John spoke of a lot of things, but his main focus was the idea that we need to establish office hours for ourselves in retirement. What he meant by that is that we need to have time to tune into the things going on in our lives – the taxes, the groceries, what’s going to be for dinner, what should we do this weekend, etc – but we also need to have time to tune OUT those things and the other “static” in our heads and just do nothing.         I agree with this idea completely! The majority of people I know have a LOT of things going on in their lives, so many different parts that all need attention from us. It’s really important to take the time to tune it all out for awhile and just relax. From the time we get up till the moment our head hits the pillow at night, most of us have so many thoughts running through our head that we have trouble keeping them all straight. As we age, people laugh about “senior moments” and about our memory being the first thing to go. It’s no wonder our memory fails us sometimes; we’re always trying to remember so many things. That’s why I’m a big proponent of making lists. It frees up that valuable space in your brain for other things that are more important than whatever is going on the list. We don’t have to have lists in our head when they can be on paper or on our phone.         The idea of establishing office hours is a wise one. We can set aside time that is specifically for us – no uninvited guests, no clients without appointments, no urgent activities. It’s time that we can do nothing. Whether you choose to “do nothing” by meditating, by walking alone along a quiet road or in a forest, or by simply sitting silently in your favourite chair, staring out the window, is up to you. The point is to be silent and do nothing. No scrolling through your phone, surfing the web, no reading a book, no conversation. Just you, alone with yourself. It doesn’t have to be a long time; even 30 min a day would be enough. I imagine a few of you are cringing at the idea of spending quiet time, without electronics, just “being still.”         But, as John said, we’ve all got a creative, magical part inside us that has hopes and dreams. Many of us push those hopes and dreams aside as we get involved in our lives. But that part of us doesn’t really sleep, so if you give yourself time to get in touch with it, you can pull out some of the hopes and dreams that you stuffed down for so long. You can remember the things that excited you, the things that spurred you on when you were younger.         An interesting point that John made was that we are the only creature on Earth that can dream and then wake up and bring those dreams to reality. And it’s a shame that so many of us don’t take the time to really get in touch with those dreams and pull them out to make them real.         Many people I’ve talked to over the course of this podcast and as I journey toward retirement have said that they want to give back, to help others the best way they can. This is wonderful; I believe that deep down everyone has the same purpose – to help others live a great life. And I think many of us forget that purpose, or maybe haven’t realized yet that this is truly what they want. I’m not saying everyone wants to be a coach or a missionary or build homes for underprivileged people. What I mean is that whatever we’re doing, once we get past the superficial reasons that we do what we do (which, by the way, is generally to make money to survive, and then to make more money to live the life we think we want) we’re really doing it to make someone’s life better. The doctors and dentists and other healthcare people do this in an obvious way, but the plumber makes lives better by fixing leaks and installing toilets. The farmer makes lives...

Beyond Retirement

Let's Chat about John's Ideas

John Lefebvre is a retired lawyer, an author, a musician, an environmental and social activist, and a philanthropist. He made it big in the dot-com era, only to find himself arrested and charged with various illegal activities stemming from that business. He's now got a lot of time to think about the responsibility of the people in the world who are privileged to ensure that those same privileges are available to the rest of the Earth's population. He believes that we should strive every day to ensure we move toward the day when everyone can enjoy what we (as the privileged) take for granted. In terms of preparing for and living BEYOND retirement, his wise advice is to ensure we find time for leisure. It's important to establish "office hours" for the things going on in our heads and in the world around us, to ensure that they don't overwhelm us. John has written a couple of books, both of which are available from Amazon and other book retailers. All's Well - Where Thou Art Earth and Why; and Good With Money - A Rich Guy's Guide To Gaining Everything By Losing It All﻿

Is Today the Day?

Everyone wants to have a "great life", it's true, but how many of us really know how to achieve it? It's a matter of deciding what you want and believing you're going to get it.

Let's Chat about Lisa's Ideas

Lisa Winneke is a speaker, an author, and a connector. She is the host of The Good News Guide, which is transitioning into The Wholehearted Woman. She believes that many people, women in particular, are choosing to settle for less than they can achieve in their lives. Lisa's message is simple at its core, but oh-so-difficult for many people to grasp and follow: Your goal should be to make your life extraordinary. This can be accomplished through clarity about where you are and what your values are. To get that clarity, you must do the following: Acknowledge if you're settling for "okay" or "mediocre" Honour where you are Ask yourself what areas are not currently soaring Then you have to change those areas, relationships, health, whatever they are. Are you living your values, or are you saying "yes" to things that aren't true to you? Please look Lisa up! You can find out more about her and what she's doing here: http://www.lisawinneke.com/ (www.lisawinneke.com) Youtube - https://tinyurl.com/thegoodnewsguide (https://tinyurl.com/thegoodnewsguide) Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn: @lisawinneke

How to Make Your Life Soar

The important idea in today's episode is that you are "enough" and what you hope for and dream for in your life is valid and true... regardless of who you are or what you already have. Getting out and doing something - ANYthing - after you retire is important... to your mental and physical health. WHAT you do isn't as important, so do whatever you want.

Let's Chat about Julie's Ideas

Julie is a life coach who thrives on helping mature women prioritize their needs and gain confidence so they can stop worrying about “being enough” and start living life. She’s a self-proclaimed “feel-good junkie,” and she has personally experienced decades of struggling with people-pleasing, over-giving and low self-esteem. She has learned to accept, trust and love herself, and she’s helped hundreds of other women do the same. She shares her belief that it's possible to be happy & healthy and active until the day you die; strength and balance don't deteriorate with age, but rather with lack of use. She also shares with us three ways to start prioritizing yourself: Stop beating yourself up over every little mistake Stop comparing yourself to others Stop ignoring how you feel One of the biggest problems for many people is overcoming the idea that they "shouldn't want more" because they have so much already. Julie explains how this thinking is flawed; we can appreciate what we have and still strive for more. The best way to reach out to Julie is through her Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/theconfidentwomenscommunity (The Confident Women's Community), or on her website, https://www.itsabouttimebaby.com/ (It's About Time Baby)

You Are Enough!

Making the tough decisions in one's life is what makes life worthwhile - anybody can float along following their whims! It takes some courage and spunk to do the "right thing" and stand up for your own beliefs when others think you're wrong.

Let's Chat about Eddie's Ideas

Jesus "Eddie" Campa was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. After 27 years of law enforcement experience, Eddie retired from public service and transitioned his experience and expertise to the private sector as a mentor, consultant, and sounding board. He is an internationally and nationally accredited speaker on leadership development, strategic planning, culture change, culture diversity, customer service, community engagement, law enforcement, and security. Eddie is using his experience and skill in a variety of services/programs to help leaders carry out their activities properly - which means sometimes doing the hard stuff. His recent book, https://amzn.to/3hU7GDc (Unmasking Leadership - What They Don't Tell You), covers exactly that - the pieces of being a leader that aren't always easy - like sometimes you have to make unpopular decisions because they're the "right thing to do". His example is the adage "the customer is always right... until he isn't". In his interview, Eddie gives some great advice to people heading toward retirement. He reminds us that we should plan ahead of time and ensure we have a transition period, and maybe a "transition identity", because we're going to be leaving one identity behind. You can learn more about Eddie and his programs on the following sites: https://Jesuseddiecampa.com (Jesuseddiecampa.com) https://Leadingthroughadversity.com (Leadingthroughadversity.com) https://Teamcampa.com (Teamcampa.com)

Teaching Leaders the Hard Stuff

In this episode, Jacquie delves into the ideas that Matt Franklin brought up about planning for retirement - having a business plan, taking a practice run at retirement while you can still make some adjustments, and generally getting your ducks in a row.

Let's Chat about Matt's Ideas

Matt Franklin is a marketing professional, a video producer, and a serial entrepreneur. Producing corporate sales/training/marketing videos is his bread and butter, and he has been fortunate to work all over the world with smart people and great companies. Matt has invented and co-invented multiple products, including PostureNOW, which earned a Shark Tank appearance and has become a multi-million-dollar selling product. He's been studying retirement for a while now and has come to the resounding conclusion that entrepreneurs simply do not think about retirement at all. They seem to have some misguided belief that their business is either going to carry them through retirement or they're going to be able to sell it and the profit from that sale will tide them over. He started his own podcast, The Rogue Retirement Lounge, so he could change that point of view. His show is a retirement planning show specifically for entrepreneurs and self-employed people. He's a firm believer in having a side hustle, to help you along before retirement, but also to help you out afterward. You never know when you might need some extra cash. He's developed a business plan for retirement that includes three phases: Action Years - you're able to travel, physical ability is high Settling Down Years - age is taking its toll, maybe your hobbies are closer to home now, easier on the body Dependent Years - have to look seriously at long-term care, in-home assistance, family longevity Check Matt out at http://rogueretirementlounge.com/ (rogueretirementlounge.com)

Have You Planned Your PRE-tirement Yet?

Something that Carol mentioned in the interview last week was about the Law of Attraction. This is something that I never used to put a lot of stock in – the idea that “what you think about, you bring about”. It was a bit too “woo-woo” for me originally. Of course, I’ve seen the movie The Secret, and read a lot about the idea. And depending on who you follow, there are between 3 and 7 sub-laws to the law of attraction. The general idea behind the law of attraction is that it helps you manifest your desires and use those desires to your advantage. Basically, it means that our thoughts, feelings and beliefs play a big part in what happens in our lives. And by being aware of this, we can influence our thoughts and attract what we want. Broken down simply, the Law of Attraction says that “Like Attracts Like”... meaning that what you’re concentrating on is what you tend to see and experience. It doesn’t matter if what you’re concentrating on is good or bad, it just tends to show up more forcefully in your life. For example, when you’re having a bad day at work, you might slam a drawer shut...and catch your finger in it. Then you get angry because that hurt and you jerk your hand free and accidentally knock over your coffee mug and cover yourself in coffee. You don’t have time to clean up before your meeting, resulting in your being uncomfortable doing a presentation and not doing as good a job as you would generally. You know you’ve messed it up and you go home feeling frustrated, recounting to yourself all the things that have “gone wrong” for you today. As you pull into the driveway, your child’s tricycle is in the way so you can’t park properly. You grab the trike and toss it aside, bending the handlebars. Now your child is crying and your spouse is upset with you for getting angry at what seems like a minor situation. Your conclusion? “Nothing ever goes right in my life!”         You’re probably wondering what this has to do with life beyond retirement... bear with me. I think I can pull it all together in a little bit.         Another idea stemming from the Law of Attraction is that “Nature Abhors a Vacuum”. This is most easily demonstrated by the phenomenon I’ll call “the clean flat surface” – I’m sure you’re familiar with it, although it’s a very elusive state. It doesn’t matter where it is in your house, as soon as you clean off some flat surface, “stuff” finds its way to it and the surface is once again cluttered with debris. It could be today’s mail – for those of you who still get snail mail, or maybe car keys and a wallet, but most often it tends to be just junk – things that don’t really have a home elsewhere (and probably belong in the garbage, but you can’t bring yourself to throw them out yet). I know personally I’ve given up on trying to keep the flat surfaces in our home empty. It’s just not worth the effort!         The final piece of the pie that is the Law of Attraction is the concept that the Present is Always Perfect. This one is harder to grasp, for some people. The basic premise is that if you focus on how to make your “present” better, it will improve. And to draw all three of these concepts together, this is the one to start with. As you focus on improving one thing in your current situation, you start to see similar improvements in other aspects of your day (Like Attracts Like) and as the improvements start to clear out the negative parts, there is room for more good (Nature Abhors a Vacuum) and finally these improvements meld together to make your situation better (Present is Always Perfect).         So, let’s look at this from the retirement and beyond point of view. You’re done with the 9-5 world and you’re wondering what’s going to come next. Maybe you’re a little bored because you don’t have the social interaction of the office...

Let's Chat about Carol-Chantal's Ideas

In July 2012, Carol founded WoW – World of Women – in the greater Montreal, Quebec, area, to help women work towards a better and stronger future both for themselves. WOW has expanded through Quebec and Ontario since then, now including Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Rive-Sud and Gatineau, and early in 2021 to Western Canada. Carol understands the difficulties, as well as the pleasures, of running a business and is eager to share her experiences with other women. She believes in commerce, philanthropy and helping other women find their own path to success. By providing women with the right tools and information, Carol is certain they will find success through informed decisions about their future endeavours. WoW – World of Women encourages new business owners or those thinking of starting a business to reach out to the WoW community to connect with other likeminded women. By working together, we can make a tremendous difference in the success of any business. Carol can be reached on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1380019705661850 (WOW World of Women Social Network) Please check out the WoW website for more information:  http://wow-world-of-women.com/product/wow-ambassador-canada/ (http://wow-world-of-women.com/product/wow-ambassador-canada/)

Put A Little WoW in Your Life!

Hi everyone, and welcome to episode 137 of Beyond Retirement. Thanks for taking the time to hang out with me today! If you recall, I spoke with Eric Brotman last week and he talked about how life can be compared to an undergraduate program, with activities to be carried out in your freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years of life in preparation for retirement. And he calls it graduation, not retirement, for a very good reason. If you haven’t listened to Eric’s interview yet, I recommend that you go back and listen to it now, then return to listen to this show. I know – I say that every week. But it’s true! I think my short little unpacking episodes, chatting about the ideas of the interviewee from the week before, hold way more value for you if you’ve listened to the episode that it’s based on before hearing me babble about what I thought of the topic. But it’s entirely up to you, of course – you’re the listener and the way you listen is all about you.         So, as I mentioned, Eric says we shouldn’t be “retiring”, but rather “graduating” after we finish off all the prerequisite activities as we go through our life. One reason he gives for not using the term RETIRE is that the British English definition of “to retire” means to go to bed... and that’s hardly what we’re going to be doing when we finish working, right?! At least, by this point in the podcast, you should have developed the basic understanding that I’m a huge proponent of going out and doing something, rather than just sitting back with your feet up through the next 20-30 years. Of course, if sitting back with your feet up is what you WANT to do, then that’s perfectly okay. After all, it’s YOUR life – you’ve done what needs to be done for the number of years you needed to do it, and now it’s time to do what you WANT to do and I’m certainly not going to try to tell you what you want.         First of all, I want to quickly review how Eric described the four stages leading up to what he calls graduation. He talked about the Freshman years, where you’re just getting started. That’s when there’s usually some debt and you’re focused on cashflow, maybe trying to figure out how to get a job that has some employee benefits, that sort of thing. Then come the Sophomore years, where you’re starting to settle down a bit, maybe getting married and having a family, looking for a house. Finances are important here, of course, as they are throughout your lifetime, but you’re still getting started. In your Junior years, you’ve hit your peak earning time, you’re paying taxes at probably the highest rate you’ll see, you’ve got little spare time for other things, life is busy and you’re starting to think about what comes next. Then your Senior years come along. You’re thinking about estate planning, whether you’re going to get any government or work pensions, when they might start, what you need to do to get them activated, and most important, you’re thinking about what comes next. This is the stage of life when you start to think about what your purpose is...is there some sort of legacy that you can leave for your family, or for others?         I find it really interesting that this is a topic that comes up a lot in my conversations with my guests, and with people in general when we talk about our future. It’s almost like we hit the point where we realize that we’re not going to be here forever and suddenly we feel the need to be remembered. Or maybe it’s not even the need to be remembered, so much as the desire to do something that we feel is beneficial to people coming after us. We want to leave a legacy – something that will make the world – or at least some small part of it – a better place. It’s something that I spend a lot of time thinking about. I don’t mean that I’m spending hours pondering how I might be remembered, but I’m spending a lot of...

Let's Chat about Eric's Ideas

Eric believes completely in the idea that retirement isn't the end of the road. He's so adamant about this that he's written a book that treats retirement planning and execution like the years of university. There are certain activities that delineate the Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior years...and when you've done all those activities (and the associated extra credit activities!) you can rest assured that you've done what it takes to be prepared for the next stage of life. In his words, retirement "age" doesn't exist. Age is just a number that's arbitrarily assigned to each phase of our life. He believes that retirement is the absence of the NEED to work, rather than the absence of work itself. If you truly enjoy what you're doing and are still able to do it, why on earth would you stop? On the other hand, if you're financially independent, regardless of your age, you can be "retired" if you want to be. Please check out his FREE resources: http://www.lowtaxbook.com/ (www.lowtaxbook.com) - for tax reduction strategies http://www.whatisfp.com/ (www.whatisfp.com) - what is the financial planning process Eric can be reached at the following links: http://www.bfgfa.com/ (www.bfgfa.com) - BFG Financial Advisors http://www.brotmanmedia.com/ (www.brotmanmedia.com) - for books, podcasts, and blogs http://www.financialplanningforall.com/ (www.financialplanningforall.com) - to schedule consultations

Don't Retire...Graduate!

As I say each week, if you haven’t listened to last week’s interview, stop here and go back to listen now. I was talking with Radon Stancil, a financial planner who focuses on preparing people for retirement. Radon believes that financial planning needs to be both financial and intellectual, so his firm, Peace of Mind Wealth Management, focuses on 3 key concepts – your financial needs, your legacy and your lifestyle – because they all play a role in how your retirement works out for you. I think Radon and his team have the right idea. Their goal is to help you make the plan and get into the right mindset to be retired. And that’s what this show is all about, isn’t it! It’s important to pick something that you want to do in retirement. I’ve talked about this before. It needs to be something that you really enjoy, so you look forward to doing it. It’s a passion project, ultimately, so it doesn’t matter if it makes money or not. It can truly be anything, as Radon suggests, like baking or scuba diving. You just have to find something to look forward to. The other big point that Radon makes is that there are stages to retirement and you have to plan for each of them, so you know how much money you’ll need to have set aside. For example, the first year or so after retirement will probably be quite busy as you run around making sure all the proper arrangements have been made and things are all in place. Then the next 2-4 years are the “fun” years, where you might have grandchildren to spend time with, maybe you’re going to be travelling, that sort of thing. Basically, you’re doing all the things that you thought retirement would allow you to do. Then along about year 5 and continuing on from there, things start to settle down a bit. You’ve got the hang of it – this retirement thing is a piece of cake, a walk in the park (maybe quite literally). Maybe you’ll start getting involved in your community or in a local charity, or maybe you’ll decide it’s time to offer to share some of your wisdom and experience with others, setting up a consultant practice or something like that. One of the most important things, in my opinion, that Radon mentioned is the exercise of writing down the IDEAS you have for your future. Not the full-blown plans, but the general concepts of what your future is going to look like. You know me – any chance I get, I’m telling you to “make a list”! By writing down the ideas you have about what you’ll do in retirement, you give your brain something to focus on. It’s not going to be anything concrete, but the plan is to get things started. Because each of us has different ideas about what lies beyond retirement, I’m not going to make any suggestions here – I don’t want to mess up your plans by throwing in other thoughts that aren’t really yours. Just remember – at the start, write down all the things you think of. Don’t censor the list when you’re starting to come up with ideas and activities. You can always scratch something off the list later, when the plan starts to come together. For now it’s just brainstorming. And this is a list that you should probably keep with you because you never know when something in your daily life will trigger the feeling that you’d like to pursue that thing further...so you add it to the list. It’s like a dream board or vision board for your future life. I’m going to call it a day here and sign off with a reminder to be sure to tune in next Sunday for my interview with Eric Brotman. He’s going to share his own point of view on retirement and preparation for it. Now go start that activity list!

Let's Chat about Radon's Ideas

This is where you’ll learn how to gain the freedom you figured retirement would bring you. Are you sick and tired of your 9-5 job…and have no idea how you’ll be able to retire? You’re not alone…many people have no idea how to prepare to retire. So the big question is…how can you stop preparing and start living your retirement life today? This podcast gives you the answer. You’ll hear from men and women who have cut away the shackles of the traditional 9-5 job. Together we’ll learn HOW they did it – everything from packing the bags to paying the bills – and WHY they did it. This show isn’t just about the good times, though. Join Jacquie as she uncovers the good AND the bad…the REAL story about living a life that needs no retirement plan.

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Beyond Retirement

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