The Retirement Success in Maine Podcast

Accepting & Conquering Mental Health Challenges with Joanne P. McCallie

Ep 057: What should we know about HOW mental health issues present themselves, how should we identify them in ourselves or others, how do we field a successful team around someone we love that needs help, and what does the future look like for those aging with a brain health issue?
Our next guest is an author and elite-level NCAA Basketball coach. She received a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from Auburn University and has coached at Maine, Michigan State, and Duke, making National Coach of the Year 2005, and winning numerous championships at all three schools. She is the only coach in history to win Coach of the Year in four different conferences. An advocate for mental health and melanoma, she is also a wife, and mom of two, Maddie and Jack. She has extensive media experience, on radio shows and podcasts, and has provided color commentary for four years in the WNBA.
In her book, "Secret Warrior: A Coach and Fighter, On and Off the Court", she's written a compelling memoir following her own mental health journey through the realities and challenges within the sports world. Using the recurring theme of "faith over fear" to reduce the stigma associated with impaired mental health and encourage those suffering from mental health issues to reach out to coaches, student-athletes, and to all people across the world- she offers real direction, experiences, and personal stories to teach and reassure those adversely affected by the dynamics of the mind and body experience. Motivational and heartfelt, Secret Warrior drives home the need for more education, stories, action, and an overall change to the narrative about brain health. Please welcome Joanne P. McCallie - (Coach P as her players refer to her!) to The Retirement Success in Maine Podcast!
Chapters:
Welcome, Joanne P. McCallie (Coach P)! [3:02]
What does it mean to have a mood disorder? [16:07]
Would today’s day and age change how Coach P’s diagnosis was approached? [26:59]
Looking back at Coach P’s first Manic Episode (1995), how would that experience differ if it were to occur today? [36:35]
What has Coach P learned from her recent “Pivot” and what’s next? [41:43]
How can someone with a mental illness build a winning team around them? [46:22]
How will Coach P find her own Retirement Success? [54:48]
Ben and Curtis wrap up the conversation. [56:23]

Cognitive Decline and the Impact on Your Finances

Ep 056: Today's topic is something we have touched on here and there within our podcast - Cognitive Decline as we age. We think it’s something almost everyone worries about as we age - for our spouse and ourselves! So recently, our connections at Vanguard shared with us a new Vanguard whitepaper – "The Risk of Cognitive Decline: Investors' perception and preparation". It really addresses a lot of questions that we hear daily from clients and our listeners of this show.
Today's guest is a Senior Investment Strategist with the Vanguard Investment Strategy Group. She has a B.A. in sociology from the University of the Philippines Los Banos, an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology and demography from The Pennsylvania State University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Carolina Population Center. She also authored the before mentioned whitepaper – “The Risk of Cognitive Decline: Investors' perception and preparation”, please welcome Anna Madamba, Ph.D. to The Retirement Success in Maine Podcast!
Chapters:
Welcome, Anna Madamba! [2:22]
How is cognitive decline defined? [10:25]
How do investors perceive their risk of cognitive decline? [16:56]
Who is likely to be named an agent in the event of cognitive decline? [21:16]
When should someone transfer control over their affairs? [33:16]
How should DIYers structure the management of their financial assets in the event that they experience a decline? [50:53]
What is Anna’s personal definition of Retirement Success? [1:00:10]
Ben and Curtis wrap up the conversation. [1:02:26]

A 2021 Investment Markets Recap & 2022 Preview with Guidance Point Advisors, LLC

Ep 055: As Financial Advisors, we are very frequently asked to give our thoughts on the investable markets and what it means for our retirement. While our show mainly discusses life challenges pre and post-retirement, we wanted to share a bit of our team's expertise on how investments and financial movements may be impacting your retirement directly or indirectly from the events of 2021. Join us for Episode #55 where we have a 2021 Roundtable Recap with some of the team at Guidance Point Advisors!
Chapters:
A look back at 2021. [4:37]
What is next for 2022? [13:30]
What is resonating most with clients right now? [22:10]
Why are clients hiring us right now? [31:15]

Stop Struggling with Food Choices in Retirement with Elizabeth Sherman

Ep 054: Has there ever been a time in your life that you've struggled with eating foods that you know weren't good for you or eating too much, and you couldn't just seem to make positive choices with foods? Us, too! We've heard from clients that this is one of their biggest life struggles ~ that they're in a war with food and they just can't seem to find the right balance that leads to a healthier body image. It's the one addiction that we still need to engage with to sustain our lives.
Talking about our relationship with food is something that many of us struggle with and might look to change at retirement or even post-pandemic. So WHY do we struggle with food and HOW are other areas in our lives driving our food choices. If we're going to ENGINEER our retirement and design WHO we want to be, we think exploring our relationship with food and the things that STOP us from realizing our weight and health goals. So how can we STOP struggling with our food choices in retirement and START living a healthier and more balanced life in retirement?
Our next guest is a Life and Weight Loss Coach who works with women in midlife who want to lose weight but are done with dieting by coaching them to better health through easy-to-do, sustainable habits. Today's guest is a Chicago native, but now conducts her coaching business in Mexico, and through the advancements in technology, meets with her clients through video: focusing on the areas of health: eating, moving, stress and sleep management, body image and how we think about them. Please welcome Elizabeth Sherman to The Retirement Success in Maine Podcast!
Chapters:
Welcome, Elizabeth Sherman! [3:20]
Why is it hard to maintain a balanced relationship with food? [18:54]
How can we build a solid foundation with food so that life’s events don’t totally disrupt our habits? [28:40]
Affirmations are BS! [37:16]
Discomfort now? Or, discomfort later? [49:10]
Why is retirement the perfect time to hit “reset” on our health and nutrition habits? [53:07]
How is Elizabeth going to find her Retirement Success? [56:52]
Ben and Curtis wrap up the conversation. [58:33]

The State of the State of Aging in Maine with Jess Maurer

Ep 053: For a while, our team has been looking for a guest that can speak to the relationship between the State of Maine and our aging population. What systems currently in place are identifying and addressing the needs of today's seniors and retirees? Where are there gaps and needs to be addressed? How are the federal government, state legislature, and Maine's local communities working together to help today's (and tomorrow's) aging population? Are there other states that are more of a role model for how our state can support our aging population?
Our next guest is the Executive Director of the Maine Council on Aging and leads and manages a broad, multidisciplinary network of more than 120+ organizations, businesses, and community members working to ensure we can all live healthy, engaged, and secure lives as we age in our homes and in community settings.  In this role, she advances statewide public policy initiatives, provides leadership within Maine’s aging network, and supports Maine’s Legislative Caucus on Aging.  Her areas of specific focus include housing, transportation, workforce, “aging in place” and care across all settings.  She leads the Maine Healthy Aging Initiative and the Tri-State Learning Collaborative on Aging, a regional learning collaborative aimed at increasing the collective impact of community-driven aging initiatives.  She annually organizes statewide and regional events that advance aging policy.  She co-authored Building a Collaborative Community Response to Aging in Place and Maine’s Blueprint for Action on Aging. A licensed Maine attorney, she worked for 17 years in the Maine Office of the Attorney General. Last but not least, she graduated from the University of Maine School of Law and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Please welcome Jess Maurer to the Retirement Success in Maine Podcast!
Chapters:
Welcome, Jess Maurer! [2:07]
What are the solutions (if any) to Maine’s short supply of care partners for our aging population? [15:29]
What is the Maine State Plan on Aging and what does is hope to accomplish? [24:30]
What  has the State of Maine done historically, good and bad, to support older Mainers? [31:04]
How is agism prevalent with older Mainers, and what kind of barriers is it creating? [43:48]
Why is high speed internet access statewide (in Maine) so vital for our aging population? [53:05]
What is the state of healthcare in Maine and how is the current service model working? [57:55]
What is Jess’s personal definition of Retirement Success? [1:05:35]
Ben and Curtis wrap up the conversation. [1:09:11]

Why Healthcare Costs Might NOT Be As Much As You Think in Retirement with Stuart Ritter CFP®

Ep 052: In today's day and age, we're having more and more conversations with our financial planning and advisory clients that they haven't saved enough for retirement. It's tough enough to try and figure out what lifestyle you WANT and how much you can AFFORD, but we also hear continuously about how expensive healthcare is in retirement and that we should budget for that as well. Many of us have sat in that 401(k) or 403(b) meeting where we hear about retirement costs and we hear a figure that we'll need hundreds of thousands or possibly close to a million dollars to cover our healthcare costs in retirement. But is that actually true? What are RETIREES actually spending? How has that changed over time?  How are we spending our retirement funds on healthcare? Perhaps healthcare costs are not as much as you think they are!
Today's guest is the retirement insights leader for T. Rowe Price U.S. Intermediaries.  He has served in a variety of roles related to retirement thought leadership and product development – currently helping develop the firm's expertise on major topics that impact the retirement industry.  He is a frequent speaker at client and industry events as a retirement subject matter expert and serves as one of the firm's spokespersons to national media organizations. He holds an M.B.A., an M.A. in political science, and a B.S. in electrical engineering. He is a Certified Financial Planner professional; is a Series 6, 7, and 66 registered representative; and has taught personal finance as an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University. Please welcome BACK Stuart Ritter, CFP® to the Retirement Success in Maine Podcast!
Chapters:
Welcome back, Stuart Ritter! [2:37]
What is Stuart’s team seeing related to high healthcare costs? [11:00]
What do healthcare costs look like over a retiree’s lifetime? [33:22]
What are some resources T. Rowe Price has developed to help folks learn more about planning for health care costs? [48:16]
Ben and Curtis wrap up the conversation. [55:05]
 

Living a Tapas Life with Andy Robin

Ep: 051 7,300 days. 175,200 hours. 10,512,000 minutes.
That is the amount of time you can expect to have in retirement, considering the average length of retirement is approximately 20 years, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. How will you spend all of that newfound free time? Without a sense of purpose, the risk of dissatisfaction increases, and what should be a meaningful time becomes an anxious or uninspiring one. The average retiree in Britain grew bored after just one year, according to a U.K. survey. And one-third of retirees eventually give up on retirement and return to the workforce, according to a 2016 Federal Reserve study. The notion of retirement as a time of leisure is outdated. Most older adults want a similar level of engagement and meaning as in their working years. This is as it should be. From traveling the world to helping people in need, there are a variety of activities that can give you meaning and joy in retirement. BUT sometimes we get STUCK by being overwhelmed by what we CAN do that we don't know WHAT to do. 
Our next guest had this struggle and worked to build a great life after a several decade-long career. He's written a book for the 55-70ish age group this is at or near completion of their long career. He's titled the book, "Tapas Life: A rich and rewarding life after your long career" and is a step-by-step guide to assembling a great life once your big J-O-B is G-O-N-E. Please welcome Andy Robin to the Retirement Success in Maine Podcast!
Chapters:
Welcome, Andy Robin! [3:10]
What does Andy mean when he says “Tapas Life”? [12:34]
How can we live a “Tapas Life” but still have enough structure in our lives? [18:10]
How do people work through their list(s) of things that they want to try or not try? [23:08]
How do people get through the “catch up” phase of retirement and move into the fun stage? [33:48]
What does it mean to “choose health”? [39:11]
How does Andy think retirement is going to evolve over time? [44:49]
Ben and Curtis wrap up the conversation. [47:59]

How to Keep Ourselves Safe Online as we Age with Amir Tarighat

Ep:050 Cybercriminals and fraudsters will always attempt to go after the most vulnerable targets, and not enough is being done to protect and educate the elderly who are among those most regularly targeted by online scams. Much is discussed about protecting the workforce online, but as the web-using population ages, there's an increasing number of older web users who are using the internet without an in-house security team to help them navigate the dangers posed by scammers. 
Criminals have always targeted the elderly and away from the protections of an organization with firewalls, anti-virus protection, and other security measures, older users – especially those identified as wealthy – are viewed as easy targets for cyber attackers. Be it phishing emails, fake invoices, or phony tech support calls, scammers are attempting schemes against people who, in some cases, are the most vulnerable targets. But as the population grows older – and more and more services switch to being predominantly digital and online – the issue of cyberattacks targeting the elderly is only going to become a bigger, more damaging issue if something doesn't change first. That's the premise of today's show!
Our next guest graduated from Harvard University and studied Advanced Computer Security at Stanford. He is the founder and CEO of Achilleion, a cybersecurity startup based in Los Angeles. He is a software developer, cybersecurity, and compliance expert, serial entrepreneur. He serves as a technical advisor to several companies in the healthcare, consumer technology, real estate, and financial sectors. He served as CEO of Rizm/Equametrics, which developed revolutionary algorithmic trading technology. Rizm raised $5.1M and was acquired in 2015. He also has extensive experience building web-based and mobile applications in multiple languages and frameworks. Please welcome Amir Tarighat to the Retirement Success in Maine Podcast!
Chapters:
Welcome, Amir! [3:16]
What is Elder Fraud and Cybersecurity? What are common schemes? [11:05]
How can people protect themselves from these schemes? What should someone do if they fall victim to one of them? [18:13]
How should people balance the implementation of technology in our lives with the cost of privacy loss? [27:24]
In a world of cryptocurrency, how can someone protect their digital financial assets? [42:07]
What is Amir’s definition of Retirement Success? [45:13]
Ben and Curtis wrap up the episode. [46:52]