The Retirement Wisdom Podcast Retirement Wisdom

A lot of our day-to-day behavior comes from habits. They create useful short cuts. But while they're efficient, many lack something important - meaning. That's where rituals come in. From the civic and religious rituals that commemorate key milestones and special events to our morning routines, they add a valuable emotional dimension to our lives. Michael Norton, author the new book The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions, has studied rituals and joins us to share what's he's learned about how we can be intentional about rituals, both ones we've inherited and new ones we create.

He joins us from Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Curious?



Take the Habit or Ritual Quiz



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Bio

Michael Norton is the Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He has studied human behavior as it relates to love and inequality, time and money, and happiness and grief. He is the author of The Ritual Effect and the coauthor—with Elizabeth Dunn—of Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending. In 2012, he was selected by Wired magazine as one of “50 People Who Will Change the World.” His TEDx talk, How to Buy Happiness, has been viewed nearly 4.5 million times. He is a frequent contributor to such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Scientific American, and has made numerous television, radio, and podcast appearances.



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For More on Michael Norton



The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions 



Website



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Podcast Episodes You May Like



Tiny Habits Can Lead to Big Changes – BJ Fogg



How to Live a Values Based Life – Harry Kraemer



The Portfolio Life – Christina Wallace



The Second Curve of Life – Arthur C. Brooks



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Wise Quotes



On Rituals & Emotions  







"I think one thing that I like about rituals is that they're a bit domain general, in the sense that we don't just use them in one domain. So imagine the only thing we use rituals for was to tie our shoes before a big race or to try to calm down before a big event. We for sure use them there. But then we use them in all these other domains of life as well. We use them in our marriages, we use them with our kids and families. We use them at work. So we really think about this idea of rituals allow us across many domains of life to change our experience in one way or another. We're often looking for an emotion when we engage in rituals. Like if I'm doing something with my wife that we do on date night, we're doing the ritual in order to feel closer. If I'm tying my shoes, I'm doing it in order to feel calmer. So we have these ways of using rituals to try to get us to an emotion that we think at least would be helpful in that moment."



On Rituals and Retirement



"And I think that can help us then have a better demarcation between what we were and what we're going to be. I was a full-time employee. I was a parent, now I'm retired, or now I'm an empty nester. How are we helping people transition from one to the other? Because it's a huge transition. When we go through any of these transitions in life, we have, when we look at rituals, there's many different types."











 



On Inherited Rituals



"We have just two broad categories are rituals that we receive or inherit. They could be family rituals, they could be cultural rituals, they could be religious rituals that we get from our parents, from our grandparents, from our faith.

Doesn't everyone deserve a dignified retirement? Rather than fixing our retirement system, working longer is often seen as the solution to finance retirement. But for people with physically demanding jobs or people grappling with health issues or disabilities, working longer is not an option. Teresa Ghilarducci joins us to discuss her new book  Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy  and her proposal for a Gray New Deal to fix the retirement system in the US.



Teresa Ghilarducci joins us from New York.



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Bio

Teresa Ghilarducci is the author of the new book Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy.



A labor economist and nationally-recognized expert in retirement security, she is the Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz professor of economics at The New School for Social Research and the Director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis and The New School’s Retirement Equity Lab.



As a labor economist, she has spent her career working to ensure retirement security for all American workers. She joined The New School for Social Research as a professor of economics in 2008 after teaching at Notre Dame for 25 years. She frequently testifies before the U.S. Congress and serves as a media source to popular and online news outlets about pensions, labor economics, and older workers.



She also frequently publishes in economics journals and edited volumes and has authored several books, including How to Retire with Enough Money: And How to Know What Enough Is and Rescuing Retirement, co-authored with “Tony” James, who was Executive Vice Chairman of The Blackstone Group at the time and co-authored  In an unusual partnership, they outlined their bold policy vision to create Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) for all American workers.



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For More on Teresa Ghilarducci

Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy

How to Retire with Enough Money: And How to Know What Enough Is

Rescuing Retirement: A Plan to Guarantee Retirement Security for All Americans

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Podcast Episodes You May Like



Are You Ready for The New Long Life? – Andrew Scott



When Will You Flip the Switch? – Dr. Barbara O’Neill



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



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Wise Quotes



On the Pyramid of Retirement Security







"Well, me and everyone else in this field knows that the building box of a good retirement looks like not pillars, but is a pyramid. There's a base and then there's a middle part, and then there's a tippy top part. I think of it as the food pyramid with the base as your fruits, your vegetables and your grains. That's a foundation and that's Social Security and that it doesn't provide all of your retirement income needs, for sure. But it's certainly a foundation. It's a foundation of security because retirement is for the lucky ones. A lot of people have missteps along the way that they have to take care of somebody and drop out of the labor force. So your family needs to be secured for that. So a spousal benefit is there, or you may be disabled, of course. And in fact, a huge percentage of people can't do their jobs mentally and physically starting around 50. And so official disability may not be in the offering, but kind of a partial disability is something that we all are at risk of having to manage. And so Social Security has to take into account the insurance system, a couple of missed quarters. We need social insurance against wild recessions where you might miss hours and work. And so you need that foundation."

Are you ready to make giving back your second act? That's the question posed by AmeriCorps Seniors. While volunteering can make a huge difference in the lives of others, it offers many benefits for you too. Atalaya Sergi joins us to discuss how AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers are making a difference by redeploying their skills and experience, including through intergenerational volunteer programs.



Atalaya Sergi joins us from Charlottesville, Virginia.



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Bio

Atalaya Sergi leads AmeriCorps Seniors, the federal grant making office of AmeriCorps that is focused on promoting and engaging people aged 55 and over in outcomes-oriented service. She has more than 20 years of experience in service, community engagement, and education, working in the public and nonprofit sector to bring private and public organizations together to ensure people of all ages, as well as those living in underserved communities, thrive.



Prior to AmeriCorps, she served as vice president, strategic partnerships & programming at Jumpstart for Young Children, Inc., managing AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors programs as a federal grantee. She launched Jumpstart’s only AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program.



Sergi co-founded Los Angeles Generation to Generation, focusing on engaging older adults in volunteerism to support young children across LA County. She currently represents AmeriCorps on the federal government’s Elder Justice Coordinating Council and Scams Against Older Adults Advisory Group. She has been recognized as a PBS Next Avenue Influencer in Aging, an Encore Network Champion, and was selected as a Co-Generate Encore Public Voice Fellow, using her time to write about the positive impact older adults can have in educational settings. Sergi earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in social work from Virginia Commonwealth University.



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For More on Atalaya Sergi



AmeriCorps Seniors



Atalaya Sergi on Next Avenue



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Podcast Episodes You May Like



Changing the World One Small Act at a Time – Brad Aronson



The Best Day of My Life So Far – Benita Cooper



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



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Related Blog Post

Find the Volunteer Opportunity That’s Right for You

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Retiring? Check out our Best Books for Retirement



 



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Wise Quotes 



On the Benefits of Volunteering







"One of the things that we have done some research on and learned about is the benefits to your health, and I'm not sure that everyone thinks about that. We did a research study where we looked over a three year period of volunteering, starting with volunteers who had never volunteered before and then following them over time. And we saw that of those that had volunteered for just one or two years, 84% of those volunteers reported improved or stable health. 88% reported decreased feelings of isolation. And we know how important that is given all of the work that our Surgeon General is doing. And 78% reported that they also felt less depressed after volunteering. And I think that getting out, getting moving, staying connected to your community and to others in your community really has a positive impact just on your health."



On Volunteering & Lifelong Learning 



"I think another thing that volunteers may sometimes not expect is that they learn new skills. So we're talking about adults that are volunteering, that have lots of lived experience,

What will you be retiring to?



Don't just wing it. Design it.



Join our next Design Your New Life in Retirement small group program starting on April 26th. There's one spot left...



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What lessons learned can you glean from a top financial advisor who's helped many people successfully retire?



Scott Hanson, of Allworth Financial, joins us to share his insights and discuss the Four Pillars you'll want to put in place to build the satisfying retirement you've earned.



Scott Hanson joins us from California.



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Bio

Scott Hanson is a founding principal and Vice Chair at Allworth Financial.



A nationally recognized financial expert, he’s been named to Barron’s list of the Top 100 Independent Wealth Advisors  in America numerous times and has been listed as one of the 25 most influential people in the financial services industry nationwide.



For over 28 years, Scott has co-hosted Allworth Financial’s Money Matters, a call-in, financial topic radio program and podcast, making it one of the longest-running shows of its kind in America.



A frequent guest columnist for several national financial publications, Scott is the author of Personal Decision Points: 7 Steps to Your Ideal Retirement Transition and Money Matters: Essential Tips & Tools for Building Financial Peace of Mind.



In 2010, Scott was recognized as the Outstanding Philanthropist by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, California Capital Chapter, and has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater, California State University, Chico. It 2021, he was recognized by Investment News as one of the 10 “Icons and Innovators” of the financial services industry nationwide.



In 2019, Scott was the inspiration behind the founding of Allworth Kids, which has provided laptops, overnight kits, and financial assistance to over 200,000 foster kids to date.



Scott and his wife Valerie reside in El Dorado Hills, CA and have four children.



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For More on Scott Hanson



Allworth Financial



Allworth Financial’s  Money Matters



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Podcast Episodes You May Like



Life in Retirement: Expectations & Realities – Catherine Collinson



Live Life in Crescendo – Cynthia Covey Haller



Independence Day – Steve Lopez



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Wise Quotes



On Work as an Option





"So I think it's really important that people get to a point where retirement's an option and where work is an option, not an obligation. When people get to that point where they have the financial independence, I think it changes their mindset and they can look at work a lot differently. They have other options available to them. And so for us, for financial advisors, it's really about getting to that point where you've got that independence where you can choose your own future."



On Planning for Life After You Retire

"A lot of people think 'Well, as soon as I retire, I'm going to get rid of all my responsibilities and just going to have all kinds of blank space and a blank canvas to build from.' That's not always a very healthy way to approach retirement. I'll never forget, years ago, I had a client, she was an executive, a CEO of a mid-size company with a couple of hundred employees, and she had done a nice job saving. She'd come in and we'd talk about her retirement preparedness. So we're having the same conversation again - our annual review. And I said to her 'Stacy, let's assume you're retired today. Tell me what your next few weeks look like. How are you spending your time?

What are you retiring to? Don’t drift into it.



Design it.



Join us in the next Design Your New Life in Retirement group program starting April 26th.



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I've just completed my second year as a grandfather. Like anyone finishing their sophomore year, I know twice as much as I did a year ago, but still have a lot to learn. In my quest to learn more, I came across this article in the New York Times - How to be a Better Grandfather - and discovered Ted Page. When he became a grandfather at 55, he looked online for guidance and discovered - well, not much. So he created the website and blog Good Grandpa. Ted's writing a book that's coming out next year sharing stories and wisdom from grandfathers on the #1 thing they've learned that will help nurture the next generation.



Ted Page joins us from Massachusettts.



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Bio

Ted Page is the creator and editor of Good Grandpa.



Ted Page is a storyteller, performer and marketing executive. His non-fiction stories have appeared in Boston Magazine and the Boston Sunday Globe Magazine, and his book of true family stories, The Willoughby Chronicles, was published by 3 Swallys Press in 2017. Ted is a Co-Founder of Captains of Industry, a leading boutique marketing consultancy based in Boston. Ted won a Telly award for The Institute for Back-up Trauma, starring John Cleese—who looks stunning in a red dress. Ted and his colleagues at Captains of Industry created The Climate Declaration for CERES, which was signed by over 1,700 corporations globally including Apple, Nike, Starbucks, GM and Levis. Ted lives outside Boston with his wife, Nancy, who continues to put up with him after 35 years. They have two children and four grandchildren.



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For More on Ted Page



GoodGrandpa.com



What's the #1 thing you've learned that can  help the next generation? Contact Ted Page: ted@goodgrandpa.com



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Mentioned in This Episode



The Parrot Sketch



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Podcast Episodes You May Like



The Long Distance Grandparent – Kerry Byrne PhD



The Mindful Grandparent – Dr. Shirley Showalter



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Wise Quotes



On the Next Generation





"The mission of the blog is to nurture the next great generation. So I'm a Boomer, sort of at the tail end of the Baby Boomers, born in 1959. And for us, we always just kind of looked up to our parents as what Tom Brokaw had dubbed the Greatest Generation. He wrote this terrific book, The Greatest Generation, and that's very understandable. They won World War II, they survived The Great Depression. They were great. They were fantastic. And I revered my father and mother. I revered the one grandfather that I knew. But when I saw these little kids starting to appear on the scene, our grandkids, I thought: What if they're going to be the greatest generation of all time? And what can we do to help them become the greatest generation, not just here in the United States, but around the world. We have tools that our parents didn't have."



On Continuous Learning



"But then of course, I said, Well, John, let me tell you what I'm up to. I'm writing a book and I'm gathering wisdom from elders and asking everyone what the number 1 piece of wisdom is - and he just jumped in and he said, 'Well, that's easy. I'll tell you.' And I'm like: Great! Mr. John Cleese, one of the greats, is going to share his number one thing. And he said: 'It's more important to find the truth that it is to know the truth.' And when I asked him to unpack that a little bit, he said, well, Newtonian mathematics and physics was accepted without q...

Don’t drift into your retirement. Design it.



Join us in the next Design Your New Life in Retirement group program starting April 26.



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Today's Building Block: Wellness



What will your life in retirement really be like? Will you flourish or languish? Our guest today is Corey Keyes, a renowned expert and author of the groundbreaking book Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down. Corey explains what languishing is and the five essential "vitamins" for flourishing, derived from extensive research, offering practical strategies to improve well-being.



Corey Keyes joins us from North Carolina.



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Bio















Corey Keyes is professor emeritus of Sociology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA where he held the Winship Distinguished Research Professorship. He was a member of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Aging. He has been called on to participate in several U.S. National Academies of Science initiatives – “The Future of Human Healthspan” and improving national statistics to measure recovery from mental illness. His research introduced the concepts of social well-being, flourishing, languishing, the two continua model of mental health and illness, and his work is being used to prevent mental illness via the promotion of positive (flourishing) mental health. He has been selected to give several honorary lectureships, including the Dorosin Memorial Lecture for the National College Health Association, The Chesley Lecture on Aging at Minnesota State University, and the Anita Spenser Lectureship in Clinical Behavioral Sciences at McMaster University.



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For More on Corey Keyes



Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down





















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Podcast Episodes You May Like



The Mindful Body – Ellen Langer



The Self-Healing Mind – Gregory Scott Brown, M.D.



Chatter & Your Inner Voice – Ethan Kross



The Power of Fun – Catherine Price









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Wise Quotes













On Flourishing and Languishing



"....the good news is that flourishing is at its peak during what most of us would consider the first decade of retirement. So roughly between 60 to 74, it is at its peak and before you retire and throughout your adult working phase, it starts out pretty low in early to late twenties, but it's steadily increases and increases so that as you get settled into your career and become senior and established, you tend to on average leave your career on a high note. You're flourishing, but it gets better. And that's the point I want to make, that it's the first decade at least of retirement. People are doing really well on average. It's the problems that come with if we live long enough. And by that I mean roughly past the age of 75 plus and more and more of us are. We see a downturn in flourishing and an increase in languishing towards the end of life."



On Activities That Promote Flourishing



"... five of the activities stood out among people who were flourishing, who they did more of the following. They engaged in more forms of helping behavior. It might be volunteering, helping people, or even living your purpose. Go out there and help someone or help something in the world and make it better. The second vitamin, that flourishers did more of was that they connected, prioritizing warm, trusting relationships.