TO CREATE: “to cause to come into being, as something unique, that would not naturally evolve or that is not made by ordinary processes”.

That is Webster’s Dictionary definition. Perhaps you’ve been looking forward to retirement. Perhaps you have found yourself retired unexpectedly. Or perhaps you embraced retirement with excitement only to find after a year or too, you’re bored or unhappy, feeling irrelevant. Creating your best retirement may require skills you’ve never developed. My retirement story may ring a bell for you. In November, 2005, I retired for the second time. I didn’t plan to. As my fifth career, I had spent 10 years as a financial advisor for Ameriprise, helping people plan for retirement and managing their investments. But now I was up to my eyebrows in a major re-construction of my home in Florida due to termites and wood rot. And with my home open to the elements, we went through two hurricanes. I had also just wrapped up a successful campaign to keep a developer from building on the golf course behind my home. I was tired. One night I had a dream. I dreamt that a figure was asking me what I really wanted. I responded: “I want less responsibility and more adventures!” Two days later a very experienced financial advisor called to ask if I would be willing to sell my accounts to him. Two months later I was working with him on a part-time basis. Wonderful! Now I had time for travel, bridge games, more tennis, and painting lessons, time to just read a book or go for a swim.  I also went into partnership with my son to invest in properties in Vermont and Panama.  However, after two years I became restless. After 45 years of work, creating new careers and lifestyles, I was bored. It was time for me to create something new by helping others believe in their ability to create their ideal retirement.   I was able to see in my previous careers a pattern of helping people plan new things for their lives and communities.  And so I studied and became certified as a Retirement Coach.  In addition, I went with a new agency as a financial advisor until I retired again to focus on retirement coaching and creating a new nonprofit:  Encore Palm Beach County.  Because of my belief that there is an enormous reservoir of talent, experience and energy amount people over 50, Encore is focused on tapping into that reservoir to connect people to new work and volunteer opportunities.