The Retirement Success in Maine Podcast

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]

Retirement Potpourri with Ben Smith, CFA & Curtis Worcester

Ep:049 We did things a little differently this episode – no guest! Instead, Ben and Curtis sat down to give you a Retirement Potpourri. Tune in to hear them give an update on Guidance Point Advisors and The Retirement Success in Maine Podcast. Further in the conversation, Ben and Curtis share some helpful Retirement Resources and discuss what’s trending in the retirement universe. Use the link below to listen in!
Chapters:
An update on Guidance Point Advisors. [2:00]
An update on The Retirement Success in Maine Podcast. [8:17]
Retirement Resources! [17:00]
Retirement Trends! [19:48]
Why are people retiring now? [41:24]
How are retirees accessing retirement? [44:10]
Ben and Curtis wrap up the episode. [53:37]

Rightsizing our Stuff as we Age with Kim Dorsky

Ep 048: According to a September 8, 2020, CNBC article "Here’s what you need to know about moving in retirement" by Jill Cornfield, “Sixty-four percent of retirees say that they are likely to move at least once during retirement." Downsizing, such as moving to a smaller, more manageable property in the same area, is the most typical move people make. It makes sense from several perspectives, right? It’s most likely to be in line with lifestyle goals, and your life isn’t uprooted. BUT what's the barrier for us to accomplish this? It's usually our stuff! If we're downsizing, we probably need to cut back on the THINGS we have - but how do we choose which of our things will fit our new home and which won't? 
 
Maybe you're not downsizing to a new home but perhaps you're an empty nester with a house full of "stuff" that represents memories, your loved ones, and things you can't JUST get rid of because they all mean something to you? Or perhaps you're now in retirement and enjoying ALL the things you always wanted to do, but one thing you DON'T want to do is declutter your things? Or perhaps you're aging in place (in your current home), and your home needs to be rearranged so that you can safely live in it? Or maybe you are helping a relative or recently a relative has passed away and YOU have the big job of going through their things but don't know where to begin. 
 
Well, these are common conversations that we have with our clients and it represents a BARRIER (and a common stressor to relationships) to them moving to the next stage of their lives. So we wanted to have someone on our show to discuss this. We went to the National Association of Senior & Specialty Move Managers (NASMM) website and looked up any members in Maine and that's how we found our next guest and her business, SimplySized Home! Our next guest, along with her sister, with aging parents of their own and an attic full of long-forgotten treasures, soon came to understand how emotional and overwhelming the task of cleaning out a house can be. Every item had a story, each possession evoked a memory. As they sat among piles of books, Legos, and their beloved Barbie Dolls, they knew there had to be an easier way; and SimplySized Home was created. Today's guest has a retail, marketing, and project management background. She loves her business SimplySized Home because she realizes the value the company brings to families who face the emotional task of downsizing and moving. For her, it is the perfect blend of working with wonderful clients through the logistical deadline-driven process of moving. When not working she spends time with her 2 kids, husband, family, and friends. Her favorite places to spend time are Panther Pond and Bayside. Please welcome Kim Dorsky to the Retirement Success in Maine Podcast!
 
Chapters:
Welcome, Kim! [2:53]
How is a Move Manager service different than a Moving Company? [12:37]
What psychological barriers are encountered when stepping in as a Move Manager? [18:06]
How much does using a Move Manager service generally cost? [22:40]
How does a Move Manager go through the process of helping to sort out what has value, what do you sell, consign, or donate, but also how do you agree on what's an appropriate price? [25:48]
How does a Move Manager help with the selling and buying of homes? [34:00]
How does a Move Manager team build harmony with parties in a situation with multiple people involved on behalf of the individual who is downsizing? [42:51]
When is the best time to be downsizing our stuff? [48:30]
What is Kim’s personal definition of Retirement Success? [51:56]
Ben, Abby, and Curtis wrap up the episode. [54:54]

Aligning Your Core Values with your Investment Dollars through ESG Investing with Katherine Bordlemay, CFA

Ep 047: In today's day and age, we're having more and more conversations with our financial planning and advisory clients that they want their values to be incorporated in all aspects of their lives. There are hot button items that they want to be impacting wherever possible. Maybe its climate. Maybe its social inequality. Maybe its disclosure of a company's business practices or countless others. 2020 was a solid reminder of these issues to many of us as COVID impacted the world significantly and there were urgent calls to address racial injustice after the murder of George Floyd. According to the Report on US Sustainable and Impact Investing Trends 2020, which tracked data as of year-end 2019, found that investors are considering "ESG" factors across $17 trillion of professionally managed assets, a 42 percent increase since 2018. So what is "ESG" and how can someone tie their values to their investments?  That's the premise of today's show!
Today's guest is the Head of Fundamental Equity Client Portfolio Management team for Emerging Markets and International Equities in the Americas, and an Emerging Markets specialist at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). She leads the building of the Emerging Markets and International Equities franchise, drives business expansion, designs new portfolios, and communicates Fundamental Equity strategies to clients in the Americas. In her role as an Emerging Markets specialist, she is focused on helping clients gain appropriate access to emerging markets, as well as assisting with their strategic asset allocation decision making process.
She has 13 years of industry experience, joining Goldman Sachs in 2008. She graduated from Lehigh University magna cum laude with a B.S. in Finance in 2008. She  was awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2012. Please welcome Katherine Bordlemay to the Retirement Success in Maine Podcast!
 
*Goldman Sachs Disclosure* - https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/2506374/Goldman%20ESG%20Podcast%20Disclosures.pdf
 
Chapters:
Welcome, Katherine! [3:40]
What is Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and ESG? [9:55]
Why would someone want to invest their long-term savings in one of these vehicles (SRI/ESG)? [15:36]
How do asset managers evaluate ESG? [23:38]
As an investor, how can we know that an ESG’s strategy is really aligning with my values? [31:27]
How are asset managers themselves doing on ESG characteristics, including diversity and inclusion? [44:25]
What is Katherine’s definition of Retirement Success? [50:21]
Abby, Ben, and Curtis wrap-up the episode. [51:38]