1. Brown bag luncheon seminars
   
2. 2 hour workshop
   
3. Half-day workshop
   
4. Full day workshop
   
5. Two-Day Sessions
   
6. Weekend retreat

In addition to working with individuals on a one-on-one basis, our organization provides groups of individuals with the opportunity to learn in a team environment.  Using exercises (some drawn from or similar to those found in our book), attendees examine various paths that may lead to a fulfilling, happy retirement.  Shared experience and knowledge, combined with problem solving methodologies go a long way in assisting attendees to examine the various aspects of retirement that they and their colleagues will face over the forthcoming years.

In so far as they feel comfortable in sharing their personal apprehensions and concerns with others, or one-on-one with professional coaches, participants are provided with various means for dealing with the realities they face.

Workshops vary in length.  A brief hour-long overview covers some of the more macro changes that the Boomer population will be facing as they contemplate their retirement years.  2-day workshops or retreats incorporate a substantial amount of one-on-one coaching.  Sessions can be a half-day (4 hours) or a full-day.  Programs typically incorporate pre-assignments that are completed before the workshop.  Post-program follow-up tasks and coaching are also typically built into the design to ensure participants remain committed to attaining what they set out to achieve. Individuals will identify objectives for their own specific definition of a successful retirement.  Our commitment is to be there to assist their progress. 

Our role is to act as facilitators, coaches and educators during the workshops. When required, we also act as catalysts or champions for individual achievement.  Like teachers, we encourage; we do not create or activate plans. It is the participant’s role to initiate and achieve the specific plans to which they have committed.

Brown Bag Luncheons

Often organizations invite us in to meet attendees who volunteer to think through their retirement plans, which may be a decade or more in the future.  During about an hour session, we present a brief overview of the changing world of retirement which is quickly evolving away from the former “traditional leisure lifestyle” into more of a world of achievement with some form of work.  During the meeting, attendees will participate in one or more exercises and exchange their perceptions about topics they find pertain to their future.  We discuss opportunities and choices that are open to them as well as how to begin dealing with barriers that may stand in the way of moving forward with their plans.

Two-Hour Sessions 

Two-hour workshops represent an extension of our hour-long Brown Bag sessions.  These workshops permit attendees to begin examining their personal vision for their retirement.  They will also begin to understand their readiness both to deal with the many facets of life in retirement, as well as their preparedness for taking advantage of the time left to plan for a successful transition into their changed way of life.  To accomplish this initial self-assessment, we have attendees complete several pre-workshop exercises so they can come prepared to discuss their findings with others.  Participants end the session with writing “a promise” or commit themselves to follow-up actions that extend beyond this introductory program. 

Four Hour Sessions

Four-hour sessions provide for instruction and self discovery that permit attendees to work through initial elements of their plans for retirement.  All 7 paths of exploration can be examined with a view to understanding the major elements of each path. Then each participant assesses the degree to which he/she has stated their readiness to initiate actions that will arrange for a smooth transition into retirement.  If time permits, and depending on the size of the attendee population, a coach might find time for a brief discussion of what each individual learned or will apply to further activities beyond the program.

Full Day Sessions

These workshops often represent the first time Boomers or others examine their future lives “in retirement,” and to take the time to surround themselves with like-minded individuals and with experts who can help them bring clarity to this most important time in their lives.  We find that some individuals have met with a financial advisor to determine whether their financial assets will accommodate their retirement plans.  They may also have seen an attorney to develop a will.  Others may not have made these plans or begun the process of developing a plan for the future.  Attendees share their time examining use of leisure time, how their values and competencies will continue to be helpful to them, perhaps in a different way in retirement.  Or, perhaps, together they examine their changing relationships, changes to their health or housing needs, creating a new identity, or examine a new role for themselves in volunteering and so forth.  Examining one’s future is like piecing together a puzzle where all the parts interrelate and reflect a composite mosaic or picture where the parts add up to a unified whole.  To say that one wants to play many rounds of golf or travel abroad once a year does not represent a comprehensive plan to address the freed-up 168 hours in a week or 722 hours available in a month. 

In this workshop attendees get to know each other as team members and more as fellow travelers on the same path toward retirement.  They work together to address barriers to planning their future.  With the leadership of experts on various subjects of retirement, they wrestle with the pros and cons of decisions made or postponed.  Attendees concentrate on self-discovery.  Each attendee also has the opportunity to meet with a coach who will listen to their vision, concerns, gaps of understanding, plans and so forth.  The “bottom line” purpose of the coaching session is to have participants commit to specific actions they will take to move their plans forward to gain a realistic and successful retirement (i.e. that meets their definition of success.)

Two-Day Sessions

Two-Day workshops provide for the same objectives as described for a single day session, permit more time for self discovery, for contemplating future goals, for identifying actions a person may wish to initiate or complete, with the ever present goal in mind, that of achieving a fulfilled, happy retirement.  Coaching takes on a much larger role and whereas a one-day workshop typically includes a single one-on-one coaching session, two-day sessions provide for several such meetings to address various aspects of a comprehensive plan.  A two-day workshop also provides a follow-up coaching session that will occur by telephone, to assure that the attendee’s questions are addressed and to “brainstorm” ways to continue putting plans in place to make the goal of a successful retirement a realistic probability.

Weekend Retreat

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