPEC, the leading Coach Training program in the U.S.  She earned her M.S. in Human Organization Science from Villanova University and her B.S. in Individual and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University, where she graduated as valedictorian.

An active community leader, Jan is co-chair for the Philadelphia chapter of the Life Planning Network and serves on its National Board.  She developed the Sandwich Generation Series to provide life-changing support to Boomers in caregiving roles for their aging parents and children.

Jan has effectively responded to her family’s unexpected life changes and brings deep sensitivity, resourcefulness, and diligence to her coaching clients.  A proud member of the Sandwich Generation, Jan provides endless love and devotion to her husband, Mario, two daughters, and mother.  She loves traveling, exercising, and relaxing with family and friends at the beach.

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Related Retirement Wisdom Podcast episodes

We’re All Ageing. Are You Up for a. Bolder Approach? – Carl Honore

How Seniors Are Saving the World With Activism – Thelma Reese

We are joined today by Chris Farrell to discuss his new book Purpose and a Paycheck. Podcasts about retirement and books on retirement primarily focus on financial planning. Chris’ new book is different. He shares his observations on why more people are making a career change toward work with greater purpose and meaning. Chris explains why he thinks “There has never been a better time to be in the second half of life in America” and offers his insights on why the choice of working in retirement can be beneficial. We also discuss why he thinks entrepreneurship and self-employment are attractive options for a midlife career change and the multigenerational dimensions of retirement today. You’ll also hear the ageist phrases that he thinks should be retired, and his advice for planning your next chapter with purpose top of mind. If you’re thinking about a career change at 50 or older, you’ll benefit from listening to this conversation. It just might just give you inspiring ideas for a second career after retirement with a greater purpose.

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Wise Quotes

On Innovative Ways of Working Longer

“…At our core we all want to be useful, we all want to be helpful. And one way that we’re useful and helpful is to tap into our knowledge and our experience. So, there’s a lot of experimentation that’s going on right now. Flexible work, part-time work, starting your own business, self-employment, phased retirement, encore careers. And we don’t really know how this is going to shake out.”

On Emerging Multigenerational Trends

“A lot of people don’t like age segregation anymore. …it’s the Boomer parents going into business with their Millennial or Gen-X or children. Or it’s a boomer going into business with a Millennial or a Gen-Xer. Typically, what the Boomer’s providing is some capital, knowledge, experience, and contacts. And what the younger person is providing is that ambition, that hustle, a little tech-savvy – and their burden of student loans. So, they don’t have that much capital. And so, that’s a real win-win situation for both generations. And that’s a really heartening trend.”

“The other place where you’re seeing it is in housing. There’s a great deal of interest in intergenerational housing. (There’s) not a whole lot of choice out there yet. We can come up, there are lots of, intriguing examples of music conservatories that are nearby a continuing care community and the students are invited to live there for free, or a nominal price, and just to be part of the community to be engaged with the community. And you are seeing a sort of deliberate building of multigenerational communities.”

Bio

Chris Farrell is considered a leading expert on the trend toward working longer in the second half of life. He writes a biweekly column for Next Avenue, an online PBS magazine for the 50-plus demographic, and hosts a Minnesota Public Radio Program, Conversations on the Creative Economy, which is now entering its sixth season. He speaks across the country on the topic of unretirement. Chris earned his BA from Stanford and his Master’s from the London School of Economics.

Books by Chris Farrell Referenced in this Retirement Podcast episode:

Purpose and a Paycheck: Finding Meaning, Money & Happiness in the Second Half of Life

Unretirement: How Baby Boomers are Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community, and the Good Life

 

Follow Chris Farrell:

Conversations on the Creative Economy – MPR News

Next Avenue

Twitter

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Our Brief Review of Purpose and a Paycheck

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Related Retirement Podcast Episodes:

How to Build a Non-Profit Encore Career – Betsy Werley

In this edition of our retirement podcast our guest is Ted Carr, a thoughtful and interesting blogger and podcaster on early retirement who we enjoy following. People often think of retirement as a single phase of life, but Ted describes how there are 6 distinct phases of retirement. He shares his personal experiences with the different phases after he retired early from a career in Silicon Valley. You’ll come away with an appreciation of why your retirement strategies should take the different phases of retirement into account if you want to retire smarter.

One of the big questions people face in retirement is where should I retire to? And that decision is often not a ‘one and done’ type of call as needs, and priorities change over the life course. Ted discusses the decision that he and his wife recently made to move to a retirement community and the key factors that led to their decision. Our conversation shifts to the importance of community in retirement and the risks of isolation.

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Follow Ted Carr:

Twitter

Website

Check out his new podcast:

FIREwalkers

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Wise Quotes:

On Retirement as a Stressful Life Event

“So, I think back to the time before I retired – the pre-retirement stage. What I found is that it’s really, really essential that you have a detailed retirement plan and that it includes not only a financial plan, but also the non-financial side of retirement. And as we’ve alluded to already, the adjustment to retirement can be difficult. Now there’s something that I’ve come across, I’m sure you’ve heard of it too. It’s called the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale. And on that stress scale, retirement comes in as the 10th most stressful event on that scale. Now, if that wasn’t stressful enough, the other stressors that are on the top 10, shall we say, can occur at the same time as retirement – which only exacerbates the challenges around adjusting to retirement – and some of those things where you have divorce, separation, illness, loss of jobs.”

 

On Planning to Move in Retirement

“So, us being inveterate planners said, well, you know, we need to be intentional about our future old age. And so, we looked at some of these options and after looking at the CCRC model, we decided that that probably wasn’t for us…And we’re not near that age and the entering cost of buying into a CCRC is very expensive. And so, we just said there are other options that are coming down the road. Maybe we should take a timeout from thinking that way and look at something different. So my wife, who’s extremely social, came up with the idea to look into a 55 plus community because her feeling, and I concur, is that where we live today, there’s really not a sense of belonging. Like I say, she just doesn’t feel that she’s made enough friends over the course of nine years and she doesn’t want to see the next nine to 10 years be equally as frustrating. So, we started looking at 55 plus communities.”

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Resources Mentioned on this Retirement Podcast Episode

The Holmes & Rahe Stress Inventory

What’s Your Retirement Personality Type?   by Dave Hughes

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Related Retirement Podcast Episodes

The Joy Of Movement - Kelly McGonigal

What Are The Keys To A Successful Retirement? Fritz Gilbert

You Can Learn a Lot From the Principles of FIRE – Chris Mamula

Are You Ready For The New Retirement? – Stephen Chen

How to Retire Early and Live Your Life Fully – Leif Dahleen

Are You Ready to Follow Your Own Path in Retirement? – Bob Lowry

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How Can You Stay Sharp?

We all want to stay sharp. Cognitive functioning is a key part of healthy aging. But is working longer helpful or harmful to your brain health? Well, it depends. In this episode of our retirement podcast, Dawn Carr of Florida State University discusses her insights from new research on the impact of working into retirement with different types of jobs on healthy aging. She also talks about what may happen when people unretire and return to work. Dawn also shares her advice on aging well and how to stay sharp based on research. Listen in and expand yiur knowledge of healthy aging.

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Bio

Dawn C. Carr is an associate professor at Florida State University in the Department of Sociology and faculty associate at Pepper Institute for Aging and Public Policy. Carr’s expertise lies in understanding the factors that bolster older adults’ ability to remain healthy and active as long as possible. With Kathrin Komp, Carr published “Gerontology in the Era of the Third Age: Implications and Next Steps” in 2011, a text dedicated to exploring the relevance, purpose, and factors that contributed to the emergence of a new period of life following one’s career but prior to onset of frailty in later life.

Her recent work focuses on understanding the complex pathways between health and active engagement during later life, including the impact of key transitions in health, productivity, and caregiving. Before joining Florida State University in 2016, she was a researcher at the Stanford Center on Longevity, a postdoctoral fellow in the Carolina Program for Health and Aging Research at the Institute on Aging at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a researcher at Scripps Gerontology Center.

Carr received her Ph.D. in Social Gerontology and Master’s in Gerontological Studies at Miami University, and Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance at Arizona State University.

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For More on Dawn Carr, PhD:

Dawn Carr’s Website

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Wise Quote

On Staying Sharp

“What we know is that there are three really important ingredients for maintaining cognitive function, not just in later life but across our lives. And one is staying physically active.… The blood flow in our brains is affected by physical activity and we know that this has a beneficial effect on cognitive function. And the more regularly we stay engaged in physical activity and avoid sedentary behavior, this seems to be very beneficial.

So, you don’t think about staying mentally sharp by exercising, but there’s a certain amount of evidence that suggests that just continuing to stay physically active matters. The second…surprising thing that we know in research about maintaining cognitive function is the importance of social interactions.

People who have very active social lives are able to keep their cognitive function longer. So, they’re able to not only arrive in later life with higher levels of cognitive function, but they also seem to maintain it longer if they continue to stay socially active.”

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Articles Referenced

Brains age better among retirees with complex jobs – Florida State University

Carr, D. C., Willis, R., Kail, B. L., & Carstensen, L. L. (2019). Alternative Retirement Paths and Cognitive Performance: Exploring the Role of Preretirement Job Complexity. The Gerontologist.

Sims, T., Reed, A. E., & Carr, D. C. (2017). Information and communication technology use is related to higher well-being among the oldest-old. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 72(5), 761-770.

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Related Retirement Podcast

How Can You Be Better with Age?

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What Trends Should Baby Boomers Be Aware of?

Richard Eisenberg, the Managing Editor of PBS’ Nextavenue.org joins our retirement podcast to share his insights. Next Avenue is the PBS site for people  50+, where he is also the editor of the Money and Work & Purpose channels.

Previously, he was Executive Editor of Money magazine, Front Page Finance Editor of Yahoo! and Special Projects Director/Money Editor at Good Housekeeping. He is the author of two books: How to Avoid a Midlife Financial Crisis and The Money Book of Personal Finance.

We talk with Richard Eisenberg about Next Avenue, older workers, and employers, the key trends Baby Boomers should be aware of, and what he’s learned from his research on Blue Zones.

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Wise Quote

Q. What’s the one thing that people who are planning for retirement may not be thinking about but really should be?

Richard Eisenberg: “If it’s okay, I think I’ll give you two. One of them is will I be able to keep working part-time if I want to. There’ve been some interesting studies that show a lot of people in their fifties and sixties expect to work part-time in retirement. And yet when you look at the surveys of retirees, you find that a very small percentage of them are working in retirement and many of them aren’t because of health reasons. So I think people just need to think, well, is it realistic that I’ll be able to work in retirement? Partly, you know what, I’d be healthy enough to do it, but also will I be able to find work? Will I be able to get hired or will I be able to start a business? So I think that’s one thing I would tell people to think about.

And the other is if you are in a long-term relationship and have a spouse or partner are the two of you on the same page about retirement? We’ve done a few articles on Next Avenue about couples and retirement and have seen some studies that show that frequently couples don’t talk with each other much about what they expect retirement to be like for them. How they plan to spend their time and their money. And then what happens is they get retired and then one of them is planning to travel a lot and the other is not planning to travel at all?  And they don’t want to be living differently, but they hadn’t really thought it out because they never had to. So I’d suggest couples talk about this more.”

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Bio

Richard Eisenberg is Managing Editor of PBS’ Nextavenue.org, the PBS site for people 50+, where he is also the editor of the Money and Work & Purpose channels.

 

Previously, he was Executive Editor of Money magazine, Front Page Finance Editor of Yahoo! and Special Projects Director/Money Editor at Good Housekeeping.

 

He is author of two books: How to Avoid a Midlife Financial Crisis and The Money Book of Personal Finance.

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For More on Richard Eisenberg and Next Avenue

Read his Series on Blue Zones mentioned in this podcast

Follow Richard Eisenberg on Twitter

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Related Podcast Episodes You May Enjoy

https://www.retirementwisdom.com/podcasts/why-people-make-a-career-change-with-purpose-top-of-mind-chris-farrell/

https://www.retirementwisdom.com/podcasts/retirement-planning-includes-getting-good-at-getting-older-rabbi-laura-geller/

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Related Book Review You May Like

IKIGAI: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

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Free Tools

Tap into access to free tools on our website to assist with your retirement planning, including retirement calculators, a longevity calculator,

What advice from well-meaning friends and colleagues will help you in transitioning to retirement? Well, this journalist shares the view that because every person’s retirement is different, it’s best to find your own path. As an author and journalist, Carol Hymowitz has a unique perspective on the world of work, longevity, and how some savvy employers are wising up and leveraging older workers. Recently a visiting scholar at Stanford’s Center on Longevity, Carol was formerly an Editor at Large at Bloomberg, and a Senior Editor and columnist at the Wall Street Journal, where she spent most of her journalism career.

Reflections on Transitioning to Retirement and Working Longer

When you begin to contemplate how to retire, there’s no shortage of advice from well-meaning colleagues and friends. But every retirement is different. It can quickly become clear that you need to discover your own path.

In this episode of our retirement podcast, we talk with Carol Hymowitz on her observations on older workers today – and what she’s learning since retiring in 2017 and continuing to work as a freelance journalist. She shares her insights on her journey, what’s surprised her so far and how a co-worker played a role in her decision-making.

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Wise Quote:

On the Value of Experimenting in Retirement:

“I think experimenting was crucial. There was no way not to do that unless I was going to get myself into one lane and rigidly stick to that. But by experimenting, it gave me a chance to try different things out and see how I felt about it and then make changes faster. I mean going from a full-time job in one organization where your days are very structured, you pretty much have an order to what you’re doing. You have instructions about what’s expected of you (and you go to) to not having that.

It’s a big transition and the best advice I got was don’t make too many final choices or set choices quickly. Take your time to play around because it’s the only way to find out how do I really want to spend your time? And if there’s one thing that most people who hit 60 and over feel, it’s that time is precious, it’s obvious, it’s maybe a little cliche, but you do feel it. How do I want to spend my time?”

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For more on Carol Hymowitz:

The article mentioned in this episode:

Looking for a Road Map for Retirement? Good Luck With That – The Wall Street Journal (subscription)

 

Additional articles on Older Workers by Carol Hymowitz:

How Health Care Employers Are Welcoming Older Workers: And Why Other Industries May Wind Up Following Their Lead  –  Next Avenue

Retiring (Again and Again) in America – Bloomberg BusinessWeek        

 

Follow Carol Hymowitz on Twitter:

 @carolhymowitz

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Bio:

Carol Hymowitz researches, writes and speaks about the challenges and opportunities of living longer, including lengthening careers and work transitions, retirement savings, health, and lifestyle and was recently a visiting scholar at Stanford’s Center on Longevity.

She formerly was an Editor at Large at Bloomberg, where she wrote and edited award-winning stories about the longevity economy, gender, and racial inequality and global business leaders. Previously she was a Senior Editor and In the Lead management columnist at the Wall Street Journal, where she spent most of her journalism career, and she also was Editorial Director of Forbes Media’s Forbes Woman website.

She is the co-author of A History of Women in America and a contributing author of Getting Older: How We’re Coping with the Gray Areas of Aging. Carol is a board director at the Women’s Refugee Commission.

The gig economy continues to grow in importance. Whether it’s to create a second act career as a consultant, to gain greater flexibility or to generate extra income in retirement, the gig economy offers both opportunities and challenges. In fact, today it’s relevant for virtually every age group and career stage. The demand for freelance talent continues to grow and it may offer new options to leverage your skills and experience. But the challenges and transition issues are real and it’s wise to be prepared. Becoming savvy about how to navigate it well will enhance your chances of success.

We talk with Diane Mulcahy, author of The Gig Economy about how it’s expanding, changing the world of work and impacting retirement. Before it was even a thing, Diane created the first course in the U.S. on the Gig Economy and teaches it in the MBA program at Babson College. The course gained immediate traction and was named by Forbes as one of the Top Ten Most Innovate Business School Courses in the country.

If you’re considering working longer or pursuing a second act career in the gig economy, you’ll want to hear Diane’s perspective on how to plan ahead.

Wise Quote:

On Planning Ahead

“I would offer two tactical steps. The first is, (and I have this exercise in my book as well) …The first is to develop an exit strategy. And what I mean by that is develop a real and concrete tactical plan for leading your job. So the exercise that I have my students and my readers do is this, imagine that you knew that you are going to be laid off in six months. What would you do to prepare? What would you do professionally? You know, what conferences would you go to? What colleagues would you reach out to? What kind of networking would you do? What kind of skills would you make sure were up-to-date on certifications, things like that? What kinds of financial things would you, do you know what? What expenses would you cut down on? What would you save?”

“How much would you contribute to your retirement? What corporate benefits would you take advantage of, whether it’s, you know, 401k contributions or education or professional development, and what would you do personally? How would you think about the impact of a layoff on your personal domestic situation? What about your living situation? Is there something there that you would change in terms of where you would rather live or what you would think about in terms of your commute or how this affects your household?

So think about that, all of those different dimensions, and make a list kind of a to-do list of what you would do if you knew you were getting laid off in six months. And then I would suggest really talking about that with other people, particularly if you know people who have been laid off or who are already retired and have negotiated that transition successfully. Find out what can you learn from how they made the transition and things that they did to make it successful.”

For more on Diane Mulcahy:

Diane Mulcahy’s book The Gig Economy: The Complete Guide to Getting Better Work, Taking More Time Off and Financing the Life You Want

Diane’s website

Bio

Before the Gig Economy was even a thing, Diane created and started to teach an MBA class called The Gig Economy at Babson College. The class gained immediate traction and was named by Forbes as one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Business School Classes in the country. Diane is an active and enthusiastic participant in the Gig Economy.

In between full-time jobs and consulting gigs in private equity and venture capital, Diane has been a Visiting Fellow at Trinity College in Dublin, an Executive-in-Residence at Babson College, and an Eisenhower Fellow. She has taken two different years off to travel around the world. Diane is currently a Senior Fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and an Adjunct L...

Do you know anyone who’s enjoying semi-retirement? It’s an option worth considering.

In this episode of our retirement podcast, we talk with Author, Keynote Speaker and Communications Strategist Sam Horn.  We discuss her new book Someday Is Not a Day in the Week: 10 Hacks to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life. Is semi-retirement the best option for you?

What About Half-Retiring?

Sam shares her wisdom (and her great stories) on a range of topics including what gets in the way of people realizing their dreams in retirement.  She suggests strategies on how to overcome common obstacles and she previews life hacks you can use to move forward. She also explains how the option of Half-Retiring is a way to retire smarter.

Is Semi-Retirement the Best Way to Test a Second Career?

In her view, semi-retirement gives you a path to try out a second career.  It’s a way to transition to retirement gradually – and on your own terms. In Sam’s opinion,  semi-retirement may offer the best of both worlds. Sam also shares tools and quick, powerful exercises in real-time that you can use in planning for the other side of retirement.

Wise Quote:

On Semi-retirement

“I’m so glad you brought this up because he part-time is doing the same thing, just less of it. So whatever it is we’re doing, instead of working 60 hours or 50 hours a week, we work for half that. Well, I believe half-retiring is that we don’t keep doing the same thing. We look in our life about what we really love to do and instead of theme that we’ll all have more fun when my work is done or I have my profession and I have my passion, I have my work and I have my recreation instead of seeing those as separate, what if we can blend them? So we have the best of both worlds right now.”

For more on Sam Horn:

Someday Is Not a Day in the Week on Amazon

Sam Horn’s Websites:   (The Intrigue Agency)

Sam Horn’s Happiness Box

 

Bio

Sam Horn is CEO of the Intrigue Agency, an international keynote speaker, author, and book consultant. She has spoken to more than a half-million people worldwide and for hundreds of organizations, including National Geographic, Cisco, Fortune 500 Forum, Intel, Ernst Young, Capital One, and NASA.

She has been interviewed on dozens of network TV and radio shows (NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX) and on NPR and MSNBC and has been profiled, quoted, or published in publications including the Washington Post, the New York Times, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Huffington Post, Readers Digest, Cosmopolitan, and the Boston Globe.

Sam is the author of several previous books including the Washington Post bestseller Got Your Attention?

 

Sam’s Article On MarketWatch:  How to find happiness when you’re afraid of retirement

 

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Thinking about how to change careers at 50+? In this episode, we catch up with Jeff Tidwell, who is the CEO and Co-Founder of Next For Me, a resource that “connects and inspires our generation to evolve our post-50 lives through new work, a new purpose, or a new social contribution.”

 

Ready for a Career Change?

Jeff shares his insights on the challenges and opportunities faced by the 50+ generation, the resources needed to overcome obstacles and make a midlife career change, build a second-act career, or create a new entrepreneurial path. It's practical and insightful advice on how to change careers at any age, but especially at 50+.

Jeff also discusses his own experiences as an entrepreneur and his key lessons learned so far.

Are you curious about what’s next for you? Tune in to the story of Jeff Tidwell, his company Next for Me – and what he’s hearing from the 50+ crowd at their events.Click To Tweet

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Wise Quotes

On Mindset

“Well, number one is the mindset. Are you open to new ways of doing things? Because so often we hear, I don’t want to learn Slack, I don’t need another data input. Why are you using Google Docs when I’m so comfortable with Microsoft Word and so we’re getting in our own way because we’re limiting our creativity around ways to do work.

And so you got to step away from the way you’ve been doing things, be open to new ways of doing things, hang out with people who are digital natives. It might be a little confounding to you, ask them – they’re usually wide open to helping out.”

“Be open to new ways of doing things. Lifelong learning is (key). If you’re into that anyway, you already know the benefits of it, but be open to learning new things, trying new things, not getting stuck on the old ways you’re accustomed to doing things. The world’s moving fast and things change, run with it, have fun.”

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Bio

Jeff Tidwell began his career with alternative newspapers and then moved online, where he has worked in Silicon Valley and New York overseeing online communities and user experience for E*TRADE, WebMD, Oncology.com, MarketTools, Chirp Interactive, and many startups via his consulting practice prepop.

Today, he’s the CEO and Co-Founder of Next For Me. He has been a featured speaker at Tech Inclusion, is a regular contributor to Forbes “Chronicles . of a 50+Entrepreneur” and is a regular guest on podcasts and ‘longevity economy’ conferences and events.

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For more on Jeff Tidwell and Next For Me

Next for Me website

Buy Next For Me: A Guide to Startups for Dreamers by Carol McManus & Jeff Tidwell on Amazon

Forbes series on startups and entrepreneurship

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Related Retirement Wisdom Podcast episodes you may like

How to Build a Non-Profit Encore Career – Betsy Werley

Why People Make a Career Change with Purpose Top of Mind – Chris Farrell

How Life Hacks Can Help Make Your Retirement the Best Time of Your Life – Sam Horn

Design Your Life and Get Unstuck – Dave Evans

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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.