What challenges could derail men’s retirements?  Journalist and associate professor Dawn Fallik joins us to discuss what she learned in the research for her article in Kiplinger Why So Many Men are Bad at Retirement. And we explore what men can learn from women that may save men’s retirements.

Dawn Fallik joins us from Philadelphia.

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Bio

Dawn Fallik is an award-winning reporter specializing in database analysis, feature writing and medical coverage.

She has 20 years of daily reporting experience at for The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She spent a month in India covering the tsunami, investigated medical errors and went to the prom at age 26. This year she was nominated and served on the 2022 Pulitzer Prize jury.

Although she left full-time reporting for full-time teaching, Fallik continues to cover medical issues for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, AARP Magazine and Neurology Today. She has worked on the multimedia desks at the Wall Street Journal and The Philadelphia Inquirer. She spent six years writing for The Wall Street Journal’s medical desk, and live blogged two Olympics and multiple television shows for the WSJ’s culture site SpeakEasy. She’s interviewed Tim Gunn, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Judy Blume. She has witnessed executions, investigated abusive priests and covered rent-a-cow companies. But she believes there’s nothing more fun than a good weather story.

In September 2007, she started as a full-time assistant professor at The University of Delaware. She took over as journalism director in 2009 and eventually grew the minor to 250 students.

From 2012-2015 she served on the Board of Directors for the DART Society, which works with journalists who cover trauma and violence.

Since the age of 18, Dawn has lived in 12 cities, eight states and two countries.

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For More on Dawn Fallik

Website

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Mentioned in This Podcast Episode

Men’s Sheds

What to do about lonely older men? Put them to work.  The Washington Post

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Podcast Episodes You May Like

Independence Day – Steve Lopez

Retire Happy – Dr. Catherine Sanderson

Why Retirement is About Much More Than Money – Ted Kaufman & Bruce Hiland

If You Love Your Work, Will You Hate Retirement? – Michelle Pannor Silver

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Wise Quotes

On What You’re Retiring To

“So I think that, that for men in particular, thinking about just even planting that seed earlier, and starting to think about retirement in a positive way, would be a big change and gets you into that positive path of mind. That sounds very woo, but if you think about retirement as a positive thing and not about how much you’re going to miss work, that’s going to be a big change. And I think a lot of people when they plan for retirement, they’re just thinking about the money aspect, like I have to put so much away. And that’s sort of such a distant future thing. It’s not really a personal plan where you’re not just saying I’m going to travel, but I always wanted to go to Greece, and start like having concrete plans that you want to put in place, so that when you do retire, you’re already making plans for the future. You’ve already got things in place that you can look forward to.”

On What Men Can Learn From Women

“…something like 50% of men over 60 described themselves as lonely. They’re so tied to work, that’s where their social connections are. So how do you start establishing life outside of work before you’re done with work? Maybe that’s joining a bowling league, or if you’re part of a church or a synagogue, becoming more involved with those activities. You start making those outside connections beforehand. I’ve worked many places now, and I still have friends from almost every place that I have worked. Because, and they’re almost all female friends, we make the effort to continue to reach out and say Hey what are you up to, whether it’s on Facebook or in real life here in Philadelphia. And then the other thing that I’ve found that has been really important is that if somebody reaches out to you and they invite you to do something and you can’t do it, or you’re just not interested in that activity, use the No, but. I can’t go to your daughter’s ballet recital. But how about next week we go grab whatever. You’re showing that person that you are interested in moving that friendship forward so that the effort isn’t all on one side. And that isn’t an issue just for people in retirement, that’s across the board right now. It’s figuring out how to create those social connections and keep them going. And it does require effort from both sides. The other thing that was the main obstacle was that, also a little surprising from my end, just because I hadn’t thought about it, is that it’s a joke that men don’t go to the doctor. But that has real consequences. Women grow up and we go to the doctor every year. We go to the gynecologist every year starting very young. And so we establish that routine, that check-in.”

On Diversification

“The other thing that I found, and this came out of a different story, was thinking about activities that you can do s if you’re retired. Could you be an adjunct professor, so that you are sharing your knowledge with younger generations? It keeps you involved and also keeps you connected with a younger community. Look at groups like Meetup. You’ll see Meetup has a number of different activities, not just for men, but for people over 50. There’s a group by me that goes out salsa dancing, and it’s men and women over the age of 50. So just find different ways that you can try something new. And you know what, if you try it once and it’s not for you? That’s fine. But that way you have different opportunities. And then think about where could you volunteer? What is a cause you’re passionate about? Maybe it’s a political group. Maybe it’s pet rescue. There’s a lot of animal rescue groups. Maybe it’s something like Habitat for Humanity where you’re going and maybe you have those skills. Maybe you always wanted to learn how to tile a bathroom. But again, you have a sense of purpose. You’re helping somebody else, and then again, you’re being with those same people on a regular basis.”

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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.

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