The Retirement Roundtable

When you're learning something new, it's helpful to understand both theory and practice. Planning for retirement is no exception. What can we learn about life in retirement from those who planned well for retirement (and wrote excellent books about it) - and are now living it? In this new installment of a series of panel discussions with our most popular previous guests, we're joined by Fritz Gilbert, Dr. Barbara O'Neill, and Mark Shaiken (you'll find their bios below). We discuss: Their lessons learned about life in retirement so far How they're investing their time now versus their full-time working years What do they know now that they wished they did then What they learned about themselves by writing a book about retirement The ingredients for a Good Life today Their advice for pre-retirees who are planning for retirement now Dr. Barbara O'Neill joins us from Florida, Fritz Gilbert from Georgia, and Mark Shaiken from Colorado. __________________________ Bios Fritz Gilbert is the author of The Keys to a Successful Retirement. He retired after more than three decades in corporate America, where he progressed through the various levels of a multinational corporation serving the global aluminum industry. His award-winning blog “The Retirement Manifesto” is focused on people achieving a great retirement. Fritz and his wife, Jackie, live in a cabin in Blue Ridge, Georgia, an Appalachian Mountain town where they’re active in their local church and various local charities, including Jackie’s charity Freedom for Fido (FreedomForFido.com). When he’s not writing, Fritz enjoys spending his time outdoors and is an avid fly fisherman, mountain biker, hiker, camper, photographer, and fitness fanatic. He also cherishes his daily walks in the woods with their four dogs, who run the household. Fritz and Jackie also travel cross country in their RV to visit their daughter and her family in the Pacific Northwest. Previous Visits: The Keys To A Successful Retirement - Fritz Gilbert The Soft Side of Retirement – Fritz Gilbert, The Retirement Manifesto Website  ---  Barbara O’Neill, Ph.D, CFP®, CRPC®, AFC, CHC, CFEd, CFCS, CPFFE, is the author of Flipping the Switch: Your Guide to Happiness and Financial Security in Later Life. As the owner/CEO of Money Talk: Financial Planning Seminars and Publications, Dr. Barbara O’Neill, CFP®, AFC®, CRPC®, writes, speaks, and reviews content about personal finance. A Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University, after 41 years of service as a Rutgers Cooperative Extension educator and personal finance specialist, Dr. O’Neill has written over 160 articles for academic publications and received more than 35 national awards and over $1.2 million in grants to support her financial education programs and research. Employed by Rutgers since 1978, she provided national leadership for the Cooperative Extension programs Investing For Your Future and Small Steps to Health and Wealth™ for over a decade. Part of her work time is bought out to provide personal finance training for military family service professionals (for the eXtension Military Families Learning Network) and for New Jersey financial educators as part of a state Department of Education contract. She is also the author of two trade books, Saving On a Shoestring and Investing On A Shoestring, and co-author of Money Talk: A Financial Guide for Women. She is a certified financial planner (CFP®), chartered retirement planning counselor (CRPC®), accredited financial counselor (AFC), certified housing counselor (CHC), and certified financial educator (CFEd). She also holds the CFCS (certified in family and consumer sciences) and CPFEE (certified personal and family finance educator) credentials from the American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (AAFCS). Dr. O’Neill received her Ph.D. in family financial management from Virginia Tech,