Paths Retirement Workshop Encourages Exchange of Questions, Concerns

Retirement Perceptions Shift as Participants Exchange Ideas

During the summer of 2005, Julie and Julian Landau, both 56, began to think seriously about winding down fulltime careers. As their conversations about a mid-life transition continued, they began to realize there were many issues to consider and that seeking outside assistance would be a wise move. Based on a recommendation from a friend, the Landaus registered for Paths to Creative Retirement, a retirement workshop offered by the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The three-day program changed their perceptions of retirement and retirement planning. “Before the Paths workshop, we looked at retirement planning as a cerebral process in which you come up with a plan and live happily ever after,” Julian said. “We know today that for a creative retirement you have to try something different, and it can be a process of trial and error. It is probably naïve to think that you will get it right the first time.”

Two years later, the Landaus are continuing their retirement planning process. Julie has transitioned from her career as a vice president of a career counseling firm to part-time consulting, while it is taking Julian a little longer to wind down his work as a private equity fund manager. They are exploring a number of options in retirement, including relocating from their home in Connecticut to a southerly locale.

“We look at retirement now as a much more dynamic process than we did before the seminar,” Julian said. “The Paths workshop forced us to get out of our every day lives and put us in a first-class environment in which we could share ideas with other interesting people who are dealing with the same issues about retirement.”

The Landaus are one of more than 100 couples who have completed the Paths program, part of a growing trend among Baby Boomers who are seeking assistance with retirement planning. The three-day Paths workshop is structured so that participants work in small groups that share questions, concerns and visions about retirement. The program attracts couples and single individuals who are focused on important mid-life transitions.

Fred and Lillian Hill, who completed the Paths program in the fall of 2004, found that the workshop helped them to gel their thinking about retirement. “For us, and for a lot of people in our Paths workshop, it was our first experience in actually putting down in words what we were thinking concerning retirement,” Lillian said. “For several couples, it was the first time they had discussed their retirements at all. Some couples found that they were on very different paths.”

Since completing the workshop, the Hills, both 60, relocated from Memphis to Sun City, a community near Hilton Head, S.C. Lillian has retired as a mammography technologist while her husband Fred continues to work part-time as a consultant.

"The most telling part of the Paths weekend was the presentations at the end of the workshop when we shared conclusions about what we wanted to do in retirement," Lillian said. "The whole program helped me to focus on what is important." While the majority of Paths participants are couples, single individuals are also encouraged to attend because they too can benefit from the group interaction. Pat Rich, 60, of Atlanta is a licensed professional counselor who attended Paths in the fall of 2005 to hone her professional skills as a counselor to older adults while also exploring new directions for her own life.

"I was approaching 60 when I attended Paths, and I wanted to explore where my life was taking me and whether I wanted to take some risks and do things differently," she said. "Paths offered the encouragement I needed to strike out."

One example of a new adventure for Rich since the Paths weekend was been a trip to New Zealand in celebration of her 60th birthday. "There were other single women in the Paths workshop I attended, and we had so much in common. We had a great time," Rich said. "I met several people at the workshop like myself who are at a stage in life when they want to give back to the community. Making a contribution to society is a driving force for me and it was for several of the people I met during Paths."

The majority of couples who complete the Paths workshop find that the most important aspect of the program is the sharing that takes place among the participants, who tend to be in similar life situations.

"One of the major benefits of attending the Paths program was the interaction with other people attending," said Jan Fulwiler, Ph.D. who attended Paths in the spring of 2006 with husband Robin Gates. "It was really helpful to be with other people who were also trying to figure out what’s next."

Jan and Robin, both 54, of Madison, Wis., began to discuss their retirement years after the company that Jan was working for went out of business and when Robin’s company eliminated his position through downsizing. The couple saw these events as opportunities to do something different with their retirement years.

“Today, my husband is doing management consulting part time and I am doing workshops and classes in the Madison, Wis. area similar to the Paths program in Asheville and also volunteering at a seniors housing community,” said Jan, who is a psychologist and clinical social worker. “People of our generation are designing what I call retirement careers. That’s what I am involved with – a lifestyle or retirement career. I do something I love and I do it part time. I use my skills and I can contribute to the greater community.”

When Dave and Callie Wellendorf attended the Paths program in the spring of 2005, they had a specific retirement issue in mind – relocation. Having lived in a suburb of Chicago for more than 20 years, they were certain they wanted to move south.

“We wanted to relocate because we just don’t want to deal with cold winters any more,” said Dave, 57, who is in technology sales. “I had dealt with snow and ice and below zero temperatures all my life; with the kids out of the house, we were more flexible in where we could live.”

The Paths workshop gave the Wellendorfs an opportunity to explore the issue of relocation during retirement, and they made some important discoveries.

“We knew that a sense of community was important wherever we might live, but before Paths we didn’t realize just how important,” said Callie, 54, who has been a stay-at-home mother during their 26-year marriage. “The workshop brought our need for community to the top of our retirement planning agenda.”

The Wellendorfs also were drawn to the Paths program because of its comprehensive nature, focusing on more than just financial planning.

“The vision of retirement today is not getting the gold watch and going off into sunset to play golf seven days a week. It is more active, more involved – maybe it’s a new job, semi-retirement or volunteering. The Paths workshop helped me realize that.”

The Wellendorfs are acting on their relocation and retirement plans, breaking ground on a new home in Asheville this spring, a community they became better acquainted with as part of their attending the Paths seminar.

Read about another course graduate's experiences as she participated in the Paths to Creative Retirement workshop. The article she wrote, entitled "What Will Make You Truly Happy in Retirement?", was published in Kiplinger's Retirement Report and is now posted online at the Channel 5 web site. Visit: Review of Retirement Planning Workshop.