Have you noticed Hollywood’s recent movies about wise, older types who mentor younger people in need of guidance? Think of Sylvester Stallone in “Creed” or Harrison Ford in “The Force Awakens,” or Robert DeNiro as “The Intern.” Marc Freedman, founder and CEO of Encore.org, says it’s a case of “art imitating life.” He points to […]
Retirement Myth #9: Our happiest years are behind us. Not so, says Neilsen, the folks who rate TV viewership. “There is scientific evidence that people get happier as they get older.” The marketing data company points to a May 2016 survey, which measured self-reported wellbeing among American adults. On a scale of 1 to 10, […]
Seems most of my life I’ve been the recipient of others’ creativity: an inspiring book, a beautiful painting, a piece of music, and things God has made—a cascading waterfall or multicolored sunrise. Building this house has made me think of the joy of the creator. Did God smile when he saw the first man observe […]
I will miss you today. I know, no one misses teachers’ meetings. I can hear you teasing about it. “Oh, I just love teachers’ meetings,” said no teacher EVER. I’ll miss your jokes. And I’ll miss the contagious enthusiasm in your voices. A new semester brings it out. Despite the complaints and denials, you have […]
Hiked in Palo Duro again today. It’s one of my retirement perks—to experience regularly pleasures once available only sporadically. Anyway, looking northeast where Highway 207 crosses the canyon at its widest, I was reminded how much I love wide open spaces (no, this blog is not about the Dixie Chicks). Not sure why. Maybe it’s […]
Kinder’s questions (I hope you did the exercise yourself) are designed to find out the core values and dreams of his clients, which he sees as the first step in helping them come up with a financial plan. My responses told me two things. First, if had unlimited money (question #1), I would still do […]
Financial planner George Kinder (“Life Planning for You: How to Design & Deliver the Life of Your Dreams”) has his clients answer the following three questions (I’ve paraphrased for brevity): 1. If you had all the money you wanted—for now and in the future—how would you live your life? 2. If you had only 5-10 […]
In “The Evolution of Retirement, 1880-1990,” Dora Costa argues that increased income and poor health are no longer the reasons why American men retire. They used to be. Costa traces the beginning of large-scale retirement in the U.S. to Union Army veterans, who were given pensions by a nation grateful for their sacrifices in the […]
Hiking the canyon road at Hidden Falls Ranch today, I thought of old friends. Not the two-legged kind. I’ve been a program director and executive director at my favorite camp, but my best job there was the first one—wrangler. HFR doesn’t allow trail rides in the Palo Duro anymore. Hasn’t for years. There’s a reason. […]
In February, 1962 Marine Colonel John Glenn circled the Earth three times in a NASA craft dubbed Friendship 7. In October, 1998, now a U.S. senator, Glenn returned to space as a payload specialist aboard the shuttle Discovery. At 77, he was the oldest human to venture outside the atmosphere. It’s a trend I’ve noticed […]