Retirement

Life Goes On

“Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah!” So the Beatles sang way back in 1968 on “The White Album” (I don’t think I purchased it for another 20 years or so). Yes, “life goes on,” and a lot has transpired since my last article, written after my daughter’s wedding. It’s been a roller coaster of u......... more »

Retirement after nine months

The editor of ‘finewiner’ has again asked me to write about how my process of retiring is going. Again, I don’t think I will write anything that is groundbreaking or new as this is a common process for most of us that have retired.  Four months ago, I wrote how it was five months after closing my practice. I ......... more »

Retirement after 5 months

The editor of ‘finewiner’ was kind enough to allow me to write about how my process of retiring is going.  I don’t think I will write anything that is groundbreaking or new as this is a common process for most of us ‘finewiners.’  In my world there has always been the question of what motivates people to ge......... more »

Caution: Retirement Ahead

The very first patient I saw in my new practice when I moved to Sequim, Washington was a lady I will call Mary. After a few initial pleasantries I asked her why she was here. Without a moments hesitation she said, “I woke up in the middle of the night again last night. I had the kitchen knife in my right hand looking......... more »

Leadership

Even in retirement we find ourselves in leadership roles, anything from a neighborhood social group to a national philanthropic organization. We have all experienced the effectiveness of good leadership and the ineffectiveness of poor leadership. Whether during our careers or in retirement, there is great value in thin......... more »

On “Making a Difference”

Do I make a difference? For men, facing this question at some point in life seems almost inevitable. More so, perhaps, when it’s time to retire. Inevitable, yes, but also understandable. Because many men still feel a subtle pressure to measure their value by success at work—what is accomplished, and how much is ear......... more »

On Making Retirement Satisfying…for Men.  It’s not what we do… It’s what we experience.

  When I began talking about my own retirement a few years ago, I got one response more often than any other. “Oh, congratulations; what are you going to do?” Always, the emphasis was on the word do.  It gradually dawned on me this question was familiar, not new. When men meet, it is common to begin by ......... more »

Power of Philanthropy: Part II

In our first Power of Philanthropy article, we talked about some ways in which the power of philanthropy is changing the quality of life for those on the receiving end. Now we’d like to talk about the very substantial benefits to those that are on the giving end of these philanthropic efforts. In past blogs we talked......... more »

Humble Student

Back in the 70”s, when the Japanese automakers began to seriously take market share as a result of their high levels of quality and dependability, we began to study their systems to see what was giving them such an advantage. Turns out that a major contributor was their deep commitment to statistical process control ......... more »

The Power of Philanthropy to Change the World

Every year I look forward to receiving the annual report from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation because it is always full of encouraging and energizing facts concerning recent trends in the world we live in. This year is no exception. The recent report is in the form of a progress report to Warren Buffet concern......... more »

Seventy!

Having just completed my 70th year on this planet, I find myself in a reflective mood. What has mattered the most all these years? Can I offer anything useful to an 18-year-old about what lies ahead? Not that I’ve been asked, of course. But then, I don’t recall asking 70+ year-olds to answer that question when I wa......... more »

Give Rein to Your Curiosities

In earlier blogs, we have talked about some of the things that stay the same as we transition from work life to retirement.   One thing that does change, and in a big way for most of us anyway, is that we have many more degrees of freedom within which to choose how we spend our time. This freedom enables us to resurr......... more »

Cultivate a Wide Variety of Friends

Those of us that spend our careers in corporate America often unintentionally limit our exposure to the diversity of thinking that makes our country so strong and so interesting. Most of our contacts are business related: coworkers, customers, suppliers, consultants, etc. So this means that most of the people that we s......... more »

Victor Frankl’s Retirement Guide

Viktor Frankl was a psychiatrist in Vienna in the late ’30’s when he and his family were incarcerated in a Jewish concentration camp. Most of his family perished but he survived to write a book about his experiences and learnings from the camp. The book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, has sold over 12 million co......... more »

“Ain’t it funny how your new life didn’t change things…”

While I was still working and beginning to contemplate early retirement, I pictured a life blissfully free of responsibilities, deadlines or accountabilities. I anticipated laying in bed in the morning thinking about what I was going to do that day. Maybe I would just lay around the house, read a book, do a crossword p......... more »

Principles of an Exciting and Fulfilling Retirement

After fifteen years of retirement I find myself thinking a lot about the components contributing to an exciting and fulfilling retirement. Reflecting on my own experiences,, observing others and, in a couple of cases, reading what others have said has caused a number of principles to begin to emerge from the mist. In t......... more »

THREE DISCONTENT MEN

I recently had a brief conversation with three separate men while on vacation in Hawaii. All were in their late 60’s. Jim worked at a snorkel shop.  He had been an elementary teacher before moving from the Mainland to the Big Island. His “well-designed” retirement included a heavy portion of beach life. While hi......... more »