The Retirement Wisdom Podcast Retirement Wisdom

 



It's easy to fall into a rut. What could taking up a new pursuit or a new challenge do for you? Today's guest, Joe Simonetta is living a diverse, interesting and fulfilling life. Last year he decided to take on a new challenge at 80. He decided to compete in a triathlon. Not only was it his first triathlon, it was his first race - of any kind. And he won the gold medal in his 80-84 age division at the U.S. National Senior Games. His story may inspire you to take on a new pursuit or challenge.



Joe Simonetta joins us from Sarasota, Florida.

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Bio

Joseph R. Simonetta holds a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School where he studied ethics, global environmental problems, world religions, cosmology, and evolutionary biology. He also studied at Yale Divinity School.



He holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Colorado. He also studied architecture at the University of Southern California. He holds a B.S. in Business Logistics from Penn State University.



As a young man, disturbed at the extraordinary amount of unrelenting suffering in the world, he vowed to himself to do something to alleviate it.



He went on to live a very unusual life. He has been an Army officer, professional athlete, entrepreneur and businessman, architectural designer, real estate developer, home builder, environmental activist, author, TEDx speaker, senior editor of the World Business Academy, and twice a nominee for the U.S. Congress.



Intermittently, he wrote a mix of fiction and nonfiction books about humanity and the state of the world.



He is married to Susana Rojas Simonetta. They have a son, Russell, born on Earth Day, and a daughter, Fiorella.



He enjoys spending time with his family and training for and competing in triathlons. In the 2023 U.S. National Senior Games triathlon in Pittsburgh, he won the gold medal in his 80-84 age division.



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For More on Joseph R. Simonetta



Website 



Be Healthy. Be Kind. Respect the Environment.: What We Do to Others, We Do to Ourselves



Gingerbread Horse Rocket and The Melon Ball Express: A Story About a Little Boy Who Changed the World



Tedx Talk



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Podcast Episodes You May Like



Live Life in Crescendo – Cynthia Covey Haller



The Fourth Quarter – Allen Hunt



Will You Flourish or Languish? – Corey Keyes



The Mindful Body – Ellen Langer



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Wise Quotes



On Seven Words to Live By



"The three simple rules for living: be healthy, be kind, respect the environment. I have to put in context, and Arthur Schopenhauer observed that all truth passes through three levels. First, it's ridicule, second, it's violently opposed, third, it's accepted as being self -evident. Such a truth has emerged in our lifetime. It informs us that we exist as a tiny fragment of an immensely larger interlocking pole, which all the parts are interconnected and depend upon each other for survival. Simply put, everything's connected to everything else. We exist not separately, but in communion with all other living things. Life's an interrelated, interdependent phenomenon. Everything's in relationship. It's the nature of universe, it's the nature of the reality in which we exist. Like it or not, reality has behavioral demands. That is, if you want to stick around, if you want to live, if you want to continue on the journey, those behavioral demands can be summarized in seven words. Be healthy, be kind, respect the environment. Each one of us is like a cell in the body of humanity. The health of all of us taken together in terms of the health of humanity and the hea...

 



Retirement offers the opportunity to pursue new interests, hobbies and pursuits. But getting retirement right takes practice. How do you start? Mary Jo Hoffman shares her story of how a daily photography practice on her daily walks with her dog evolved, culminating in her new book STILL:The Art of Noticing.



Mary Jo Hoffman joins us from Minnesota.



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Bio



Mary Jo Hoffman is the author of STILL:The Art of Noticing.  An aeronautical engineer-turned-artist, since beginning her artistic practice and founding the blog, STILL, she and her project have been featured in Martha Stewart Living and Better Homes & Gardens, among other publications, and she has collaborated with West Elm, Target, the United States Botanic Garden, and the Scottish National Opera

















She is renowned for her unique and personal engagement with the natural world around her, primarily in North America's Great Lakes bioregion and the iconic scrubland of Mediterranean France. Best known for her multi-year, ongoing project, "STILL," she captures and posts one photo every day, on a white background, of a natural object found near her, whether leaves, flowers, seedpods, twigs, insects, or animals.



"STILL" images reflect Hoffman's profound admiration for nature's subtle, seasonal expressions. Her photography encourages viewers to pause and contemplate one thing at a time, to be still, if only for a moment, in a world of distracted hurrying from one thing to another. The project is an endorsement of the power of dailiness, and an invitation to re-see the too-often overlooked "infraordinary," that surrounds us--those sights, sounds, and subtle changes that we think of as common and familiar, but which can come alive with delightful possibility when paid attention to.



Hoffman lives in Shoreview, Minnesota, on Turtle Lake, with her husband, Steve, a food writer and author, and her aging and indulged puggle, Jack, with whom she takes walks as often as possible, in woods and fields, and along lakeside trails, on the hunt for that day's STILL blog subject.



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For More on Mary Jo Hoffman





STILL Blog



STILL:The Art of Noticing





















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Podcast Episodes You May Like

Retirement Rookies – Stephen & Karen Kreider Yoder

Edit Your Life – Elisabeth Sharp McKetta

Living for Pleasure – Emily Austin, PhD

Best of 2024 – Part One





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Wise Quotes



On Practicing Retirement



"...think about practicing for retirement. Put those pieces in place with the community, the hobbies, the interests, whatever you want to do. Start early enough to have those in place when you retire so that you don't just one day walk out the door, and then you don't know what to do with yourself. That struck a chord with me. So we are in France, the kids are in school, it's the first free time in my adult life and I say to my, my husband who's a tax preparer, but who also had creative ambitions. He was wanted always wanted to be a writer. I said, let's practice for retirement. We have we have six hours a day between parent drop off and parent pickup. Let's practice for retirement. So that was 2012. So 12 years ago what happened is I started a photo. So I came up with a project for myself is called a photo a day for one year. So it was a one year project to do a photo a day, which then resulted in this book that I just came out with."



On Daily Practice



"If you've never done anything like a 100-day challenge. I have a 30-day challenge. I think 30 days is too short.

Is it possible to get healthier as you get older? Dr. Michael Greger knows how and why that's possible. He visits with us to discuss his new book How Not to Age: The Scientific Approach to Getting Healthier as You Get Older.



Dr. Greger joins us from Maryland.



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Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM is a physician, New York Times best-selling author, and internationally recognized professional speaker on a number of important public health issues. Dr. Greger has lectured at the Conference on World Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the International Bird Flu Summit, among countless other symposia and institutions; testified before Congress; has appeared on shows such as The Colbert Report; and was invited as an expert witness in defense of Oprah Winfrey at the infamous "meat defamation" trial. In 2017, he was honored with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine with its Lifestyle Medicine Trailblazer Award.



Dr. Greger's most recent scientific publications in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Critical Reviews in Microbiology, Family and Community Health, and the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition, and Public Health explore the public health implications of industrialized animal agriculture.



Dr. Greger is also licensed as a general practitioner specializing in clinical nutrition and is a founding member and Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He was featured on the Healthy Living Channel promoting his latest nutrition DVDs and honored to teach part of Dr. T. Colin Campbell's esteemed nutrition course at Cornell University. Dr. Greger's nutrition work can be found at NutritionFacts.org, which is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit charity.



Four of his books — How Not to Die, The How Not to Die Cookbook, How Not to Diet, and How Not to Age — became instant New York Times Best Sellers. He is also the author of Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching and Carbophobia: The Scary Truth Behind America's Low Carb Craze. Dr. Greger is a graduate of the Cornell University School of Agriculture and the Tufts University School of Medicine.



Dr. Greger is proud to be a Council of Directors member of the global voice for lifestyle as medicine, the True Health Initiative (THI). This is a growing coalition of more than 360 world experts representing 35 countries. It is an unprecedented assembly that includes physicians, university Deans, former Surgeon Generals, Olympic athletes, chefs, environmental professionals and a diverse group of nutritionists. Together they offer clarity over confusion and support the foundational principles of healthy eating and healthy living.



All speaking fees and proceeds Dr. Greger receives from the sale of his books and DVDs are donated to charity.



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For More on Michael Greger, M.D.



How Not to Age: The Scientific Approach to Getting Healthier as You Get Older

How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease

NutritionFacts.org



The Daily Dozen



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Mentioned in This Podcast Episode



The Game Changers Movie



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Podcast Episodes You May Like



From Cravings to Control – Revamp Your Habits – Dr. Jud Brewer



The Mindful Body – Ellen Langer



Upgrade Your Sleep – Dr. Raj Dasgupta



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Wise Quotes



On What Motivates Him





"NutritionFacts.org is a free nonprofit science-based public service providing daily updates on latest in nutrition research via bite-sized videos, about 2000 videos on the every aspect of healthy eating with new videos and articles uploaded t...

You're wise to be planning for your retirement. But the best-laid plans can be turned upside down in an instant. Sarah Cart joins us to share her experience and her new book On My Way Back to You: One Couple's Journey through Catastrophic Illness to Healing and Hope.



Sarah Cart joins us from Massachusetts.



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Bio

Sarah Cart was raised and educated in New York and New England. As a freelancer, she wrote for multiple local publications while she and her husband, Ben, raised four sons in northeastern Ohio. Upon becoming empty nesters, the two moved to the Florida Keys, but they returned every summer to the Pennsylvania Poconos, where each had lifelong family connections. Then came Covid. The pandemic, combined with Ben’s health issues, necessitated their sheltering in place in Florida for the entirety of 2020. In the wake of Ben’s undergoing miraculous lifesaving measures, they have been afforded the unanticipated gift of a future and, more than ever before, relish time spent with family and friends.



Sarah Cart’s On My Way Back to You is a first-hand account of the rollercoaster world of lifesaving transplants and the unimaginable challenges Sarah faced as she struggled to manage her husband’s devastating illness and to save his life, their marriage, and her sanity.



Throughout her 42-year marriage, writer Sarah Cart has enjoyed a life of “gloriously controlled chaos,” as she and her husband, Ben, a successful entrepreneur and seasoned outdoorsman, embarked on numerous adventures with their four active sons. Then the unthinkable happened.



In suspenseful and heartrending detail, Cart shares how Ben developed an incurable autoimmune condition that was manageable and under control one minute and threatened to kill him the next, landing him in the ICU as the Covid pandemic closed the world down. Thrust into the role of nurse and caregiver, Sarah joined the ranks of 39 million Americans who champion and care for an ailing loved one.



In addition to confronting doubts, fears, and endless setbacks, aggravations, and red tape, she also had to consent to daunting procedures on Ben’s behalf. Too, there were the months-long Covid-era restrictions on hospital visitations and the post-surgery snafus with home healthcare personnel. Thank goodness for the heartfelt communiques with family and friends, all of which reflect the faith, fortitude, grit, and grace that sustained her.



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For More on Sarah Cart



On My Way Back to You: One Couple's Journey through Catastrophic Illness to Healing and Hope



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Podcast Episodes You May Like



Ride or Die – Jarie Bolander



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



Planning for Family Caregiving – Danielle Miura, CFP



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Wise Quotes



On Perfection vs. Good Enough



"Perfection is not always a good thing. I never perfected being a perfectionist, but I like to know that things are done well and right and the way they're supposed to be and the very sobering idea that if we had known before Ben went into the hospital that he had a broken hip, which is the kind of thing I mean, I was his caregiver, how could I not know that? That's unforgivable. But if we'd known it, he wouldn't have been a candidate for transplant. That just blows my mind. Not all the examples are that huge, but well, another one is he probably wouldn't have been a candidate for transplant if it hadn't been the COVID pandemic."



On Gratitude



"Over the course of Ben's being in the hospital, I had taken to sending emails to family and friends on a regular basis to keep everybody on the same page. And I had all those emails, and in the beginning,

There are a lot of variables to consider in planning for retirement. A big one is longevity. We don't know how long we'll live, but we should plan for a long life. But there's more to consider than just our lifespan. Rejoining us is Maddy Dychtwald, co-founder of Age Wave, to discuss her new book Ageless Aging: A Woman’s Guide to Increasing Healthspan, Brainspan, and Lifespan, a guide to living better longer by proactively attending to your healthspan, your brainspan and your wealthspan.



Maddy Dychtwald joins us from California.



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Bio

Recognized by Forbes as one of the top fifty female futurists globally, for nearly 40 years, Maddy Dychtwald has been deeply involved in exploring all aspects of the age wave and how it’s fundamentally transforming our lives and the world at-large. This has led her to become an award-winning author, acclaimed public speaker, and thought leader on longevity and aging, health, wellness, and the new retirement.



Maddy co-founded Age Wave, the world’s leader in understanding and addressing the far-reaching impacts of longevity and our aging population. The Age Wave team has worked with more than half of the Fortune 500 in industries ranging from healthcare and medical technology to financial services and consumer products.



With women at the forefront of the longevity revolution, Maddy has dug deep into their specific longevity-related wants, needs, challenges and opportunities. As a researcher and social scientist, she has led numerous acclaimed studies, including the landmark Women, Money and Power sponsored by Allianz and Women and Financial Wellness: Beyond the Bottom Line for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. In addition, she has been involved in more than 25 thought leadership research studies worldwide on longevity, aging, retirement, health and wellness, family and social connections, purpose, caregiving, finances, and leisure, which have cumulatively garnered more than twenty billion media impressions. As a blogger and member of The Wall Street Journal’s Expert Panel, Maddy’s posts on leadership, wealth management, and financial planning have topped the most-read lists. Her insights and research have been featured in prominent media outlets, including Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, Newsweek, Time, Fox Business News, CNBC, and NPR.



Maddy has written four books, including the award-winning Cycles: How We Will Live, Work, and Buy, Influence: How Women’s Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better, and the children’s/young readers’ book Gideon’s Dream: A Tale of New Beginnings. Her highly anticipated new book, Ageless Aging: A Woman’s Guide to Increasing Healthspan, Brainspan, and Lifespan, (Mayo Clinic Press, May 2024) will provide an insider’s guide to living better longer, covering everything from fitness and nutrition to hormones and ageism, from sleep to purpose, from navigating the healthcare system to the role of finances.



Over the years, Maddy has herself become part of the age wave and has experimented personally with how to increase her own healthspan, brainspan, and lifespan. She is a co-founder of the non-profit Women Against Alzheimer’s and serves as a board member of the non-profit BrightFocus Foundation, which funds cutting-edge research to cure diseases of the brain and eye. She is also a lead partner for Portfolia in the Active Aging and Longevity 2 Fund. She is also a lead partner for Portfolia, a collaborative women-focused investment platform in their “Active Aging & Longevity Fund 2.



Maddy and her husband Ken were awarded the prestigious Esalen Prize for their outstanding contributions to advancing the human potential of long-lived men and women worldwide. An empty-nester, she is highly involved with her adult children and her granddog.



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It's time to step back and look at the best of our podcast conversations earlier this year with some brief clips to help you retire smarter.



Links to the full conversations are below:



The Balancing Act in Retirement – Stew Friedman



The Portfolio Life – Christina Wallace



Rightsize Your Life for a Brighter Future – Marni Jameson



From Cravings to Control – Revamp Your Habits – Dr. Jud Brewer



Working Identity – Herminia Ibarra



The Emotionally Intelligent Retirement – Kate Schroeder & Nick Wignall



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Other "Best of" Podcast Episodes You May Like



The Very Best of 2022



The Best of 2021 – Retirement Wisdom



Best of The Retirement Wisdom Podcast 2023 – Part Two



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Best Books on Retirement



Here are my recommended books (with short summaries) to get ready for the non-financial side of retirement.



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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.



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 1.2 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.