The Retirement Wisdom Podcast

Why wait until the end of the year to recap the best episodes of this retirement podcast? In 2022, it'll be quarterly. I know you're busy and can't catch all the conversations. But you won't want to miss any of these. A lot of ground was covered in the first quarter of the year, including: How cognitive bias goes beyond financial matters - and why you'll want to think big about your future Why conventional thinking on retirement planning can get in the way of your future The best way to begin working on your worthy goals How to turn the stress of retiring into strength Why the second half of life can be the best half - if you get ahead of the second curve Listen to the full episodes from these links: 5. Think Big – Dr. Grace Lordan 4. An Economist’s Take on Retirement Planning – Larry Kotlikoff 3. How to Begin – Michael Bungay Stanier 2. Everyday Vitality – Dr. Samantha Boardman 1.  The Second Curve of Life – Arthur C. Brooks Interested in more wisdom? Scan all of the conversations in this retirement podcast here Miss the aBest of 2021? Listen here ____________________________ About Retirement Wisdom A 20+ year retirement is a terrible thing to waste. How will you invest your time after you leave the world of full-time work? Working with an experienced coach and a proven process can help you explore new options, test opportunities and create a portfolio of rewarding activities and interests. Beware of quick fix solutions. Schedule a call to find how how the Designing Your Life process (developed by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans at Stanford) can help you unlock a new direction.  One and One and small group programs are available. Take the first step toward your new life today. ___________________________ About Your Host  Joe Casey is an executive coach who also helps people design their next life after their primary career. He created his own next chapter after a twenty-six-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Today, in addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, which thanks to his guests and loyal listeners, ranks in the top 1.5 % globally in popularity by Listen Notes. Business Insider has recognized him as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy coming this summer. ________________________ Intro and Outro voiceovers by Ross Huguet.

The wellness industry has a problem, and Ezekiel Emanuel is one of the few people willing to call it out. In his new book, Eat Your Ice Cream: A Contrarian’s Guide to Living Longer, Healthier, and Happier, the bioethicist, oncologist, and former White House health advisor challenges both the influencers selling unproven supplements and the culture of wellness-as-self-punishment. In this episode, Emanuel makes a compelling research-backed case that the single most powerful determinant of health, longevity, and happiness is social connection, not sleep scores, protein intake, or VO2 max. Drawing on the Harvard Adult Development Study, the longitudinal study, going strong after 88 years, and other research across three million people worldwide, he explains why loneliness is biologically dangerous, and why doctors almost never ask about it. He also makes important points about retirement. When 40 hours of purposeful work becomes 40 hours of passive television, the brain pays a price. Emanuel argues that retirement requires deliberate design to replace the cognitive challenge, social contact, and structured schedule that work once provided. And he offers Ben Franklin, inventor of bifocals at 79, and still inventing at 81, as a model for what staying fully alive in later life actually looks like. Ezekiel Emanuel joins us from Washington, DC. ________________________ For More on Ezekiel Emanuel Eat Your Ice Cream: A Contrarian’s Guide to Living Longer, Healthier, and Happier Website ________________________ Bio Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, is the Vice Provost for Global Initiatives and the Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor. An oncologist and world leader in health policy and bioethics, he is a Special Advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was the founding chair of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health and held that position until August 2011. From 2009 to 2011, he served as a Special Advisor on Health Policy to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and National Economic Council. In this role, he was instrumental in drafting the Affordable Care Act. Dr. Emanuel is the most widely cited bioethicist in history. He has over 350 publications and has authored or edited 15 books. His recent publications include Which Country Has the World’s Best Health Care (2020), Prescription for the Future (2017), Reinventing American Health Care: How the Affordable Care Act Will Improve our Terribly Complex, Blatantly Unjust, Outrageously Expensive, Grossly Inefficient, Error Prone System (2014) and Brothers Emanuel: A Memoir of an American Family (2013). In 2008, he published Healthcare, Guaranteed: A Simple, Secure Solution for America, which included his own recommendations for health care reform.Dr. Emanuel regularly contributes to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic and often appears on BBC, NPR, CNN, MS NOW and other media outlets. He has received numerous awards, including election to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Science and awards from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Association of American Physicians, and the Royal College of Medicine (UK). He has been named a Dan David Prize Laureate in Bioethics and is a recipient of the AMA-Burroughs Wellcome Leadership Award, the Public Service Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation David E. Rogers Award, the President’s Medal for Social Justice from Roosevelt University, and the John Mendelsohn Award from the MD Anderson Cancer Center, as well as honorary degrees from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Union Graduate College, the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Macalester College. Dr. Emanuel is a graduate of Amherst College. He holds a M.Sc. from Oxford University in Biochemistry and received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and a Ph.D. in political philosophy from Harvard University. ________________________ Retirement Podcast Conversations You’ll Also Love   The Good Life – Marc Schulz, PhD Retiring: Creating a Life That Works for You – Teresa Amabile How Not to Age – Dr. Michael Greger _________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 2 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. __________________________ Wise Quotes On Wellness “Wellness should be about joie de vivre — about joy in life. It should not be only self-deprivation…Most of wellness is about don’t do stupid stuff — and most of it, we already know.” On Retirement “Most people when 40 hours of work drops out, 40 hours of TV comes in. Very passive. Not very intellectually challenging. That’s not retirement — that’s a slow decline…We don’t spend nearly enough time thinking about the brain part of retirement. Your brain is probably more important than your money.” On Willpower vs. Habits “If you have to use your willpower every time you do something, you can forget it. You have to make the wellness activity part of your habit. Doing it three to four times a week for about six weeks, that’s about what you need for a new activity to become ingrained.”  

What if cognitive decline in your 60s, 70s, and 80s is not inevitable — but largely a function of choices you’re making right now? What can you do to stay sharp in retirement? Dr. Majid Fotuhi is a neurologist, who teaches at Johns Hopkins University, and the author of The Invincible Brain: The Clinically Proven Plan to Age-Proof Your Brain and Stay Sharp for Life. He has spent decades studying the most malleable structure in the human brain, the hippocampus, and what he’s found challenges almost everything most people believe about aging and the mind.  The brain can grow. New neurons can form at any age. The most powerful predictor of late-life cognitive health is not your genes — it’s your daily habits. And retirement, done the traditional way, is one of the most reliable accelerants of cognitive decline that exists.  In this episode, Dr. Fotuhi walks us through his Five Pillars of Brain Health, the science of neuroplasticity, and what the research says about exercise, sleep, stress, nutrition, and brain training. He also shares one of the most remarkable patient stories of his career including a woman who arrived at his clinic in a wheelchair, seemingly destined for a nursing home, and left 12 weeks later looking for a new job.  If there’s one conversation that makes the case for designing an active, engaged, and cognitively rich retirement life, this is it. _________________________ Bio Dr. Majid Fotuhi is a neurologist and neuroscientist who has spent more than three decades studying memory, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease. He trained at Harvard Medical School and Johns Hopkins University, where he later served on the faculty and taught neuroscience to students and physicians. Over the course of his career, Dr. Fotuhi has evaluated thousands of patients with memory concerns and has researched how lifestyle, medical health, and brain biology interact. His work focuses on a central question: why do some people remain mentally sharp into their 80s and 90s while others develop cognitive decline? To answer this, he developed a practical brain-health program that integrates exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress management, and cognitive training. His research and clinical experience led him to write The Invincible Brain, a guide designed to help readers strengthen memory, improve focus, and reduce their risk of dementia by building what he calls “brain reserve.” Dr. Fotuhi is also the founder of NeuroGrow Brain Fitness Center and frequently lectures to physicians, corporations, and community groups about preserving cognitive vitality across the lifespan. His goal is to shift the public conversation about aging—from fear of Alzheimer’s disease to proactive brain health. He lives in the Washington, DC area with his family and continues to teach, write, and develop educational programs that empower people to take an active role in protecting their brains. __________________________ For More on Majid Fotuhi The Invincible Brain: The Clinically Proven Plan to Age-Proof Your Brain and Stay Sharp for Life NeuroGrow Brain Fitness Center __________________________ Retirement Podcast Conversations You May Also Love Make Your Next Years Your Best Years – Harry Agress, MD Why Brains Need Friends – Ben Rein Breaking the Age Code – Dr. Becca Levy Why We Remember – Charan Ranganath ____________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 2 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. ______________________________ Wise Quotes On Retirement and Your Brain “The idea that you retire and now you relax, you sit by the pool and just do crossword puzzles, is not a good idea. I view retirement as a new childhood. I think that as I’m in my 60s now, it’s like a new world. You can choose how busy you will be by the decisions you make. A mistake that people commonly make about retirement is to think that they just need to have enough money. What they don’t realize is the cognitive reserve — that’s the most important factor. Your brain is your biggest asset. And the good news is that you can keep on growing your brain reserve in your 70s and 80s. On Lifestyle vs. Genetics “Genetics play a strong role for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. However, the most common form — late-onset Alzheimer’s disease — has a small genetic component. If you have a grandmother or parents who developed Alzheimer’s in their 80s, your risk may go from 2% to 4%. However, if you have poor lifestyle choices — diabetes, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, too much stress, lack of brain activity — your risk is 16-fold higher. Your 2% chance becomes a 32% chance. In summary, your lifestyle choices have a much stronger role in your cognitive function in late life than genetics do for late-life Alzheimer’s disease.” On the Power of Narrative “So much of what happens to our brain depends on the narrative that we have in our head about how things should happen. If you think you’re going to decline as you go into your sixties and seventies, you will. But if you have the narrative that, hey, I may be forgetting names a bit more often, but look at all the things I’m doing, look at how I’m impacting my community — there are two different narratives. If you have the negative narrative, you will get there. If you have a positive narrative, you will continue on that path.” On Exercise  “Exercise is really the fountain of youth. I know people talk about it figuratively, but it really is the fountain of youth. If you could bottle the benefits of exercise and give it to people as medicine, it would reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease literally — not just indirectly, directly. Walking 10,000 steps a day reduces your risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 50%. Dozens of studies have shown that. Physical movement should be a priority — the number one priority. You don’t have to do a marathon or a triathlon in order to see the benefits. Walking 3,000 to 5,000 steps a day reduces the footprints of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain.” On Sleep “Sleep is not a passive process — it’s not like you’re just lying in bed doing nothing. During sleep, a lot of cleaning and rinsing happens in the brain, and your memories are being consolidated. The things that go on during deep sleep at night are similar to all the garbage collection that happens at night in New York City. Imagine if the garbage collection doesn’t happen for a month — it would be a disaster. When people cut down on their sleep, the brain is not as clean and crisp as it would be otherwise. Your neurons are very sensitive, fragile cells. When they don’t work, your brain doesn’t work, your cognitive abilities, your mood, your experience of daily life — the joy you would have otherwise is not there. Sleep is critically important for brain maintenance.” __________________________ 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.  

Retirement triggers one of the most profound re-evaluations many people will ever face. A career ends. Structure disappears. Identity shifts. And suddenly a question that could be put off — What do I really want out of life? — becomes more urgent and unavoidable. Valerie Tiberius has spent her career building a useful framework for exactly that question. Her insights offer you something much more valuable than advice on life from your Financial Advisor – a way of thinking about your values, goals, and well-being in one of the most important transitions of your lifetime. Valerie Tiberius joins us from Minnesota. __________________________ Bio Valerie Tiberius is the author of What Do You Want Out of Life? A Philosophical Guide to Figuring Out What Matters (Princeton University Press, 2023). She is the Paul W. Frenzel Chair in Liberal Arts and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota, where she has taught since 1998. Her work sits at the crossroads of philosophy and psychology — specifically, how both disciplines illuminate what it means to live well. She is the author of four additional  books, including The Reflective Life: Living Wisely with Our Limits, Well-Being as Value Fulfillment, and her widely acclaimed ). Her newest book, Artificially Yours: Real Friendship in a World of Chatbots, is forthcoming from Princeton University Press in May 2026. Valerie has received grants from the Templeton Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and her ideas have reached audiences through MPR News, numerous podcasts, and speaking engagements worldwide. __________________________ For More on Valerie Tiberius What Do You Want Out of Life? A Philosophical Guide to Figuring Out What Matters Artificially Yours: Real Friendship in a World of Chatbots (availabkle for pre-order – coming in May) Website __________________________ Mentioned in This Episode Why you should swap your bucket list with a chuck-it list __________________________ Retirement Podcast Conversations You May Like The Art of the Interesting – Lorraine Besser, PhD The Good Life – Marc Schulz, PhD Living for Pleasure – Emily Austin, PhD Life in Three Dimensions – Dr. Shige Oishi ____________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. ______________________________ Wise Quotes On Values and Alignnment “I think living in accordance with your values, living up to your values, doing the things you value, that just is what it is to live a good life. So the good life is the life in which you fulfill the best values for you… Life goes well to the extent that we pursue and fulfill our appropriate values over time — not the values society assigns us, but the ones that are emotionally authentic, reflectively endorsed, and capable of being sustained together.” On Hidden Goals “If you don’t acknowledge [a hidden goal] and it’s there, it will come up and haunt you at some point. It will come and hit you in the face.” On Adding a Chuck It List to Your Bucket List “Sometimes you have to give yourself permission to say, I’m never going to do that. I’m just not going to do it. And for my dad, it was learning Spanish. He really thought an educated person – my father has a PhD, he’s very educated – an educated person knows a foreign language. And then at some point in his 70s, he was like, it’s not happening now. I got better things to do.  And he does have other things to do. So I think the Chuck-it list is important for the specific goals we have. And sometimes there’s a whole big value that needs to be chucked. If your capacities change, there are things you just can’t do anymore.” On Listening to Your Emotions “I really think it’s worth spending some time reflecting on what matters to you and thinking about whether you’re tracking it – because I think people have a tendency to get caught up in trivial crap that doesn’t really matter. And then the second part is I think that, although I’m recommending being reflective and thinking about these things, that process has to be informed by our emotions. So you can’t just sit and think about what you believe. You also have to listen to your body, they would say if you were in a yoga class. But there’s something to that. Listen to what your emotions and motivations are yelling at you from the bullpen.”  

Choices shaped your career. But when retirement approaches, a new design challenge appears. Not a financial one. A life design challenge. What will your days look like? What will energize you?  What might the next five years become? In the Designing Your New Life in Retirement program, you’ll step back from the fray and apply design thinking to those questions, with a bias for action. Learn more here. We begin in April. Join us and get started – on your most important project. _____________________________ Friendship is one of the most powerful forces shaping our lives—and our health. Friendships become harder to maintain as life evolves, especially during major transitions like retirement. Losing work friends is normal, yet few realize how new connections can be cultivated. Our guest today highlights why identity shifts can, perhaps counterintuitively, create oppotunities to build new friendships. My guest today is Janice McCabe, is a sociologist at Dartmouth and author of Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends. Her research, mainly on college campuses, illuminates key principles of forming friendships like the hidden structures that shape our friendships. In this conversation, we explore how anyone—at any stage of life—can become more intentional about building meaningful connections. Why friendships are essential for long-term health and well-being The two biggest drivers of friendship formation Why proximity matters more than we realize Three types of friendship networks The difference between fading friendships and breakups If you’re approaching retirement or navigating a major life transition, understanding these patterns can help you design a richer and more connected life. Janice McCabe joins us from New Hampshire. __________________________ Bio Janice M. McCabe is associate professor of sociology at Dartmouth College and the Allen House Professor. She is the current president of the Sociology of Education Association and the author of Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends and Connecting in College: How Networks Matter for Academic and Social Success. __________________________ For More on Janice McCabe Website Books __________________________ Mentioned in This Retirement Podcast Conversation I Study Friendship. Here’s How You Make Lasting Friends. ___________________________ Retirement Podcast Conversations You May Like How to Make New Friends in Retirement – Dr. Marisa G. Franco Our New Social Life – Natalie Kerr & Jaime Kurtz The Good Life – Marc Schulz, PhD ____________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. ______________________________ Wise Quotes On Life Changes & Friendships ” We’re changing and we’re growing throughout our lives, and there may be times that we change with our friends, and so our identities, our interests change in similar ways, or we’re able to keep some sort of connection through those transitions. But it can be harder for people who are now retired. They likely have friendships that, started earlier in life, and you may have similar transitions with having kids at the same time, or living in the same area or in different areas throughout your lives. So all of those things, some of which are structural. When you’re having those life transitions, sometimes we feel like a friendship is really important to us, but then someone changes jobs, or someone moves, and we may realize that that connection was either more or less important than we thought, just because we took it for granted when it was easy.” On Prioritizing Friendships “I interviewed a lot of people in the course of my research and the people that were able to both make and keep particularly meaningful friends, one thing was that they were intentional about is making time for friends. Also being reflective about which friends are most meaningful to you,who are you really excited to see, excited to talk to, excited to do things about and making sure that you’re reaching out to them. That not always, just up to your paths crossing or them reaching out to you, but thinking through, what people do I especially want to prioritize is part of it.  Another thing that I saw people do is that is just making time for friendship in general. We typically have goals for our work lives, we may have goals for our family lives, but I’d say most of us don’t have goals for our friendship lives. But having that would help us see that as another really valuable part of life. And so not just letting friendship fill the cracks of like our extra time, but really going out of the way to make sure that we are prioritizing friendship in our lives, making time for friends.” On Friends & Health – and Being a Good Friend “A lot of research has shown that our friendships help us live longer. It’s actually more important to have connections than to not smoke, not be obese, the things that we look at as healthy behaviors. Having friends are equally, if not more, important from other people’s research, epidemiologically, that have looked at those factors. So making sure that you invest in friendships is really important.  And I think we can get so busy going through life that we don’t slow down to take stock of our friendships and just see who’s there. And, not just do I have good friends, but am I being a good friend also? Because friendship is a reciprocal relationship. Friendship isn’t just a one time event. It’s not just that you make friends and Oh, I’m done. Instead, you constantly are making new friends and thinking through those factors that I was mentioning; who’s important, what am I getting from my friends? What am I missing? And not assuming that either our partner, our romantic partner, or one friend will meet all of our needs.”

________________________ Get started in April on your most important project. Learn more here _________________________ Retirement planning focuses heavily on finances — investments, Social Security, and risks. But there’s another question that often sneaks up on people once the career chapter closes: Do I still matter? Our guest today has spent years researching one of the most powerful psychological needs we have as human beings — the need to feel valued and to add value. Jennifer Breheny Wallace is an award-winning journalist and author of the new book Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose. Her work explores how feeling significant, appreciated, invested in, and depended on shapes our well-being throughout life. And her insights have important implications for retirement. Because when work ends, many people lose one of the primary places where they knew they mattered — where their contributions were visible, valued, and relied upon. In this conversation, we explore:        • Why the need to matter doesn’t diminish with age       • How retirees can build what Jennifer calls a “mattering portfolio”       • The surprising research on relationships and resilience       • Practical daily actions that restore a sense of meaning and contribution If you’re thinking about retirement — or already there — this conversation may change how you think about purpose, connection, and belonging in the next chapter. _________________________ Bio Jennifer Breheny Wallace is the author of Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose.  She is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author whose work explores the power of mattering in our everyday lives. Through research and storytelling, Wallace examines the hidden forces shaping modern life, from the crisis of meaning in achievement culture to the essential role of mattering in personal, workplace, and societal health.  Her first book, Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic — And What We Can Do About It, was a New York Times Bestseller, an Amazon Best Book of the Year, and a Next Big Idea selection. Wallace is the founder of The Mattering Institute, whose mission is to create cultures of mattering in workplaces and communities, and co-founder of The Mattering Movement, a nonprofit whose mission is to create cultures of mattering in K-12 schools. Wallace has partnered with The LEGO Group on its global Play Unstoppable campaign to address perfectionism and grow confidence through play. She has also consulted with Calm wellness app, Netflix, and is a BCG  BrightHouse Luminary. She serves on the University of Michigan’s Well-being Collective Advisory Council, and the Advisory Board for Making Caring Common, a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Wallace is a Journalism Fellow at The Center for Parent and Teen Communication at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. After graduating from Harvard College, Wallace was a journalist for CBS “60 Minutes” and was part of the team that won The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism. She is a contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post and frequently appears on national television programs to discuss her work. Wallace serves on the board of the Coalition for the Homeless in New York City, where she lives with her husband and their three children. ___________________________ For More on Jennifer Breheny Wallace Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose by Jennifer Breheny Wallace Website ___________________________ Mentioned in This Retirement Podcast  The Retirement Crisis No One Warns You About: Mattering – The Wall Street Journal Video: Taylor Mali (What Do You Make?) ____________________________ Your choices shaped your career. But when retirement approaches, a new design challenge appears. Not a financial one. A life design challenge. What will your days look like? What will energize you?  What might the next five years become? In the Designing Your New Life in Retirement program, you’ll step back from the fray and apply design thinking to those questions, with a bias for action. Learn more here. Our next two groups begin in April. Join us and get started on your most important project. _____________________________ Podcast Conversations You May Like What Matters Most – Diane Button How to Live a Meaningful Life – Dave Evans Retiring: Creating a Life That Works for You – Teresa Amabile ____________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. ______________________________ Wise Quotes On Adding Value “I found this very common thread among the hundreds of people that I interviewed who, when they were going through a life transition—if it was retirement or grief, getting divorced, all these things—what they did over and over again was that they found new ways to add value. And so they would look for what I call in the book a genuine need in the world. And then they would use either their time or their talents or their treasure to meet those needs. It’s kind of a handy formula for finding purpose.” On Your Mattering Portfolio “Plan your retirement social portfolio—your mattering portfolio—as carefully as you plan your financial portfolio…You are only one decision, one action away from getting back on that path to mattering.”  

Discern what you’ll retire to. Join our group program starting in April. Learn more here _________________________ What if the secret to happiness isn’t success or achievement — but simply feeling loved? In this episode, one of the world’s top researchers on happiness and well-being Sonja Lyubomirsky explains why connection, curiosity, and listening may be the most powerful ingredients for a fulfilling life — and a meaningful retirement. Her new book, co-authored with relationship scientist Dr. Harry Reis, is How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets That Get You More of What Matters Most —and it offers a surprising and practical roadmap for getting there. Key insights? When you want to feel more loved, don’t try to make yourself more lovable. Don’t try to change the other person. Instead, change the conversation. Go first. Make them feel loved—and watch what happens next. This conversation is full of wisdom for anyone planning for or navigating retirement—a life stage where relationships become the center of your world. Dr. Lyubomirsky talks about the vulnerability paradox, the three magic words everyone wants to hear, why older people are actually happier than younger ones, and what really matters when you’re designing a life worth living. Sonja Lyubomirsky joins us from Santa Monica, California. ___________________________ Bio Sonja Lyubomirsky (AB Harvard, summa cum laude; PhD Stanford) is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside and author of the best-selling The How of Happiness and The Myths of Happiness (published in 39 countries). Lyubomirsky’s research—on the possibility of lastingly increasing happiness via gratitude, kindness, and connection interventions—have been the recipients of many grants and honors, including Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Basel, the Diener Award for Outstanding Midcareer Contributions in Personality Psychology, the Christopher Peterson Gold Medal, a Positive Psychology Prize, and the Faculty of the Year Award (twice). She has four kids, ages 12 to 26, and lives in Santa Monica, California. ___________________________ For More on Sonja Lyubomirsky How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets That Get You More of What Matters Most Website  __________________________ Retirement Podcast Conversations You May Like How to Live a Meaningful Life – Dave Evans Retire Happy – Dr. Catherine Sanderson The Good Life – Marc Schulz, PhD ___________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. ______________________________ Wise Quotes On Love & Happiness “The key to happiness is feeling connected and loved. The secret to feeling loved is really feeling known.” On Going First “When we want to feel more loved, we often try to make ourselves more lovable. But the research suggests something different — we need to start by making the other person feel loved. A relationship is really a series of conversations. Changing the conversation can change the relationship. When you think about a relationship is a series of conversations. And so during your next conversation, the first step is actually to try to make the other person feel more loved. And so we talk about, you know, showing curiosity in the other person and really listening to them and helping them open up, you know, because the secret to feeling loved is really feeling known. You know, you can’t really feel loved by someone else if they don’t know you, right?  If you don’t really know me, I can’t feel loved by you because I’ll always wonder would he still love me if he knew me? If you could see what was sort of behind those walls. It’s a little bit counterintuitive, right? If you want to feel more loved, you want to go first and make the other person feel more loved.” On Vulnerability “I’m not going to feel loved by you just if you’re admiring me. And so that’s where sort of we go wrong where like, it turns out that actually being a little vulnerable and showing more of our kind of real selves, not really real selves, it’s all real, you know, but you know, kind of showing more of our full selves, what’s beneath those walls. That’s actually what forges a connection. So that kind of, in fact, I think it’s called the vulnerability paradox. Like we think people won’t like us if we show a little bit vulnerability or weakness even, but actually people will like us more. Now, if it has to be done at the right pace and at the right time for the right person, right, you have to really read the room so you don’t just like dump your traumas or your weaknesses right away on another person. That’s not, that’s not going to work either.”

What’s next? Don’t drift. Design. Our next small group coaching program starts in April. Learn more here. ________________________ Most retirement planning conversations start and end with money. Rod Yancy, founder of Oath Planning, challenges that assumption head-on — arguing that mindset, emotional health, and identity matter more than any portfolio balance when it comes to actually thriving in retirement. In this conversation, Rod shares data from Oath’s latest client survey, their Q1 2026 Money and Meaning Institute survey of over 500 retirees and near-retirees, and some the findings may surprise you. For example, the biggest regrets aren’t about money. The financial advisory industry is structurally incentivized to keep money at the center of retirement planning — even when that leaves clients less than fully prepared for what they’ll face in planning for life in retirement. He offers a candid, practitioner-level view of what he actually sees working (and failing) in retirement transitions. Rod Yancy joins us from Tulsa, Oklahoma. _________________________ Bio Rod Yancy is a multifaceted entrepreneur, writer, attorney, and leader. His personal mission to empower others to live their lives to the fullest is woven into both his business ventures and creative projects. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 2002 with a double major in philosophy and political science, Rod made adventure his top priority, traveling in search of new experiences, inspiration, and deeper meaning. He began writing about his journeys while immersing himself in diverse fields, from mindfulness to literature to software development. Recognizing the importance of legal expertise for his entrepreneurial goals, Rod pursued a J.D. at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, graduating in 2006. He quickly put his education to use by founding two app-based software companies in fantasy sports and photo sharing, before shifting his focus to creating what became one of his life’s major undertakings – Oath. Since its inception in 2010, Oath Law has been guided by Rod’s belief that life is short and everyone should embrace their unique journey to achieve their full potential. With this perspective, Rod utilized estate planning as a means to help people recognize life is short and organize their affairs, allowing them to focus on what truly matters: enjoying life. _____________________________ For More on Rod Yancy Oath Planning _____________________________ Retirement Podcast Conversations You May Like Retire with Purpose – Cesar Aguirre Design a Phased Retirement – Anna Rappaport Coming of Age in Retirement – Tom Marks _____________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. ______________________________ Wise Quotes On Mindfulness  “I remember hearing when I was young, about a farmer whose crops had failed. And when they asked him what he would have done different, he said I would have cared for the soil sooner. And that that really is the thing. Oftentimes, we really don’t care for what matters until after it’s too late to fix it. And I think that when it comes to emotional well being and mindfulness, people sometimes don’t even know what they were missing. But when we sit down with our clients who are retirees, we see clearly that their mindset does shape their experience in retirement even more than money.” On Resilience “Oftentimes, resilience determines whether the change going into retirement feels like freedom, or feels like a loss of identity. And their purpose or what they what they mean to do with their life can make their calendar either feel very empty or open for for better things for them to do.  I don’t know if it’s counterintuitive, but I just keep seeing it time and time again, that people really need to pay attention to who they are before retirement.” On Taking Aim in Retirement “A man without an aim or a woman without an aim…is just that drifting. Taking aim at something is really important even in retirement. I think that is where you find the peace and that’s where you find that purpose.” _____________________________

What’s next? Don’t drift. Design. Our next small group coaching program starts in April. Learn more here. _________________________ Who are you when you’re no longer your title? For many high-performing professionals, that question can feel destabilizing — even frightening. Michael Kay is a CFP, a financial life planner, the author of the new book How To Craft Your Chapter X: A Guide For High-Performing Men to Discover Meaning (and Joy) In Retirement. He’s been through it himself—the excitement of the new chapter, and then, six months in, the wall he didn’t see coming. Today he shares what he’s learned about reopening the aperture, grieving what you’ve left behind, and finding out who you were before you were your job. This is a conversation every high-achieving man—and the people who love them—needs to hear. _________________________ Bio Michael F. Kay is a coach, teacher, author and retired CFP(R). Through his books, workshops, speeches, and the Chapter X community, he’s helped thousands of women, men, and families master their financial lives—and navigate the transition from full-time work to what comes next. He’s written three books: How to Craft Your Chapter X, The Feel Rich Project, and The Business of Life. His insights have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, Forbes, and Psychology Today. Today, he publishes weekly essays for the Chapter X newsletter, hosts the Chapter X podcast, and shares his thoughts on LinkedIn. He is the former president of Financial Life Focus, a fee-only multi-advisor financial life planning firm. ___________________________ For More on Michael Kay How To Craft Your Chapter X: A Guide For High-Performing Men to Discover Meaning (and Joy) In Retirement _________________________ Podcast Conversations You May Like The Inspired Retirement – Nathalie Martin How to Prepare Mentally for Life After Work – Joseph Maugeri Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Save Lives – Daisy Fancourt ____________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. ___________________________ Wise Quotes On Saying No in Retirement “If it’s not joyful, I’m not going to do it.” On Perspective “As we get older and we start focusing towards career, that aperture narrows. And so when we get ready to step into this next chapter, whether it’s our choice or not, we are at our narrowest. So we need to, mindfully and intentionally—I think that’s the right word—look to reopen that aperture.” On Returning to Music – For Fun “I got the trumpet out and had it cleaned, and I found a teacher, and I started playing again, and I put up on my music stand, ‘fun’—the word fun—to remind me. Because if you miss a note, I was like, ‘You suck.’ All these things that come back. And so I had to keep reminding myself: this is for fun. I am never going to be a touring professional musician. I’m never going to play with Blood, Sweat and Tears or Chicago. This is for fun. And it just takes the discipline to keep reminding yourself—have joy in the music, have joy in the doing. The joy is in the journey, not in the destination. Because the destination is the journey.”

Don’t plan for just one side of retirement. Design Your Life in Retirement. Join our small group coaching program beginning in April. Learn more here. Very Early Registration Discount ends on March 1st. Sign up here. ___________________________ What if the biggest risk in retirement isn’t the market — but misunderstanding your own goals? As you approach retirement, the questions shift. It’s no longer just “How much have I saved?” It becomes, “When do I want the freedom to retire?” “How much risk do I really need to take?” And perhaps most importantly — “What is my money for?” Today, I’m joined by financial planner Zach Morris for a candid conversation about risk tolerance versus risk capacity, sequence of return risk, working one more year, helping family, and why having a 100% probability of financial success might actually mean you’re leaving life on the table. If you’re within five years of retirement — or wondering whether you’re truly ready — this episode will help you think differently about risk, purpose, and pulling the trigger. Zach Morris, CFP joins us from Atlanta. __________________________ Bio Having traveled to over 35 countries, Zach is a believer in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s statement that Life is about the journey, not the destination. Being a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® provides Zach the opportunity to help clients define and realize their journey, and co-founding Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors, an independent firm, allows the freedom to define the client experience along the way. Previously, Zach was a partner in The Diamond Morris Group and a Financial Advisor with J.P. Morgan Securities, a wealth management division of J.P. Morgan. Before becoming a Financial Advisor, Zach started as an Associate with the firm in 2011, where he developed skills for building lasting relationships with clients. Later, Zach developed and oversaw a training and mentorship program for J.P. Morgan Associates. Zach supports a number of organizations including Alzheimer’s Association, Georgia Chapter, The Shepherd Center, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, and NewStory. Zach received a B.S. in finance, with a minor in economics, from Elon University in North Carolina. He was a member of The Kappa Alpha Order and has served on the board of the Elon Alumni Association’s Atlanta chapter. Zach speaks Spanish and is an Atlanta native. He and his wife live in West Midtown’s Underwood Hills neighborhood and his parents and two of his three sisters and their families live nearby. In his spare time, Zach golfs, plays tennis, rides his mountain bike and travels. _____________________________ For More on Zach Morris, CFP Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors Zach Morris, CFP® You Tube channel ______________________________ Podcast Conversations You May Like How to Live a Meaningful Life – Dave Evans Re-Visioning Retirement – Susan Reid, PhD Retire with Purpose – Cesar Aguirre ______________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. ______________________________ Wise Quotes On The One More Year Trap “Sometimes it’s just one more year because they don’t know what the next step is…If somebody is working one more year and they have 100% probability of success — they’re not just leaving money on the table, they’re leaving life on the table.” On Risk “Risk is invisible… you can have a risk tolerance today, but once you hit that maximum threshold, it can very quickly become uncomfortable.” On Retirement Planning “You don’t want to go into retirement with unfulfilled expectations. You want to go into retirement knowing what to expect.” _____________________________

Don’t drift into retirement. Design yours. Learn more about our next small group coaching program starting in April here. Sign up here. Very Early Registration Discount ends on March 1st. _______________________ What happens when you finally get everything you worked for…and realize something is missing? In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, Darrow Kirkpatrick shares what early retirement can really feel like — beyond the spreadsheets and freedom headlines. After leaving his software engineering career, he found himself confronting something he didn’t expect: the loss of identity and clout that work had quietly provided. He discovered that early retirement wasn’t just about having time—it was about creating meaning. Instead of retreating, Darrow leaned into challenges. From launching a successful retirement blog Can I Retire Yet? to spending nights alone above 12,000 feet, to confronting his lifelong struggles with fear and panic, Darrow’s journey, chronicled in his new book Two Sticks, One Path, reveals the surprising truth about what can make retirement fulfilling. If you’re within a few years of retirement — or already there — this conversation will make you think differently about what comes next –  and why the challenges we choose to take on may matter more than the comfort we think we want. _________________________ Bio Darrow Kirkpatrick is the author of the new book Two Sticks, One Path: A Journey Beyond Fear on the Colorado Trail. Darrow is an early-retired civil and software engineer with five decades of hiking, biking, and technical rock-climbing experience, including first ascents in the Shawangunks of New York and the sandstone belt of Tennessee. He climbed three big walls in Yosemite Valley, California: The Shield and The Nose on El Capitan, and The Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome. In 2011 he founded “Can I Retire Yet?” — winner of the 2019 Plutus award for Best Retirement Blog. His personal finance books include “Retiring Sooner” and “Can I Retire Yet?” ___________________________ For More on Darrow Kirkpatrick Two Sticks, One Path: A Journey Beyond Fear on the Colorado Trail Can I Retire Yet? ___________________________ Podcast Conversations You May Like How to Prepare Mentally for Life After Work – Joseph Maugeri The Inspired Retirement – Nathalie Martin Lessons Learned in Early Retirement – Chris Mamula _____________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. ___________________________ Wise Quotes On the Value of Challenge in Retirement “I find 100% of the meaning that I found in early retirement has come from the challenges I’ve tackled.” On Meaningful Pursuits “The things I did pay attention to starting Can I Retire Yet, a successful personal finance blog, a bucket list item hiking the Colorado Trail, even though I had to do most of it on crutches, those things are incredibly meaningful to me, writing a memoir about it. I think I would have really regretted if I had stayed at my corporate desk through all those years instead of reaching for those bucket list items.” On Adaptation “I did have a series of chronic injuries in my lower body, which got worse. I had a bad hamstring injury, was in bed for a few months, one summer. And as part of the recovery from that, a doctor friend suggested I start using forearm crutches… I wound up realizing I needed to just keep using the crutches on the trail, because they would keep me safe. They reduce the impact on my body, they prevent falls. And if I had any hope of doing a trail as difficult as the Colorado Trail, I needed all the help I could get.”

Will you retire with purpose? Don’t leave it to chance. Design Your New Life after you leave full-time work. Learn more about our next small group coaching program starting in April here – and sign up here. __________________________ What if the word retirement is setting us up for the wrong life? After years in senior leadership roles, Cesar Aguirre discovered something most of us miss about retirement: the word itself matters more than we think. In English, we “retire” – we withdraw. In Portuguese, you become “aposentado” – left aside or left behind. But in Spanish-speaking cultures, retirement is called “jubilación” – which comes from the word for joy. That distinction changed everything for Cesar. Because when he stepped away from his career, it wasn’t the loss of work that shocked him – it was the jarring shock of losing an identity. He realized retirement isn’t just a life transition, it’s an identity transition, offering an opportunity to redefine who you want to become, and retire with purpose. Cesar joins us to share the framework he developed through his own transition – a ten-chapter roadmap for moving from “what I’m leaving” to “what I’m moving toward.” He’ll reveal why planning goes far beyond your finances, how to measure success when you’re no longer producing output, and the key warning signs that show up early when retirement first starts going wrong. This is a conversation about why approaching retirement with more intention might just create the most fulfilling chapters of your life. How will you retire with purpose? Cesar Aguirre joins us from Florida. __________________________ Bio César Aguirre is a seasoned HR executive with over 40 years of experience in global talent development. Now in active retirement, he embodies reinvention with passion as mentor, consultant, and author. In his book, Retirement with Purpose: The 10 Rs of Retirement, he shares his vibrant energy and insights to help readers rediscover purpose and embrace joyful living in their post-career lives. He currently resides in a lively 55+ community in Central Florida with his wife, inspiring others to design their authentic journeys for the second act of their lives. _______________________ For More on Cesar Aguirre Retirement with Purpose: The 10 Rs of Retirement _______________________ Podcast Conversations You May Like How to Prepare Mentally for Life After Work – Joseph Maugeri Re-Visioning Retirement – Susan Reid, PhD How to Retire – Christine Benz _________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. _________________________ Wise Quotes On The Power of Language “Retirement becomes a celebration, not a retreat. I think the languages shape mindset. And mindsets shape behavior. So when retirement is framed as a joy, planning shifts from survival to flourishing become more natural.” On Measuring Success in Retirement “A good day is no longer about output, it’s no longer about how much you produce. It’s about action that is intended, an action that aligns with a master plan.” On What He’d Do Differently “I wish I had thought about it and prepared for my post-work identity a little sooner and more deliberately. In my job in HR, I helped many others plan careers, but I underestimated how much my own self-worth was tied to that job in that title. I think I did it humbly. I can say that I did a solid job planning financially, but probably not as good in preparing emotionally for the change. For a brief period of time, a few months, I underestimated that the identity shift that was occurring and the loss of a daily structure that I was so accustomed to.” On What He’s Gained in Retirement “Presence, the ability to not just having the time, but having the mindset of real presence, presence with my wife, which I neglected for a few years while I was traveling or working, presence with my kids, now with my grandkids, the rest of my friends, and new friends. I also gained a space and time for mastery, my hobbies. I enjoy cooking, well, time to do more and do a little better, exercising, riding the bike three or four times a week, playing pickleball. Retiring has given me time to go more in depth on my preferences instead of just speed, because in my working years, I was always rushing. Even when I was at home, I needed to accomplish, I needed to do things. I needed not to be idle. And retirement has now given me presence and bandwidth.” On Warning Signs “I think there are three main things that one needs to start paying attention to. Isolation. If you don’t have that network, social network, family network, and you become isolated. A loss of structure. Doing nothing without a structure or living in the past tense. When people stop connecting with others, when they drift through the days without an intentional plan, or when they only talk about what they used to be, that should be a warning, – a huge yellow flag for oneself and for loved ones that are looking after them.”

Sign up for our next Designing Your Life small group coaching program starting in April here __________________________ What happens when you’ve done everything “right” — built a successful career, made a difference, checked the boxes — and yet something still is missing? Today I’m joined by Dave Evans, co-author of How to Live a Meaningful Life: Using Design Thinking to Unlock Purpose, Joy, and Flow Every Day and the #1 New York Times Bestseller Designing Your Life, and a longtime Stanford educator, to explore a question many people quietly wrestle with in the second half of life: Why doesn’t impact bring lasting meaning — and what actually does? Dave shares insights from his newest work with Bill Burnett on meaning, presence, and what he calls the shift from role to soul. We talk about why chasing fulfillment often backfires, why the most meaningful moments are often small and fleeting, and how many of us live almost entirely in what he calls the “transactional world” — often missing the richness of the present moment that’s available right now. This conversation is especially relevant if you’re nearing retirement, newly retired, or simply sensing that achievement alone isn’t enough anymore. Dave offers practical reframes, deeply human stories, and a powerful idea he calls the scandal of particularity — a concept that may completely change how you think about what a well-lived life really looks like. Dave Evans joins us from California to discuss How to Live a Meaningful Life. ___________________________ Bio Dave Evans is the co-author of How to Live a Meaningful Life: Using Design Thinking to Unlock Purpose, Joy, and Flow Every Day. Dave has worked in alternative energy, telecommunications, and high tech. As an early member of the advanced systems group that built the technology that became the Macintosh, he led the first computer mouse team and laser-printing projects, before leaving to co-found the software giant Electronic Arts. After more than thirty years of executive leadership and management consulting in the high tech world, Evans realized that what he really wanted and needed to do was help people rediscover purpose in their jobs and lives. He joined Stanford’s Design Program, teaching the incredibly popular Designing Your Life course. In their book Designing Your Life, Dave Evans and co-author Bill Burnett, brought these principles to a larger audience, proving it’s never too late to design a life you love through innovation, creative problem-solving, and a growth mindset. Evans teaches audiences of all ages that the same principles used to create amazing technology and products can also be used to design and build a life filled with purpose and joy that is constantly creative and productive. Dave Evans earned a Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford and a graduate diploma in Contemplative Spirituality from San Francisco Theological Seminary. He lives in Santa Cruz. _________________________ For More on Dave Evans How to Live a Meaningful Life: Using Design Thinking to Unlock Purpose, Joy, and Flow Every Day  Design Your Life and Get Unstuck – Dave Evans (2020 Podcast) _________________________ Podcast Conversatons You May Like The Good Life – Marc Schulz, PhD Resurface – Cassidy Krug The Purpose Code – Dr. Jordan Grumet __________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.9 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. ______________________ Wise Quotes On Becoming “The most essential definition of a human person is you’re a becoming. You’re constantly evolving into hopefully your more and more authentic self – never your complete self, by the way… there’s no way you’re ever going to get done.” On Shifting from Role to Soul “I think, particularly in that second half transition, you’re really looking at what we call the shift from role to soul. And by role, I am primarily identifying who I am as a person, my sense of what makes me who I am, is what I do in the roles and I have in the world, mostly in institutions called, you know, companies or employment or families. And I get this feedback loop from being the Dad, from being the General Manager, from being the mailman, or from whatever it is that says I’m doing the right thing, I’m getting paid for it, and the world’s a better place. And that’s the achievement feedback loop, which for most people that’s what we mostly hear from people is the primary thing. And as life moves along, even if you’re still achieving, I still have four part time jobs. But my relationship with that achieving role is very different than it used to be. And you start moving more and more where your life is really simply about expressing as authentically as you can in the world, who it is that you actually are.” On the Scandal of Particularity “The scandal of particularity is the recognition that all wonderful things only come in these small bite-sized pieces that are temporary, incomplete, partial, but reflections of the true thing. So if you radically accept you’re never going to get all of it, then you go, Oh, so what I really want to do is when the opportunity for some beauty or some truth shows up at all is dive all in, fully celebrate and enjoy it.”

What if creativity works like medicine? New research shows that regular engagement with the arts can slow biological aging, protect the brain, reduce stress, and promote a new sense of purpose, identity and meaning—especially in retirement. This episode reframes art as one of the most powerful, underused tools for healthy aging. Our guest today, Dr. Daisy Fancourt, is a leading researcher on the health impacts of arts engagement and the author of the new book Art Cure:The Science of How the Arts Save Lives. Her work bridges neuroscience, public health, and lived experience—bringing rigorous data to some things many people may dismiss as “just a hobby.” Listen in for insights on why engaging with art is a wise addition to your retirement plan. In this conversation, you’ll learn: How arts engagement compares to exercise and sleep in its health impact Why talent and skill have nothing to do with the benefits you can reap How creativity builds cognitive reserve and protects against dementia Why music is a powerful tool for wellness How the arts can foster renewed identity, purpose, and community in retirement Daisy Fancourt joins us from London. ________________________ Bio Daisy Fancourt is the author of the new book Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Save Lives. She is Professor of Psychobiology and Epidemiology at University College London where she heads the Social Biobehavioural Research Group, and Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health. She has published 300 scientific papers and won over two dozen academic prizes. She is a multi-award-winning science communicator and has been named a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and BBC New Generation Thinker. Daisy is listed as one of the most highly cited scientists in the world. _________________________ For More on Daisy Fancourt Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Save Lives Website _________________________ Podcast Conversatons You May Like Tiny Experiments – Anne-Laure Le Cunff Why You’ll Want a Hobby – Ashley Merryman The Art of the Interesting – Lorraine Besser, PhD ____________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. __________________________ Wise Quotes On the Science Behind Arts and Health “I started doing lots of research on the long-term impact of arts engagement across people’s lives using the same kind of data sets and methods that people had previously looked at exercise and diet and sleep. And I was honestly quite amazed at what came out about these associations between arts and future well-being, reduced risk of depression, enhanced cognitive function, reduced risk of chronic pain, frailty, dementia. And most excitingly, the effect sizes were very similar or sometimes even stronger than these other behaviours that we’re much more used to talking about in relation to our health.” On Biological Aging People who engage in the arts actually have increased connectivity between regions of the brain that are vulnerable to aging. So they actually have brains that are younger than people who don’t regularly engage in the arts. And actually, they have higher levels of cognitive reserve, so resilience of the brain against cognitive decline and dementia. But they also have different clinical biomarker patterns that indicate that they are physiologically younger. So better respiratory rates, lower cardiovascular stress, better levels of inflammation in their immune systems. And I think most excitingly, they even have patterns of gene expression in their DNA that are younger. So the way that their genes express themselves have a younger, what we call epigenetic age.” On the I’m Not Creative Myth “I think this is a slight failing in our societies because we tend to set ourselves up that you’re either artistic or creative or you’re not. And it’s a complete myth. Actually, most of the health benefits of the art come through doing it, regardless of whether you’re any good at doing it. And I think sometimes people have got hangovers, often from like childhood when they didn’t feel they sang in tune or when they weren’t good at doing art in class. But it’s surprising how often people can actually try new activities as an adult and actually discover a passion they had absolutely no idea about.” On Music as Medicine “Music is actually a natural pain relief. It releases endogenous opioids in our brain. But also it provides us with a beat that means we can synchronize with that beat and that can really help us with our movements. So when people exercise to music, they’re actually able to run faster for longer, they’re able to lift weights in the gym for longer. And if people have got conditions like Parkinson’s or they’ve had a stroke or another neurological disorder, then actually listening to music can be a way of improving balance, their walking speed and reduce the risk of falls as well.” On Art in Retirement – and Purpose & Meaning “Lots of people speak about losing their sense of purpose when they move out of that work environment and trying to figure out what their new purpose is. And arts engagement is a very effective way in so many trials now of increasing that sense of purpose. It’s a similar thing for cultivating a new sense of meaning. And there are lots of other aspects of our well-being, like a heightened life satisfaction, which is really important to people, particularly as they get older. And actually arts engagement is such a powerful way of helping to build all of those different aspects of our well-being.” On the Daily Arts Practice “If we’re looking at basically accumulating the health benefits of the arts over time, we need to have a really regular, sustainable arts practice. I recommend in the book that people try and figure out their equivalent of the kind of five-a-day vegetable rule that they could apply day to day. Could they set aside 15 or 20 minutes every day that they will reliably be able to commit to? But also, can they think about sort of simple ways that they could swap out activities in their lives to make that manageable?”    

If you’re in, or approaching, a life transition and think, “I should have this figured out by now,” this conversation is for you. Today, mindfulness teacher Monique Rhodes shares how to move through that sticky in‑between space of “no longer who you were, not yet who you’re becoming” without beating yourself up. You’ll hear why happiness is an inside job, how to work with your mind when life blindsides you, and practical ways to rediscover joy and purpose with mindfulness—especially in retirement and other big life changes. We also discuss how mindfulness can help Type A people (like me and perhaps you…). Monique Rhodes joins us from Costa Rica. _________________________ Bio Monique is an internationally acclaimed Happiness Strategist who teaches students and corporations around the world how to master their lives. She has spent the last 25 years studying the mind and its relationship to happiness and she believes that happiness is not merely an emotion but a daily habitual practice. Over 70 universities and colleges use her program The 10 Minute Mind®. Her 8-week online course, The Happiness Baseline, has a 100% success rate in raising the mental wellness for every student who has completed it. Monique hosts the daily In Your Right Mindpodcast, where she discusses how a series of small habits determine our well-being. She is also a singer, songwriter and producer born in New Zealand. She has toured the world performing and composing music bridging the worlds of contemporary music with modern spiritual teachers. Monique has produced two platinum selling albums in New Zealand, toured Europe twice with Chuck Berry and collaborated on music projects with some of the most well-known inspirational teachers in the world including the Dalai Lama. _________________________ For More on Monique Rhodes MoniqueRhodes.com ________________________ Podcast Conversations You May Like Retire Happy – Dr. Catherine Sanderson The New Happy – Stephanie Harrison What Matters Most – Diane Button _________________________ Planning for retirement? Chexck out our summaries of the Best Books on Retirement _________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. __________________________ Wise Quotes On Getting Unstuck “So, one of the things that I see with my students is that the place that people get stuck most often is actually that we’re resisting what is. And so let’s say you make some New Year’s resolutions or you’re in the middle of a transition like retirement and you’re in the middle of that change and you think to yourself,  this shouldn’t be so hard and I should have figured this out by now. But what those thoughts do is they actually only tighten that knot. So if we’re looking at getting unstuck, you know, the way that I teach is we have to have this willingness to soften, to stop pushing, to actually sit with what’s here, even if it’s uncomfortable. And from what I’ve learned and what I’ve seen, this is really the ground of transformation. Because when we allow ourselves, Joe, just to be exactly where we are with all the uncertainty, with all the doubt, with all the longing, then we begin to loosen the grip on all the old habitual ways of being. And our heart opens. And in that openness, something new can emerge. So I invite you all to not push through, but just to rest in that middle place and let the aspiration be there, but also let the discomfort be there. And let yourself almost be held by this knowing that the moment that you’re in right now is actually part of the path.” On Mindfulness…for Type As “And this energy is very, very powerful, but it can also become a kind of armor and it can protect Type A people from seeing themselves, from vulnerability, from uncertainty. So, if I was talking to a Tai A personality who was a skeptic, I would first of all say it is mindfulness is amazing for Type A personalities. And what if you didn’t need to fix anything right now? What if there was nothing to improve, but just something to notice? Because at the heart of mindfulness, we’re not looking to change our nature or our personality. What we’re doing is we’re inviting you to become more intimate with yourself, to sit beside that aspect of yourself that strives and maybe ask, what am I afraid of and what am I avoiding? Because often as a Type A personality, what we’re avoiding is the discomfort of being with ourselves as we are. But if we can soften that resistance, even for a breath, even for 10 minutes a day, I tell you, something extraordinary happens. And we begin to feel so much more alive, more connected to ourselves. The endless, amazing results of meditation, our relationships change. We just deal with everything differently. We become more whole. So it’s really good for us to understand, which is why mindfulness is used in so many, you know, big companies around the world, is that mindfulness isn’t an enemy of ambition. It’s really a way to return to the ground beneath your striving, to be able to see that ground clearly, to feel deeply, to live more fully, which is why I totally believe it’s a superpower.” On Why Happiness is an Inside Job “The biggest misconception that I know is that people believe that happiness comes from outside of themselves. And that is such a mic drop moment to understand that happiness doesn’t. Happiness is an internal job. And the wonderful thing about that is it means that we’re in control of it. It means that if you want to be happier, you don’t have to be rich. You don’t have to be powerful. You don’t have to be the most beautiful person in the world. I remember some years ago going to Las Vegas to hear Lady Gaga sing. And she was doing these kind of acoustic jazz Tony Bennett style concerts. It were really incredible. She was getting paid a million dollars a gig, Joe, and it was extraordinary. Here she is. She’s super wealthy. She’s beautiful. She’s successful. She’s powerful. And it was shocking for her to talk about how incredibly unhappy she is. So I think that’s one of the biggest things we need to understand is that all the things that we’re sold to believe will make us happy actually don’t. Because if they did, we would be able to look around the world to so many of the people that have all of them. And we can wonder why they’re not happy. So when we begin to understand that happiness is an inside job, then we actually have the incredible power to take control of it. So I think that that is probably the biggest misconception, but also the most powerful thing about it. And so that means that we need to learn to work with the thing that drives our happiness and our suffering, which is our mind. And if we can learn to work with our mind, then we can change our whole experience of the world.”

Last call… Design Your New Life in Retirement New Groups start on Thursday 1/22 & Friday 1/23. Join us…and design your next chapter. Learn more and sign up here _________________________ Bio For decades, Anna Rappaport has studied how people actually transition out of full-time work—not in theory, but in real life. And what she’s learned may challenge how you’re thinking about retirement. Anna Rappaport hasn’t just studied retirement—she’s been living a phased retirement for three decades and is still going strong at 85. As a former Society of Actuaries President and one of the profession’s most published and respected retirement experts, she has insights you’ll want to hear. So, today, we’re focusing on phased retirement, but not as an HR policy. We’re talking about it as a life strategy—one that blends purpose, flexibility, and relationships. Anna introduces a powerful framework she calls the Life Portfolio—Health, People, Pursuits, and Places—and explains why money alone is never enough for a fulfilling next chapter. If you’re wondering Who will I be when I retire?, this conversation is for you. Anna Rappaport joins us from Chicago. ________________________ Bio Anna Rappaport is the founder and president of Anna Rappaport Consulting. Anna is an actuary, consultant, author, and speaker, and is a nationally and internationally recognized expert on the impact of change on retirement systems and workforce issues. She is a phased retiree and is passionate about women’s retirement security. Anna is a past-President of the Society of Actuaries and chairs its Committee on Post-Retirement Needs and Risks and its Aging and Retirement Research Initiative Steering Committee. Anna spent 28 years with Mercer as an employee benefit consultant, before she founded her own firm, Anna Rappaport Consulting, after leaving Mercer. _________________________ For More on Anna Rappaport LinkedIn A Conversation With Anna Rappaport & Steve Siegel: Solo-Agers Disconnect Thinking About the Future of Retirement _________________________ Podcast Conversations You May Like Retiring: Creating a Life That Works for You – Teresa Amabile The Portfolio Life – Christina Wallace Is Your Company Ready for the Aging Workforce? – Paul Rupert _________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. __________________________ Wise Quotes On The Portfolio You’re Ignoring “The Life Portfolio assumes that the individual has enough money. So this is on top of money—it’s not instead of money. That’s really important. The four quadrants are: Health, Pursuits, People, and Places. If you’re not in good health, nothing else matters. But pursuits—the things that give you a sense of purpose in your life—that’s critically important. And here’s the key: you need a portfolio of them, not just one or two. Because you can always lose one or two. If your pursuit is playing tennis, you might not be able to play tennis anymore. If it’s work, it might disappear. So people should try to do a few things, see what they like, zero in on it, but not be limited to one thing.” On The Reboot, Rewire, Retire Concept “Rather than saying ‘Okay, I’m done with work, I’m going to play golf all the time,’ Reboot is thinking about this life portfolio. What can I do that brings value to my life? We went around the table asking what people were most concerned about regarding retirement. The biggest issue wasn’t money, wasn’t health, wasn’t caregiving—it was ‘who am I going to be when I’m not who I was anymore?’ That was a real wake-up. Rewire is getting ready—building new skills, keeping up your contacts, maintaining your skills. Those are critical things.” On Preparing for Phased Retirement “The preparation you should do is not when you’re ready for phased retirement—it should be way before that. Think about career planning where you’re always focusing on how you’re creating value. You need to have ways of creating value. If you have a good relationship with your employer, you can work something out. I was probably the most published and well-known retirement person in my firm at Mercer. You need credibility. Learn to use their words, not ours—if I’m talking actuarialese to my client, they’re like ‘what?’ But if I’ve translated that to their language, it’s a lot better.” On Identifying Where You Add Value “I think the big benefit for employees is that they have much more satisfying lives. There are also a lot of people who they get near what like the traditional retirement ages and they want to spend more time with their grandchildren. They want to take more vacations. They want to pursue a hobby, but they don’t just want to say, my work life is over. And it gives them a variety of options. So I think there’s a lot of benefit. It’s really a way of this gradually changing pursuits. And it may involve money and it might not involve making more money. But it does involve value. Now there can be, and we had a Society of Actuaries essay on employees and both, we’ve discussed the value a number of times. We’ve also discussed the routes to phased retirement because it’s not an easy deal that just automatically happens. Not usually. For employers, it’s a different thing. Depending on the kind of employer and the kind of job that people have, it lets them keep value that people have contributed. And what I want to say is that if we look at employees, and of course it varies by type of employment, there’s firm-specific human capital and there’s general human capital. And for example, if you were a currency trader, you could probably move into one job to another in two minutes. But Joe, you were a human resource director, and you had years and years of history, a lot of firm-specific human capital. What we have not done a good job of, and this is a speech I’ve been making for 25 years, probably maybe 30, is identifying what are the things that you contribute, that you really contribute value. It might be that 10% or 20% of your job, you’re doing something where you’re contributing a lot of value. And what I think is really important is for the employee to figure out how they can contribute a lot of value and the employer to figure out, and for them to reach a meeting of the minds.”

Don’t just retire. Design. Join us in our group program. Two new groups starting on January 22 & 23. Don’t put off planning for your life in retirement. Take the first step today. _________________________ What does it truly mean to age well in a world where longevity is increasing, but health spans vary wildly? In this episode, we meet with Dr. Arnold Gilberg, author of The Myth of Aging: A Prescription for Emotional and Physical Well-Being. Dr. Gilberg challenges the traditional definition of retirement, arguing that total withdrawal from professional life can lead to loneliness and decline. Instead, he advocates for “semi-retirement” and finding new ways to stay needed, including his own journey of entering rabbinic training. Tune in to hear his wisdom on adapting your physical fitness as your body changes, the power of self-forgiveness, and why exercising your brain is just as critical as exercising your body. Dr. Arnold Gilberg joins us from Los Angeles. __________________________ Bio Arnold L. Gilberg, MD, PhD, received his bachelor’s degree in political science and Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Illinois. He interned at the Los Angeles General Medical Center. He is the last person alive trained by Franz Alexander, MD, a distinguished colleague of Sigmund Freud. His psychiatric training took place at the  Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was chief psychiatric resident. He also has a doctorate in psychoanalysis from the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute. Dr. Gilberg is a distinguished life fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the former clinical chief of psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and an associate clinical professor at UCLA School of Medicine (honorary). He served for ten years under three different governors on the Medical Board of California for LA County, and has treated thousands of patients in his Los Angeles-based practice. Today he lives with his wife in LA, where he continues to see patients on a regular basis. ___________________________ For More on Dr. Arnold Gilberg The Myth of Aging: A Prescription for Emotional and Physical Well-Being At 89, he’s heard six decades of L.A.’s secrets and is ready to talk about what he’s learned ___________________________ Podcast Episodes You May Like Shift – Ethan Kross Make Your Next Years Your Best Years – Harry Agress, MD The Good Life – Marc Schulz, PhD ____________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. __________________________ Wise Quotes On Retirement “Retirement is very loosely defined. And for some people, retirement is going from working six days a week to working four days a week. And people think, oh boy, I’m really retired. I’m working less. And especially if you like your job. And I think people who really like their work and what they’re doing should seriously consider whether retirement, total retirement, is something they want to do. Because for most professions or work, people don’t have to completely retire. They can semi-retire and work two or three days a week if that potential is given to them. Take, for example, myself. I don’t feel like really completely retiring. I’m proud of the fact that I’m 89 years old, and I still work a couple of days a week seeing patients because I like what I do. It makes me feel needed. And the hospital that I attend at tells me I can’t retire. Well, let’s talk about myself. I think my working allows me to remain involved, sing patients, sing other professionals, engaged in some teaching. And we know that people struggle with loneliness. And I do address that in my book The Myth of Aging. There’s a recent study that came out that in the United States today, one out of three people are lonely, which leads to depression, leads to anxiety, leads to psychiatric problems, leads to suicide, leads to drug abuse, and a variety of other condition. So the idea that a person remains engaged in their profession in some way is very critical, and people need to seriously take a look at their retirement, or if they are going to retire, what they might do following their retirement.” On Adapting “We all continue to adapt. And I think recognizing that is important. And also not beating up on yourself about these adaptations that take place. People don’t forgive themselves and people are always ready to jump on themselves. And we need to understand that this type of adaptation is very, very important and to accept it and be grateful for it. I enjoyed running marathons, Los Angeles primarily, and it’s nice for me to hold on to the memory, but I’m not really there anymore. I’m in a different place. I’m happy that I can go to our gym and exercise for 25 or 30 minutes, you know, and come up fatigued. And I feel good about that. And my wife feels similarly. We’re both at that place and we enjoy the fact that we can at least do this.” On Doing Something New “Well, for most people, I think trying to find something new to do, especially after you’re retired, is very critical for cognitive brain functioning because it keeps your mind at work. And we know today, neurologically, that people need to exercise their brain just as they exercise the rest of their body. So people who retire and find something new to do are helping themselves. I must say there is a small segment of the population who enjoy being retired, moving to a cabin in Northern California or Montana, and being very satisfied in that life situation. But for most of us, that doesn’t work. And so for me, I’ve always had an attachment to faith and spirituality, which I think ultimately provides people with a sense of community.”

Are you graduating from the grind in 2026? You could go it alone and wing it. But here’s what one participant said about our small group coaching program: “It was fantastic! I got to work with other people and share ideas with others on what retirement could be. It gave me clarity and confidence.” New groups are starting on January 22 & 23. Let’s go. Learn more Join us “Challenged me to get out of the starting blocks and far down the path of really thinking about this next phase of my life in very different ways. I now feel like I have a solid road map.” “I wish I’d taken this program earlier.” _____________________________ What if everything you’ve planned for financially in retirement still leaves you feeling completely lost? Today’s guest knows this paradox intimately. Dan Haylett built his career as a financial planner, helping people achieve financial independence. But what he discovered shocked him: when money stops being the problem in retirement, and that’s when the real problems show up. Dan is a retirement transition specialist helping people navigate the psychological side of retirement that no financial plan can solve. He’s learned that people plan meticulously for financial independence but rarely prepare for psychological independence. The result? Three devastating losses hit early: loss of structure, loss of relevance, and loss of identity. In this conversation, Dan shares his framework for retirement well-being built on five human pillars that have nothing to do with your bank account. He challenges what you think you know about retirement as a “reward” and shows you why the most successful retirements aren’t built on bucket lists and endless travel, but on something far simpler and more profound. If you’ve ever wondered who you are when no one needs your output anymore, this episode will change how you see the next chapter of your life. Dan Haylett joins us from the UK. ______________________ Bio Dan Haylett, who’s the author of The Retirement You Didn’t See Coming: a guide to the human side of retirement nobody warns you about. Dan is a financial planner and head of growth for TFP Financial Planning based in the UK. Dan focuses on financial planning, retirement planning, and life planning for people 50+. He also hosts a podcast called Humans vs. Retirement on the behavioral aspects of retirement. Prior to joining TFP, Dan held a number of positions in asset management. ______________________ For More on Dan Haylett The Retirement You Didn’t See Coming TFP Financial Planning Humans vs Retirement ______________________ Podcast Conversations You May Like How to Prepare Mentally for Life After Work – Joseph Maugeri Retiring: Creating a Life That Works for You – Teresa Amabile What Are The Keys To A Successful Retirement? Fritz Gilbert ______________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. ___________________________ Wise Quotes On Structure in Retirement “So the biggest surprise for me is this. Money stops being the problem. And that’s when the real problems show up, right? So I think that’s kind of the biggest surprise for me. People expect relief. Instead, they probably feel quite disorientated. They’ve planned for financial independence, but not necessarily psychological independence. And so I think the three big shocks or surprises, I think, tend to hit quite early. You get this loss of structure. So there’s kind of no diary or no default rhythm. People get this loss of relevance. Nobody needs you at 9 a.m. anymore. And this loss of identity that job title that once explained you to the world has quietly disappeared. So I think that to me is probably the three big,money stops being the problem. And then the real problems of loss, particularly structure, relevance and identity, really start to take hold. I think one of the things that I really want to reframe when it comes to structure, structure doesn’t disappear in retirement. I think it just stops being imposed on us. For decades, work has  spoon-fed you your structure to a degree, right? Work gave us a reason to get up, a place to be, people to see, and problems to solve. And I think if you remove that overnight, your brain will just panic. And I think the mistake that people try to make, or sorry, the mistake people make is trying to recreate work this kind of same hours, same busyness, just without the meaning. And instead, what I encourage people to do is to build what I would describe as kind of light scaffolding, I suppose, something like that, not rigid schedules, just kind of what I would describe as anchors.” On Identity “The question is, who are you when no one needs your output? Let that breathe for a second. Who are you when no one needs your output? And then you start widening identity whilst you’re still working, right? Develop interests that don’t pay you. Spend time with people who don’t care what you do. And I think really importantly, notice what gives you energy outside of kind of performance and status. Because I do think if your entire sense of self is wrapped up in your role in your job, retirement will feel less like freedom and kind of more like redundancy, right? It’s that kind of instant, you’ve lost this thing and you didn’t want to lose it. So I do think it’s a massive challenge because it’s been, you know, our identity that we’ve had has given us so much, has given us status, has given us structure, it’s given us a sense of self-worth. It’s given us many things that provide us with joy and happiness. And, you know, for the first time, we’re free probably to explore with a really decent chunk of wisdom who we actually are as a person. I think the first question you ask is, what’s your name? Hopefully, if you want to kind of start building a bit of a rapport and bond with someone. And maybe the second question is, what do you do? And as we’ve just explored, you would typically answer that question with, I am a ___________. Or on a lot of occasions, someone still gives you a business card or now modern day, it’s like a QR code, right? That kind of gives you a little thing. But, if you give a business card and on that business card, it will have your name. And underneath your name, it will have your job title. It’s kind of, here you are. This is what I do. This is who I am. And my challenge I do to people, I say, well, if you didn’t have a business card, what would you give out or what would you say? And actually, let’s create a business card. Let’s think about what your business card would say. And you can be creative, you can be funny, you can be jovial, you can be serious, you can be whatever you want. But what if your business card said free to explore or, you know, just make up something creative? I’ve got a client who on his business card wrote, trying to play the top 100 golf courses in England before I die, right? That kind of thing. It’s kind of like, that was one of his missions. And you can have multiple business cards, multiple things that you want. So it’s just trying to kind of frame this thing where I think people will, because what I do see, Joe, which I think is actually quite sad, is when people hang on to past identities.”

Michael Long, author of Taming the Molecule of More and co-author of The Molecule of More,  joins us to discuss the science of dopamine, why we’re constantly chasing “more,” and how understanding brain chemistry can transform our approach to retirement and finding meaning. Michael Long joins us from the Washington, DC area. _______________________ Bio Michael Long is a physicist, writer, and co-author of the international bestseller The Molecule of More (translated into 25 languages, 500,000+ copies sold) and the author of Taming the Molecule of More. As a playwright, more than 20 of his shows have been produced, most on New York stages. As a screenwriter, his honors include finalist for the grand prize in screenwriting at the Slamdance Film Festival. As a speechwriter, Mr. Long has written for members of Congress, U.S. cabinet secretaries, governors, diplomats, business executives, and presidential candidates. A popular speaker and educator, Mr. Long has addressed audiences around the world, including in a keynote at Oxford University. He teaches writing at Georgetown University, where he is a former director of writing. Mr. Long pursued undergraduate studies at Murray State University and graduate studies at Vanderbilt University. _______________________ For More on Michael Long Taming the Molecule of More: A Step-by-Step Guide to Make Dopamine Work for You Website: tamingthemolecule.com Books: The Molecule of More and  Contact: Available through website for book club discussions ______________________ Podcast Conversations You May Like Edit Your Life – Elisabeth Sharp McKetta The Stress Paradox – Sharon Bergquist, MD The Science of Longevity – Coleen T. Murphy _______________________ Mentioned in This Podcast Conversation The Molecule of More by Daniel Leiberman and Michael Long _______________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how The Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one – on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who also helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a twenty-six-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Today, in addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, which thanks to his guests and loyal listeners, ranks in the top 1 % globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider has recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. _______________________ Wise Quotes On Dopamine as the “Molecule of More” “If you’re not familiar with dopamine, you hear it’s the molecule of happiness. It’s the thing that makes you happy. You get that dopamine buzz. And it turns out he’s a psychiatrist, of course. I’m a physicist. We’re both accustomed to analyzing systems, looking at things in a big picture. Dopamine is not about happiness. It’s nowhere near happiness. It is a promise-maker. It is a driver. It is a compound, a chemical in your brain, a neurotransmitter. And that’s what we mean. It’s just a chemical in your brain that drives you toward getting the next thing. And there are evolutionary reasons for this, of course. There are practical effects that happen. But until you understand that, there’s a lot of insights about life that you need. simply can’t quite get your arms around. And that’s what led to this, the molecule of more. We thought if we’re fortunate enough we can change the way people talk about dopamine and they no longer say molecule of happiness, they say molecule of more…We have to be wired for more in order to move through life in the first place. If we were just satisfied with the things around us, I’d never get up out of the chair, you know, and neither would you. We would be happy. But happiness isn’t what moves us forward. Challenge is what moves us forward.” On the Dopamine Buzz “So most things aren’t salient to getting through the day. They’re just wallpaper. But if something appears that is more salient than normal, we better pay attention. And that’s dopamine’s first job. It’s to check for something that is more salient as soon as it gets your attention, and it might be useful, then your brain goes, okay, we better investigate. And that’s that feeling you get. That’s the dopamine buzz for real that says I better go find out what this is because it could be if you’re a caveman Something to eat because I gotta kill and keep I gotta kill and eat in the same day You know or it could be something dangerous that I better avoid I better watch out for that and that worked pretty well for a long time but in the 21st century – Wow! That noise out there in the yard is probably the neighborhood fox running around. I don’t need to get worked up about every new possibility that comes around and yet the 21st century is built on nothing but and if you think about media especially, it’s about nothing. But can I get your attention with the slight promise of something better? That’s the whole point of the internet and and commerce on the internet. That’s the whole point of television commercials I hope one of advertising we’re surrounded by this constant dopamine opportunity and it can drive us mad.” On Neil Armstrong and the Moon Landing “Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and after he got back… someone asked him in an interview how did it feel… to be on the moon. And here’s what he said, word for word, it was something we did. Now we should do something else. You see that the power of this chemical in our brain, it doesn’t matter what you do. My friends, it’s not going to make you happy forever.” On Meaning “Aristotle said, if you want to find a satisfying life, and I can’t believe that this wonderful formula is so easy to articulate, make a list of the things that you like to do. Then make another list. What are the things that you do well? Now, which actions, which skills and activities appear on both lists? Now we have a constructive way to spend our time, okay? But that’s, as we say in physics, I’m not trained as a physicist, as we say, as mathematicians say, it’s necessary but insufficient. Okay, so here’s the other thing we need to do. We need to make a third list, and these are the things that Aristotle called virtues that we need to think about matter to us. And when I talk about virtue, I’m not talking about being good. I’m talking about things like love, truth, liberty, knowledge and its pursuit, grace toward others in the form of forgiveness, kindness. Now, we have a list of things that we love to do that we’re good at, and we have a list of virtues that matter to us. Pick out the two or three that matter most to you. What of those activities advance the virtues that mean something to you? And these are the things that we should do. Now, again, another caveat. If you’re thinking that virtues are all about big ideas that change the world, erase that.”

Are you ready to graduate from the grind in 2026? Then here’s your most important project: Future You. Join our small group coaching program and design your new life after work. Learn more “Eye opening and provocative.” “Challenged me to get out of the starting blocks and far down the path of really thinking about this next phase of my life in very different ways. I now feel like I have a solid road map.” “I wish I’d taken this program earlier.” __________________________ Start the new year right with new habits. FREE 3 session program – 3 Fridays in January at Noon Eastern January 2, 9 and 16 Sign up here ____________________________ Thank you for joining us and listening this year. This special year-end Best Of episode is a collection of valuable insights from our recent guests. If you missed Part One, you can find it here ____________________________ Listen in to full conversations: Harry Agress Kerry Burnight Nathalie Martin Ken Stern Joseph Magueri Christine Platt Michael Long Carl Landau Francine Toder Diane Button ________________________ You May Also Like The Very Best of 2024 – Retirement Wisdom Best of 2023 – Part Three _________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.6 million downloads. Business Insider recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy.