What comes to mind when you think of retirement? Do you picture yourself lounging in a hammock on an island surrounded by aqua-blue water? Or, are you considering a job you can do to fill your time? To discover how we can best design our wisdom years, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with long-time Los Angeles Times columnist, four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and best-selling author, Steve Lopez. Steve shares essential takeaways from his book, Independence Day: What I've Learned About Retirement from Some Who‘ve Done it and Some Who Never Will. This conversation is rich with stories of research and interviews about individual retirement dreams and how people plan for an ever-changing landscape.

Steve Lopez — Retirement or Reinvention?:

• Steve spent a year interviewing retired people to create a roadmap for his own retirement and to add to his book. [2:15]
• A sense of purpose and identity and feeling like we matter in life is the key to planning a healthy retirement. [8:15]
• Steve’s research shows a retirement agrees with as many people as it doesn’t. [16:17]
• Retirement dreams are distinctively different for older generations and newer generations. [28:59]

This episode of Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio is sponsored by: 

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About Lisa’s guest:

Steve Lopez is a Los Angeles Times columnist, four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and best-selling author. He has been a columnist for Time magazine, the Philadelphia Inquirer, San Jose Mercury News, and Oakland Tribune. He is the winner of more than a dozen national journalism awards, including the H.L. Mencken, Ernie Pyle, and Mike Royko awards. Lopez has written three novels and a best-selling non-fiction book, The Soloist, which was the subject of a Dreamworks movie by the same name. His latest book is Independence Day: What I Learned About Retirement, from Some Who’ve Done It and Some Who Never Will.

“The wisdom years become the adventure years.” - Lisa Cypers Kamen