This article is part of Lessons from Leaders, a Next Avenue initiative made possible by the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation and EIX, the Entrepreneur Innovation Exchange.Last fall and winter I spent four months teaching third-grade students at a local elementary school how to write. An eight-year-old girl with cornflower blue eyes came to my desk at the end of each day and handed me a tiny white-and-black striped tiger.
"Pet him," she instructed in a sweet, firm voice, and the day's stress melted away.
"As a daily substitute, I bounced from school to school, which allowed no real connection with the kids. So I picked the schools I liked and became a long-term sub,"After I left for another assignment, I received a cardboard box in the mail that contained a small stuffed tiger and a note that said, "I'm sending you this tiger so you don't forget about teaching us. Your friend L."
"I'm sending you this tiger so you don't forget about teaching us." 
While I spent most of my career in the corporate world, I had long been drawn toward teaching — partly to experience moments like that. My mentor was my ninth-grade English teacher, one of those rare gems who could encourage and inspire a student like me to become a writer.
Inspired to Teach
My mother had died the winter before I started high school, and I was still in shock when classes began. At my teacher's suggestion, I began keeping a diary, which led to poems and short stories. Writing helped me move forward and get my bearings back.
Now, in retirement, it was my turn to pay it forward.
In early 2022 I was in my early 60s and not ready to officially retire. I wanted to do something meaningful. Early in my career I had written for top business media like the NY Times, Fortune and Business Week, covering marketing and advertising, and then moved to PR, which paid better and was easier.
I taught young PR and marketing professionals how to write, as well as both of my 20-something children. With an ancient degree from SUNY Oswego that said I majored in English and Education, I believed I was more qualified than most substitute teachers. So I became one.
Learning the System
Teaching in public schools as the COVID pandemic swept the country was like entering a foreign land. Everyone wore masks and there was an endless supply of hand sanitizer and soap.
A giant TV screen called a Promethean Board dominated the classroom and had become its central learning device. Every student was given a computer to use for the year. Most lessons were produced in slide shows that were left for substitutes to teach from.
As a daily substitute, I bounced from school to school, which allowed no real connection with the kids. So I picked the schools I liked and became a long-term sub, filling in for a teacher who needed to take a couple of months off.
Long-term substitutes' pay was about 30% higher than the daily rate, but it also came with constant grading, an endless parade of assessments, and other challenges that salaried teachers had. When the Promethean Board didn't work, which was often since Wi-Fi in the schools was unreliable, I improvised and became a much more creative teacher.
A Difficult Situation
The teacher exodus was in full swing when I became a full-time sub, and many of those who stayed were desperately unhappy. The rage and frustration in some schools was concealed only by a thin veneer of professionalism that was used when those at higher pay grades were within earshot. Constant attrition offered a lot of opportunity for new teachers to get plum assignments.
"While I could not change the system, the leadership, the curriculum or the malaise that settled over my fellow teachers, I could make a difference with students."
The gaps in student knowledge were daunting. The most persistent problems were in math, where we had to teach multiplication and beginning division to some students who could barely add and subtract. Some students didn't know how to read yet, while others were proficient.
While I could not change the system, the leadership, the curriculum or the malaise that settled over my fellow teachers, I could make a difference with students. And slowly I began to reach them.
The most important thing I could do to get a classroom on track was connect with the kids by using material they cared about and paying a lot of attention to them.
In the fall of 2022, I got a job as a third-grade teacher and brought in a bevy of books and stuffed animals donated by my neighbors. To tap into their innate creativity, I had them make up stories that we called "the Stuffy Chronicles."
During the World Cup, I gave the students obsessed with soccer an assignment to research the teams in the semifinals and convince me their choices would win. They all picked Argentina, which did go on to win, and several offered analyses with data and text explaining why.
Persuading Students to Care
Next, I took a job teaching ninth-grade honors English at a local high school, becoming the teacher who had helped me all those years before. The students had gone through multiple substitutes and had no respect for any teacher who walked into the room to help.
The uphill battle began on day one: getting them to care about English again. In one class, the boys thought it was cool to use the F- word every couple of minutes and tormented me in every way they could think of.
Then I was given "The Hate U Give," a book by Angie Thomas that had been banned in several states. The story's protagonist was a young girl who moved daily between a private school and her life in the neighborhood.
My students saw themselves or their older siblings in the fictional account of a Black teen who was murdered for sassing a police officer during a traffic stop. The community in the novel came together and joined what was then a new movement called "Black Lives Matter."
Enthusiastic Debates
Most students were not reading the book at home, so we began a round robin reading it aloud in class. On my last day, the class — which now included boys who no longer cursed and even said hello to me in the hallway — read aloud and got into enthusiastic debates over the questions, "Why do you think the author chose to put so many different incidents in one chapter?" and "What was she trying to tell you?"
A couple of months later I ran into one of my former students at a local dog park. She said their new teacher paid no attention to them, and they missed me.
My most recent assignment was to replace a very popular sixth-grade teacher who was not only teaching kids how to write but how to organize information.
Working One-on-One
We started off a speechwriting unit with a video of Amanda Gorman's poem "The Hill We Climb," which she had read at President Biden's inauguration. We discussed adversities overcome by the people she cited in her poem, including Matthew Henson, first Black explorer to reach the North Pole; Junko Tabei, the first woman to climb Mount Everest; and Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to run for elected office. Some Florida schools have banned Gorman's poem.
For three months, I edited their work the way I was taught as a young writer, in one-on-one sessions working on structure, deeper thinking and grammar, among other issues. I was not with them long enough to ask them to figure out how to fix their own work, so I told them what they needed to do, and they came back with much better writing.
In all the years I worked in corporate America, building companies, marketing products and services, it was just about making other people money. None of it was as rewarding watching understanding and connection dawn on a child's face.
On the second-to-last day of sixth grade, one of the students presented me with a gift bag; inside was a mug that read, "Mrs. Stern, You Make a Difference Every Day."


Finding Fulfillment in Retirement

Aimee L. Stern

It's a Sunday afternoon in 1977 and my 10-year old self is with my father in the basement helping with a repair project. Blue Maxwell House coffee cans line the wall, filled with useful metal bits and a hurricane glass sits next to its kerosene base on a bookshelf. 
We stand next to the furnace that rumbles now and then, our heads bent over the open jaws of the vise. My father demonstrates how to twiddle the handle to push the opposing blocks of metal closer and closer to the piece of wood, pressing it snug.
Tools used to fix the wiggly bridge"Hand me a nail." he says. I hand him a nail. "Hand me the hammer." I hand him the hammer. The afternoon proceeds in this manner, serious and scripted. Did I ever ask to use the hammer myself? Did he ever offer? I can't be sure. I'd like to give him that possibility. Maybe I wasn't that interested in hammers or nails. I just wanted to be there with my dad, doing something simple and right. 
Did I ever ask to use the hammer myself? Did he ever offer? I can't be sure. 
Years later, as a frugal feminist, my tool-deprivation and secondary role irked me. Why was it that all the guys took 'shop' in middle school and I took 'home-ec?' Why was it that I saw myself only in the helper and cleaner-upper role on those Sunday basement afternoons?  
Here I was paying people to fix my stuff. And I was outsourcing joy — earned by problem-solving and fixing with my own wits and hands.
A Light Bulb Went Off
In my early 50s all that ended along with my marriage when I had to replace a recessed light. "I can do that," I thought. I took the bulb to the hardware store and found its twin. At home, no matter how many YouTube videos I watched, the new bulb would not fit.  
A catty voice in my head said: "How long does it take a divorced woman to change a lightbulb...?"  A different voice countered, "What would you say to a friend?" and answered, "Go to the hardware store and ask the experts."
My local ACE hardware is a mix of country store and bougie boutique. Antique baseball bats line the walls and I covet their $26 art-deco nightlights. Within 5 seconds of entering you'll hear: "Can I help you find something m'am?" At the key counter I found Johnny ("How can I help you?"), a Midwestern gentleman with rimless spectacles and a kindly, curious nature. 
I told him my story and asked, "Do you know how to fix this?" He said, "No, I don't. But I bet together we can figure it out."
Years of expecting expertise in others and denying my own responsibility and power dissolved with Johnny's words. We inspected the metal collar; we gazed at the bulb. My hands discovered that if I held the collar base and squeezed the pins on the side and he put the bulb in, the satisfying click happened. A design flaw! Only larger hands could do both tasks at once. 
Meeting a Patient and Kind Teacher 
Soon after, I lucked into a patient and kind teacher in the world of fixing and making. We met at a local dance. His top hat, bespoke patterned coat, gray cargo shorts and white knee-high shrimper's boots caught my eye. I asked, as we danced (he mysteriously graceful in his rubber boots) "Are you an artist?" He gazed distantly and said, "It's more complicated than that." 
Wiggly bridge opening, 2019Over tea the next day he said he works summers at various dance and family camps; one in the Catskills where he is rebuilding a suspended bridge. Would I like to join him for a week of music, dancing and bridge-repair? A day later, after googling the heck out of him, I said, why yes, yes I would.
He picked me up in his Honda Odyssey, the back seats removed, the floor a collage of carpet remnants, coils of thick rope, hacksaw blades, socket wrenches, drift punches, a level; though at the time I didn't know their names. At night he threw down faded cushions from his 1968 VW bus, fell asleep and snored. I lay there at the rest-stop and listened to the hum of 18-wheelers idling nearby and in the glare of the lights wondered and smiled at what I was doing with my "one wild and precious life." 
Getting to Work 
On that first morning at camp we approached a red shed in a green field where a few sheep nibbled nonchalantly. I envied their ease. I dreaded the first impression as the only woman in the shop with the young guys in their day-glo T-shirts and Timberland boots. The hard-rock oldies on the radio and the scent of sawdust felt familiar. 
The guys were sunny and more interested in their show-and-tell and jokey ribbing than in me. My friend put me to work in the shelter of a 1956 Rockwell drill press with a simple task: drill holes in the stanchions that would hold the hand-ropes. 
A soothing rhythm developed as my fingers set the plastic ratchet clamps to hold the wood and slowly lowered the drill bit as wood particles flurried away. The repetition relaxed and satisfied. I could focus on one thing. That thing was do-able. It didn't involve complex emotions or unpredictable scenarios. It wasn't gendered or hard or something held by a priesthood. 
Wiggly bridge opening, 2019Soon the movement of clamp to wood, metal bit to wood became one graceful action. My fingertips found a spiky edge where the drill bit broke through. For every problem there was a tool to solve it —hello, Shinto wood rasp! I enjoyed the rasp's toothy grasp on the wood and smoothing effect. "We're not making furniture here," my teacher chided.  
As on all bridges in folk tales, I wrestled. My impatient desire to prove a point to myself and resentment of gendered expertise conflicted with the slow pace and the fact I was a novice with a guy who knew more than I did. And like most work, it wasn't all exciting power-tool wielding action. There were simple repetitive tasks, like gooping anti-seize paste onto every bolt on the bridge, or tying clove hitches over and over.  
I returned to humility and gratitude. Given the major shifts in my life, where else would I rather be than here, being of use, on a wiggly cable bridge looking out over a clear pond with mist rising off of it and a thick margin of wild green in the distance? 
Building Connections 
Like the nursery rhyme "This is the House that Jack Built" I understood that every part of what I was doing held a future human relationship. If the stanchion can't be built, then the hand-rope won't support the children's hands. If the children's hands won't be supported, they can't cross the bridge. If the children can't cross the bridge, the connection between the old camp and the new camp will be lost; the bridge will exist only in memory. 
When you pick up a tool, you animate it with your energy and your intention. My mentor said, "People say, "Man, I can knock that out in an hour! Your volunteer is gonna take 6 hours to put those rivets in." And I say, "yeah, but when she walks by those rivets later, she's gonna feel they're hers."  
In that moment I felt that in fixing material objects, the world is made well in some small way, and something inside is fixed too. 
That light in my kitchen became a symbol of my ability to take care of myself and to collaborate with others. It sparked a belief in my ability to problem-solve and use tools. Working on the bridge became proof that in the aftermath of emotional discord and weariness, self-renewal was possible.
For the first time in 10 years, the "wiggly bridge" of camp lore came to life. My mad hatter showed up in magenta Alice-in-Wonderland leggings, a burgundy brocade coat and his signature top hat. He lined up the children, "Youngest to oldest! Two by two!" between pips of his whistle. 
The children's hands held the guide-ropes I had pulled through the stanchions. Their hesitant steps became confident as they giggled at the bridge's bounce and sway. My teacher merrily tapped planks of the bridge with his black umbrella as he led the parade. 
I leaned against a tree and watched as the children and mothers crossed the bridge, serenaded by fiddles, guitars and song. In that moment I felt that in fixing material objects, the world is made well in some small way, and something inside is fixed too. 


If I Had a Hammer

Moira Bucciarelli

With U.S. household debt at a record level and credit card debt topping $1 trillion, it's not surprising that paying off loans and credit cards is the most common New Year's resolution for boomers and Gen X in 2024, according to The Ascent personal finance site. The trick is actually doing it.
"If you're in the early stages of falling behind, there's still a way to work things out with your creditors to get back on track without going to the nuclear option,"Only 47% of credit card holders with balances have a plan to pay them off, a recent Bankrate survey found.
"If ever there was a year to avoid getting further into debt, this is that year."
"An increasing number of people, especially older Americans, are carrying debt from month to month. And the balances they're carrying are growing," Bruce McClary, senior vice president of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling said on the debt-reduction episode of the Friends Talk Money podcast I co-host.
Especially concerning: Interest rates on credit cards are about five percentage points higher than in spring 2022, on average, and rates on some department-store cards now exceed an eye-popping 34%. That has led to a rise in late payments.
Add Car Payments, Doctor Bills, Student Loans
Monthly car loan payments have been soaring, too, due to rising auto prices. So has medical debt, which is owed by one in three Americans.
Another problem: Student loan borrowers are facing long hold times trying to reach their loan servicers and getting inaccurate billing statements, according to a January 2024 report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Debt has become so overwhelming that the number of people aged 55 and older filing for bankruptcy has doubled in the past 16 years, accounting for 20% of all bankruptcy filings these days, my podcast co-host Terry Savage noted.
Depend Less on Debt
"If ever there was a year to avoid getting further into debt, this is that year," said McClary. "If you become less dependent on debt and your credit-card balances are under control, 2024 is going to be a winning year for you."
Here are a few suggestions to reduce your debt load in 2024:
"It's an easy conversation to have, but you don't know what you can get unless you ask."
Call your credit card company and try to negotiate down your rate. A recent LendingTree survey found that 76% of people who asked their card issuers for a lower rate got one — often six percentage points below what they'd been paying.
"It bothers me that so few people actually think to call up their creditor and have that discussion," said McClary. "It's an easy conversation to have, but you don't know what you can get unless you ask."
Look into a 0% offer for a balance-transfer credit card. Many card issuers, eager to attract customers, dangle 0% interest rates for 18 months or so for people who transfer over their current credit card offers.
Swapping your high-rate credit card for one charging 0% might save you hundreds or thousands of dollars. You can find such offers on sites like NerdWallet and Bankrate.
Just be sure you know what the new card's regular interest rate is since you'll pay that when the 0% deal expires if you have a balance at that time. "This is not a long-term strategy; it's great in the short term," said McClary.
Find out, too, if there are fees to transfer your credit-card balance. Typically, the fee is 2% or 3% of the balance you're rolling over.
Ask About a 0% Balance-Transfer Card
Not everyone can qualify for a 0% balance-transfer card, though.
"To get one, you can't have had any late payments," said Friends Talk Money co-host Pam Krueger.
You generally also need a top credit score in the high 600s or above to get approved for a balance-transfer card. So, before applying, ask your bank for your credit score or go online and request a free credit report. You are entitled by law to one free report per year; if you need more than one, you will have to pay for the score from one of the three big credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax or TransUnion.
You Do Have Other Options
If you have a lot of medical debt, try negotiating with your doctor or hospital. You might get a reduction in the amount you'll owe by agreeing to pay the provider faster.Meet with a nonprofit credit counselor. The free session to create a debt action plan will likely take 30 minutes to an hour, either in person or by phone.The National Foundation for Credit Counseling, the nation's oldest nonprofit for improving financial well-being, never turns anyone away; its 1,215 certified credit counselors work in 250 locations around the country.A debt action plan can stop the debt collection calls and emails that heighten financial stress.If you have student loan debts, apply to enroll in the U.S. government's SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) plan. This income-driven repayment program, which replaced the REPAYE (Revised Pay as You Earn) plan, calculates your monthly payment based on your income and family size.SAVE lowers payments for many borrowers and it will become more generous in February. Then it will start forgiving debt in as few as 10 years if borrowers originally took out $12,000 or less in student loans, down from 20 to 25 years previously.Loans eligible for SAVE are direct subsidized and unsubsidized student loans, direct PLUS loans for grad students and Direct Consolidation Loans that didn't repay any PLUS loans made to parents. Loans that aren't eligible include Direct PLUS loans made to parents, Federal Perkins Loans and any loans currently in default.Debt Forgiveness Extended
Take advantage of the government's newly extended deadline for debt forgiveness. Originally, the program to consolidate loans for the forgiveness was scheduled to end Dec. 31, 2023. "It just got extended to April 30," said Savage.This debt forgiveness program is for Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL), school-held Perkins loans, Health Education Assistance Loans (HEAL) and Parent PLUS loans in repayment for at least 25 years.If you're not sure whether your loan qualifies, go to the Loan Breakdown part of the StudentAid.gov site."If you're in the early stages of falling behind, there's still a way to work things out with your creditors to get back on track."
If your debt load is crushing, investigate filing for bankruptcy. A nonprofit credit counselor can discuss the pros and cons and help you go this route if appropriate.In fact, nonprofit credit counseling is a required part of the process for filing a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy with a debt repayment plan."If you're in the early stages of falling behind, there's still a way to work things out with your creditors to get back on track without going to the nuclear option," said McClary. "But if you're facing potential legal action, that may be a more appropriate time to think about settling your debts and trying to get out of this with a pennies-on-the-dollar kind of approach."Sign up for a budgeting app to take control of your spending. The most popular one — Mint — was shut down by its owner Intuit late last year. But there are quite a few others that could be helpful.They include YNAB (formerly called You Need a Budget), Quicken Simplifi, Rocket Money, Tiller and PocketGuard. You'll typically pay $35 to $100 a year, but many of the apps have one- to three-month free trials."If you'll be using an app," said McClary, "just make sure your data is secure."


How to Get a Handle on Debt in 2024

Richard Eisenberg

It's my clear preference to travel alone, especially for big trips, the ones with oodles of things I want to do. I can avoid late starts because someone takes a long time getting ready or has the audacity to think vacations are for sleeping in.
The Godafoss waterfall in IcelandMy first solo trip to Iceland came in early January 2019. I didn't have to convince anyone it was a good idea to visit a place touting coldness in its name during the time of year it was covered in extended darkness. I had one goal: to see the northern lights. Darkness was integral to the plan.
Being an introvert, I chose to visit Iceland in late May, hoping to improve my chances of seeing the early birds while avoiding the crowds of people known to flock European destinations.
On the only night tour operators decided conditions were suitable, I boarded a bus and stood in a thin blanket of snow in empty fields miles from anywhere, staring at black sky. At one stop the guide casually said, "This would be the perfect place for a murder." There were no deaths, but no swirly streaks in the sky either. Goal unmet.
Strategically Timed Puffin Hunt
Nonetheless, I planned a return with a new goal: puffin pics. Images of these black-and-white sea birds with distinctive bright orange beaks and feet, had been as common as trolls and Vikings on T-shirts in the souvenir shops of Reykjavík, the capital and largest city. But puffins don't winter in Iceland. They spend eight months flying over the Atlantic before coming ashore in summer.
Being an introvert, I chose to visit Iceland in late May, hoping to improve my chances of seeing the early birds while avoiding the crowds of people known to flock European destinations.
I'd already completed the compulsory tourist agenda: the Blue Lagoon, a bus tour of The Golden Circle — Gullfoss (a waterfall), Strokkur (a geyser),  Þingvellir National Park (a valley walk between tectonic plates) — and, most memorable, a glacier hike at Sólheimajökull.
I had also loaded up on culture in the capital: nine museums, including the Punk Museum, housed fittingly in what once was a below-ground men's restroom.
Seeking Solitude on an Island
The bulk of this weeklong adventure would be in places where sheep, horses and hopefully puffins outnumbered humans. At the outset, I had decided I did not want to lose time on shopping and dining.
As a vegetarian, fish and chips were not a draw and, while geothermal hothouses grow vegetables, I was content to grab crispbread, skyr and other munchies in grocery chains like Hagkaup and Bónus.
Reykjavik, IcelandMy travels involved driving counterclockwise on the Ring Road (Route 1) along the country's perimeter but, only two hours from Reykjavík, I deviated, taking a ferry to the town of Vestmannaeyjar on the island of Heimaey.
Puffin Paradise Promised
On the ship, I nabbed a pamphlet touting the destination as having "THE LARGEST PUFFIN COLONY IN THE WORLD." Score! Once docked, I headed to what Google Maps marked as Puffin Lookout on the far end of the island, a mere nine-minute drive.
I walked a path to a wooden shelter providing protection from high winds but, alas, no puffin sightings. Along a cliff, I gazed at lush green landscapes, black-sand beaches and the deep blue ocean below. I saw countless gulls and flocks of sheep, with every ewe seeming to have a black or white lamb hop-running behind.
Closer to town, I walked the rim of Eldfell, a volcano that last erupted over six months in 1973, forcing the urgent evacuation of the island's 5,300 residents. The rust-red ground contrasted with the white houses of town.
The next morning, I ascended stairs and paths to Dalfjall, which AllTrails had the nerve to call a "hill." I walked the ridge as much as I dared. A five-minute drive brought me to the base of Heimaklettur ("Home Rock"). As I climbed, fierce winds shattered the screen of my mobile phone when my jacket pocket clanged against a steel ladder.
I stopped, ostensibly to snap photos of craggy rock formations piercing the ocean's surface, but really to let a local pass. I retreated, thankful to be alone, with no one to say, "Let's not" at the outset or bemoan my, "Let's stop" when my caution button sounded.
Free to Explore
Back on Ring Road, I committed to stopping as often as I wanted. The hours of extended light eliminated any pressure of reaching a night's stay before dark. I walked along Reynisfjara, a popular black-sand beach with a cliffside formed by jagged basalt slabs.
The view from Dalfjall, IcelandI then backtracked to walk the clifftops of the Dyrhólaey Peninsula, another purported puffin-palooza spot. I saw a sand beach extending forever toward the west, an austere white lighthouse and a rock arch jutting into the ocean, but no orange-beaked birdies. Only three hours from Reykjavík, crowds thinned dramatically hereafter.
I drove along the south coast to two glacier lagoons, Fjallsárlón and, 15 minutes east, Jökulsárlón. Icebergs populated both. In the latter, seals popped their heads above the surface as ice floes drifted through a waterway to the North Atlantic.
Few People, Fewer Puffins
The sun did not hit quite right for optimal photos, so I backtracked thirty miles the next morning for retakes, with no one riding shotgun mumbling, "Been there, done that."
I maintained a healthy concern over gasoline. The eastern half of the country is sparsely populated, Egilsstaðir being the largest town, with 2,500 residents. I topped up the tank wherever possible. Very few signs stated the distance to towns that popped up without warning. Restrooms were even rarer, the couple I found requiring the tap of a credit card to pay the 200 krónur (about $1.50) fee.
A basalt cliffside at Reynisfjara black beachI traveled for miles without seeing another vehicle. Occasionally, I wished I had someone to share the sights — "Can you believe this?!" — but it felt reverential letting the ever-changing landscape speak for itself. My contact with the rest of the world was limited to one radio station that broadcast extended Icelandic monologues between unknown pop songs.
Volcanoes, Active and Not
While volcanic eruptions sometimes make international headlines, there are plenty of inactive ones to explore. In the northeast, Hverfjall is a broad black volcano that begs a detour off Ring Road for a half-hour ascent yielding a panorama of nearby mountains and Lake Mývatn.
Nearby is Leirhnjúkur, considered an active volcano (though it's been 40 years since it last erupted). The rocky lava fields have easily walkable paths, allowing closer looks at the otherworldly landscape with steam continuing to escape from fissures. Viti, an explosion crater of the expansive Krafla caldera, is another quick climb, the reward being stunning views of the aquamarine-colored lake that fills it.
Waterfalls are commonplace. Any mountainside may offer narrow trickle, sometimes much more. At one point in eastern Iceland, I stopped to watch a small herd of reindeer near the shore. A 360-survey offered Iceland's greatest hits: ocean, beach, mountains and multiple waterfalls. It was so ridiculously beautiful, I laughed.
Godafoss is a must-stop in north-central Iceland, a broad waterfall interrupted in places by rocky sections which, according to legend, represent pagan statues tossed in when Iceland adopted Christianity.
Iceland's Second City
On my fourth night, I reached Akureyri (population 19,000) in north-central Iceland, the largest city outside the capital region. Come morning, I walked the city's center as a cruise ship navigated Eyjafjörður Fjord below snow-draped mountains. I snapped photographs of marine activity and oddities like knitted coverings for trash receptacles. I yearned for good coffee (which I found) but not conversation.
The Viti crater in the Krafla volcanic regionInstead, I strayed from Ring Road, driving an hour northeast among charming farms to Húsavík, a town renowned for whale watching opportunities. I gazed at the various whale watching vessels but opted out. Leaving town, I stopped at a sleek Nordic-styled viewing shelter I'd spotted on the way in. Puffins, I had read, made cameos in the area. Alone, I took in the vista, perfectly content even without glimpsing the elusive bird.
Throughout my visit, I couldn't shake the notion I should pack more into each day. Nature didn't offer a lights-out to signal turning in. Each night, I kept the windows unobstructed, frequently awakening as if to catch the skies gone dark. Didn't happen. On my final night before returning to Reykjavík, I drove from my cabin to the village of Hvammstangi at 12:30 a.m. to see a fjord view of what was technically sunset. Still, a degree of light lingered.
A 360-survey offered Iceland's greatest hits: ocean, beach, mountains and multiple waterfalls. It was so ridiculously beautiful, I laughed.
Trying a Puffin Tour Boat
On my last day beyond Reykjavík, my incredible trip felt slightly incomplete, still puffin-less. I opened my laptop and searched for puffin tours in the capital. Sure enough, there were one-hour sailings on an "old wooden boat," Skúlaskeið, from Old Harbor with "100% guaranteed" puffin sightings at two offshore islands. Ticket booked! The excursion required sharing space with 32 other people, but the tour guide's commentary filled the time until the captain cut the engine.
We watched in silence as hundreds of puffins floated on the water, flew above and nested on the islands' cliffs. We communicated in camera clicks, smiles and finger pointing as the birds' whirring calls provided a soundtrack.
With only my phone camera at hand, none of my shots proved frame-worthy. I pocketed it and watched in delight as the birds busied themselves, oblivious to our presence.
As things turned out, I didn't have to drive in one big loop around the island to get my puffin fix but, oh, what I would have missed.


Iceland for Introverts

Gregory Walters

Inflation is slowing down, hopefully for good. But real interest rates — what you can earn from investing in safe government bonds over and above inflation remain high. Since 2022 real yields on Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS), also known as inflation-indexed bonds, have gone from below zero to roughly 2%. Where savers were once willing to lend their money to the U.S. government in exchange for limiting their loss, they are now being compensated quite handsomely.
The goal is to have the TIPS provide inflation-adjusted income — a combination of interest and principal payments — in each year to meet some or all of your spending needs.Figure 1. Real interest rates have risen dramatically over the past few years
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
For those preparing for or already in retirement, this is especially good news. Buying individual TIPS that mature across different years — a strategy known as building a TIPS ladder – can help you lock in a stream of inflation-adjusted income for as long as 30 years.
Let's put this into perspective. When real rates were 0% back in early 2022, it cost about $1 million to build a TIPS ladder producing $100,000 of inflation-adjusted income each year for the next 10 years. Now, with real rates near 2%, the same decade of $100,000 of annual inflation-adjusted income costs about $900,000.
Think about that for a minute. The same stream of dollars, precisely the same purchasing power, now costs $100,000 less, letting you spend $10,000 more per year.
Your Financial Plan
What does this mean for your financial plan? Now's a good time to build your TIPS ladder. Doing so can help you lock in a higher living standard without taking unnecessary risk.
Let's be more concrete. Consider the Johnsons, a 70-year-old retired couple with $40,000 a year in Social Security income and $2 million in savings, including $1 million in retirement accounts and $1 million in taxable investments. Back in early 2022, when real rates were 0%, if they had created a financial plan using a planning tool such as MaxiFi Planner, an application sold by a company I run when I'm not teaching, they could have built a TIPS ladder to support their spending over the next 30 years. They could safely afford to spend about $49,671 on discretionary spending, adjusted for inflation, each year through age 100. Discretionary spending is spending on top of fixed expenses, like housing, taxes and Medicare premiums.
Now, with real rates at about 2%, the Johnsons, with the exact same financial goals and resources, can safely afford to spend $69,579. In effect, the higher real return on TIPS has safely increased their discretionary spending in retirement by $19,908 every year for life. That is a 40% increase in their standard of living.
Figure 2. Higher real rates have increased how much the Johnsons can safely afford to spend on their living standard
How to Build a TIPS Ladder
In practice, building a TIPS ladder means buying inflation-indexed Treasury bonds of different maturities, either from your regular assets or a brokerage account in your IRA. The goal is to have the TIPS provide inflation-adjusted income — a combination of interest and principal payments — in each year to meet some or all of your spending needs.
Figuring out how much real annual income you need the ladder to produce, and for how long, is probably the most important question to address first. Start by considering how to build a TIPS ladder that produces at least enough income in addition to Social Security (and any other guaranteed income you may have, like a pension or annuity) to cover all your fixed costs in retirement.
Building a ladder is relatively straightforward. Use an online application like Tips Ladder to determine the best bonds for your situation, and then buy those bonds through your discount broker. It can be done in an afternoon — although getting a real human on the phone is usually best.
Let's consider the hypothetical Johnson family again. Between paying their taxes and covering housing and Medicare-related costs in retirement, their annual fixed spending is projected to be about $60,000, adjusted for inflation, for the next 30 years.
Figure 3. The Johnsons expect to spend about $60,000 per year on fixed expenses in retirement
With $40,000 of inflation-adjusted annual Social Security income, this means the Johnsons will require an additional $20,000 of inflation-adjusted annual income for the next 30 years to cover all of their fixed spending ($60,000 – $40,000 = $20,000). At today's real rate of 2%, this will cost them about $450,000. (Note that when TIPS rates were 0%, the equivalent ladder cost $600,000.) If they wanted to cover some portion of their discretionary spending as well — the turquoise bars in figure 3 — they could invest even more into their TIPS ladder.
Upside Investing Basics
Let's say you want to use TIPS to safely cover all of your fixed spending plus some minimum acceptable level of discretionary spending in retirement — what we'll call your living-standard floor. Having locked in this living-standard floor you can now engage in so-called upside investing, by investing your remaining savings in risky assets like stocks.
If the stocks underperform (or go to zero) you can still safely maintain your living-standard floor. And, if they perform as (or better than) expected you can safely increase your living-standard floor each year by converting a portion of the stocks to TIPS over time. Let's consider the Johnsons again.
The Johnsons desire a discretionary spending floor of about $40,000 per year, adjusted for inflation. To accomplish this, in addition to covering all their fixed spending in retirement not already covered by Social Security, they invest about $1.35 million of their savings into a TIPS ladder that produces about $60,000 of annual real income for 30 years ($40,000 to pay for their living-standard floor and $20,000 to cover their residual fixed spending).
Then, they take their remaining $650,000 of savings and invest it in stocks, like a low-cost S&P 500 index fund. Each year they sell a portion of the stock — gradually, so they do not risk exhausting this cushion before they die.
Invest that capital gain in TIPS and you can consistently raise your living-standard floor throughout retirement. If stocks perform poorly (see dark blue line in Figure 4), the Johnsons' living standard floor may not rise much. But, if stocks perform as expected (see light blue line), the Johnsons will be able to spend well above their floor by capturing the upside.
Figure 4. The Johnsons use TIPS to lock in a $40,000 living standard floor, and then invest the rest in stocks, hoping to increase discretionary spending in the future.
In a sense, upside investing is like having your cake and eating it too. By using TIPS to cover your fixed spending and lock-in a desired living-standard floor in retirement, you can safely invest in stocks for their potential upside. The lower you set your living standard floor, the greater is your potential upside, and vice versa.
Summarizing the Strategy
With real (inflation-adjusted) interest rates higher than they've been since the Great Recession, you can now safely afford to spend more without having to take unnecessary risk. This strategy involves building a "TIPS ladder" — that is, a portfolio of individual Treasury Inflation Protected Securities that mature on different dates over the coming years.
Locking-in a stream of real income payments in retirement via a TIPS ladder can both safely cover your fixed spending and create a living standard floor. Surprisingly, this approach can also make investing in stocks less risky from a living standard perspective. By setting a comfortable living-standard floor using TIPS, you can effectively afford to take more risk with your remaining investments in hopes of increasing your living standard throughout retirement.


Retirement Investing Tip: Take a Look at TIPS

Jay Abolofia

Laurence J. Kotlikoff

Wherever I travel, I always visit the local library. Libraries are home to many books, of course, but it's often the library itself that holds the most compelling stories — giving an authentic sense of a place that the tourist attractions often don't.
Anne St. Onge, the director of the Mackinac Island Public Library, reads in front of the fireplaceMy favorite library is a small turquoise jewel, the Mackinac Island Public Library, located on carless (cars are banned) Mackinac Island in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. If awards were ever given for the most bewitching library, we've got a winner. This gem is painted varying shades of vibrant colors —inside walls are bright turquoise and quartz rose pink and the building's exterior is a robin's egg blue — and the views of Lake Huron from the windows are a scene-stealer.
My first and only visit to tiny Mackinac Island (it's about four-square miles) was about 25 years ago in late summer with my seven-year-old son. We enjoyed exploring Revolutionary War-era Fort Mackinac, eating fudge (the island is celebrated for its fudge), our many horse-drawn carriage rides and bicycling to explore the stunning island.
One afternoon, a bike ride took us serendipitously to Mackinac's little library. And it is there that I felt the island's heartbeat. I thought about the incredible significance that this library must have in the cold, long winter months. Most of the shops, restaurants and hotels are closed in the off-season — although there is a bar, Mustang Lounge, that stays open and has for years. 
"Mackinac Island's year-round population fluctuates but is around 492," says Anne St. Onge, director, Mackinac Public Library. "Cardholders include part-time residents, as well as year-round residents for a total of 693."
The library is basically one main reading room, with an antique chandelier that presides when the natural light isn't bathing those bright walls — that chandelier once hung in John Jacob Astor's mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. A smaller room, The Rosa Webb Room, holds the Mackinac Collection, a historic collection of everything Michigan; it is named for the woman who established Mackinac's first library.
My favorite library is a small turquoise jewel, the Mackinac Island Public Library.
Spoiler: "The back porch of the library is everyone's secret spot no one else knows about," says St. Onge. And there are Adirondack chairs there to sit and take in the lake view — and to read, of course.
I was particularly drawn to the library's fireplace, which roars with warmth when the temps don't soar — what a setting for a cozy read. The fireplace is adorned with tiles that are works of art, and above the fireplace is a Shakespeare quote from "The Tempest," which is set on a fairy isle, not unlike Mackinac. It reads, "The isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not."
Like many of the libraries I have visited on my many travels through the years, a free author series is presented, and frequent (sometimes permanent) used book sales — which is also a great secret. Why pack and lug vacation books if you can have fun selecting a couple at your destinations's local library?
"Visitors are not allowed to check out books so we offer a very large area of used books for sale, very popular," says St. Onge.
And, like most libraries, vacationers can participate in activities and programs — for children and adults. In summer, the Mackinac library hosts art shows, puppet shows, even a duct tape workshop, as well as guest presenters who cover many topics and issues including talks about the history of the island. "Visitors in the summer enjoy the many programs we offer," says St. Onge. "Families enjoy the children's area to take a break from the hustle and bustle of Main Street. The chess set is used multiple times a day."
"We even had a sleepover in the library in February three years in a row."
But it is those long winter months that captivated my imagination about the library's significance, especially for the children who live here. "School classes come to the library once a month, circumstances permitting," says St. Onge. "Also popular is Build-it-Day (Legos, cardboard and other building materials) for kids in the winter." In past years, the library also had a Peas in a Pod preschool program. And grade-schoolers also visit on Fridays in the wintertime for an after-school crafts program — cookies and hot cocoa are involved.
"We even had a sleepover in the library in February three years in a row," says St. Onge.
The library offers many of the same services of a mainland library — faxing, printing, copier, Wi-Fi and also subscribes to a few major newspapers (and two local) and 20 magazines, says St. Onge.
"So imagine sitting in the comfy chairs in front of a warm fire listening to the tick of the antique clock and crackle of the fire while you read or knit or, 'oh no, we have a snoring person again,'" says St. Onge. "It truly is a haven for those that visit."
History Lesson
Mackinac Island Public Library has been housed in several locations through the years.
"The first library on Mackinac Island (other than a small one in the Thomas Ferry School) was started in 1936 by the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.)," says St. Onge. "It was started in the Clerks Quarters, of the John Jacob Astor House by Mrs. Rosa R. Webb. That building was torn down in 1957 and the Post Office stands there now."
In 1992, the library's location relocated to its present spot. And another milestone has been technology. "The major change in the library was getting the internet and automated operating system, thus making the old card catalog obsolete," say St. Onge.
Tale of Another City
My second favorite library, the Boston Public Library, is another story entirely, namely because it's located in bright lights, big city Boston (everything being relative) and should be on every traveler's list when visiting the Massachusetts city.
The Boston Public Library (BPL), which debuted in 1848, pioneered the public library service in this country as the first large, free municipal library.
Not surprising in a city that revolutionized America, The Boston Public Library (BPL), which debuted in 1848, pioneered the public library service in this country as the first large, free municipal library; the first public library to lend books; the first to have a branch library; and the first to have a children's room.
And like Mackinac, the library has had several locations. The present Central Library in Copley Square has been home to the library and has served as its headquarters since 1895, when Charles Follen McKim built his 'palace for the people.'
"The BPL has hit many milestones throughout the years," says Bailey Watroba, senior public relations associate, BPL. "We are the first large free municipally funded library in the country. Additionally, in 1870 we opened the first branch library in the United States in East Boston. Today, 26 branches serve the 670,000 residents of the city of Boston. We are also the first library to have a dedicated children's room."
It is the library's lovely courtyard, which opened in 1895, that steals my heart — and many hours of my time — whenever I visit. It is a beauty, with a centerpiece fountain. In fact, in 1986, the National Park Service designated the McKim building a National Historic Landmark, citing it as "the first outstanding example of Renaissance Beaux-Arts Classicism in America with murals by John Singer Sargent and other celebrated artists.
It has also been an unofficial campus for many of the city's urban colleges through the decades. It still is, as well as for "lifelong learners," says Watroba.
"Today's libraries are thriving epicenters of civic engagement."
"When travelers come to the Boston Public Library, they aren't just coming to see a beautiful, historical building," says Watroba, "the experience should also leave them feeling heartened that today's libraries are thriving epicenters of civic engagement."
Likewise, the experience of visiting any local library when traveling — whether it be located on a tiny, carless island or in a big town like Boston — also enriches visitors with local history, culture and a spiritual connection to a place that trolley tours and shiny tourist attractions don't always impart.


Book It

Laurie Bain Wilson

When I turned 60, I thought it was the new 50. My mother was turning 90 and we celebrated together with a 60-90 party. I felt fit, I was at the peak of my career, and my brother asked me what hair color to look for when he picked me up at the airport.
Linda Nanos on her 70th birthday In our sixties, my husband and I agreed that sixty-something didn't feel old, but seventy would. 
Ten years later (a decade sounds longer), 70 doesn't feel like the new anything. I admit part of my mindset was pre-programmed. In our sixties, my husband and I agreed that sixty-something didn't feel old, but seventy would. I told my landlord that my office lease would only go up to my 70th birthday, because I would not have a commercial lease after that; he customized the terms.
This is not all subjective perspective. For most of my childhood, the life expectancy of an adult hovered around 72. I turned seventy-two, defying both my 1950's concepts of aging and the Who's song "My Generation" where Roger Daltrey famously sang that he hoped to die before he grew old. Whether subjective or objective, there are significant life passages that can't be ignored.
The Role of Family Matriarch 
I ascended to the role of family matriarch when my mother passed away six years after we celebrated our 60-90 birthdays. She was the last of her generation and left large shoes to fill. I miss her and all the elders. In the later years of my parents' lives, I had a caregiving role. When they were gone, and my son and daughter were living their own independent lives, I felt a void I needed to fill.
As if hearing my call, my role as matriarch expanded when I had three grandchildren within a three-year span. My husband and I babysit our granddaughter who lives nearby and maintain a close relationship with her. We spend as much time as we can with our grandsons who live out-of-state, whether by flying to them or having them at our home. Staying on top of the grandchildren's milestones is my new focus.
Continuing to maintain my health and be my own caregiver is critical. On airplanes, the instruction is to put on your oxygen mask first. Only in this way can you be of help to those who depend upon you. The need to maintain my own health is not only to be able to be an active part of my grandchildren's lives, but also to be independent and not a burden on my son's and daughter's busy lives.
Health and Wellness 
I always prided myself in not relying on pharmaceuticals, although I took herbs and vitamin supplements. My health has been challenged and I accepted heart medication in my daily regimen. I begin each day with a stretching routine based on the years of yoga practice, to which I added Kegel contractions for organ prolapse and breathing exercises for lung capacity.
Linda Nanos and her grandchild doing yoga togetherI barely passed a respiratory function test following a debilitating bout with bronchitis. I had dark moments with both heart and lungs on the fritz, but I finish my morning routine with affirmations of gratitude and express how I want my life to unfold: with ease. I've stepped up my holistic approach to health with homemade pear sauce served at breakfast, cooked with generous amounts of cardamom and cinnamon, for their health benefits to my heart and lungs.
With physical upkeep taking a more central role, it dovetails with the sale of my professional practice. I work part-time for the new owner which allows me to arrive at 11:00 and have a leisurely start in the morning. It's healthy for me to get up and go to a job because I've worked my entire life, you might even say I was a workaholic, but now I'm working half the hours, and have no overhead responsibilities. It's so much more enjoyable with less pressure. Reduced tension is a key to preserving health at any stage of life, especially as I advance in age.
Central to keeping a positive outlook is devoting more time to passions: mine are writing, birdwatching and reading. Everyone must find their passion. It can be a hobby, or cooking, or pickleball, but there has to be something that calls to you each day to get out of bed. 
I jump start my morning with a cup of coffee and watching the birds peck away at the feeders I fill. My evenings generally include writing articles and working on a book. I always have my next book club selection at my bedside to read.
Keeping up with extended family ties is another source of satisfaction. I send birthday greetings to nieces and nephews and their children. The children receive a token holiday gift from me. Most of them live in different states. Text chains, Wordle group, and Facebook are other ways I stay connected.  My brother and I live nearly 3,000 miles apart, but I made the trek to visit him as a birthday present to myself.
I'm more comfortable than I thought I would be as a white-haired grandmother.
My brother didn't have to ask what color hair to look for when he picked me up at the airport because it's now snow white. That change came about because of the COVID pandemic. While isolated in quarantine, I let my dyed hair grow out. I went through an awkward two-tone stage, but it's a relief to not be spending so much time and money in a salon tending to high-maintenance hair.
I'm more comfortable than I thought I would be as a white-haired grandmother. My physique has changed with age and I'm thankful for a clothing line for mature shapes and for Spandex. My doctor has a relaxed attitude about weight, so long as my numbers are within a normal range.  Admittedly, I have more work to do in this area but there should always be goals to attain.
Taking in the totality of 70, it may not be the new 60, but I'm all right with seventy for what it is: self-care, connection with family, meaningful work, and pursuit of passions. I'm laying the course for my passage through this decade.



So This Is 70

Linda Goor Nanos

Ethel Krinsky wants me dead.
Not right away. Not until I put down a $3,500 deposit on my burial plot.
Ethel also wants all my financial information: bank accounts, stocks, bonds, IRAs and all my revenue streams. I'm surprised she hasn't asked for my passwords. I assume that's coming.
"I figured funeral/burial shopping would be easy, and I told Amy I'd handle it."Ethel seems like a caring woman, but I can't help but wonder about the commission she'll make on my death. After all, Ethel is in the funeral business. And unlike my Toyota dealer, she doesn't have return customers. With Ethel, I'm one and done.
"Too far. Too country. I'm a city guy."
Until my friend Davy died suddenly of a heart attack, I hadn't seriously considered my final resting place. Davy was the first friend I made when I moved to LA in 1979. He was my confidant, racquetball partner, breakfast buddy and a man I admired and loved.
After his funeral, I began to think more seriously about the day when either I, or my wife, Amy, dies. I figured funeral/burial shopping would be easy, and I told Amy I'd handle it.
"What about where Davy's buried?" she asked. "It's beautiful."
"Too far. Too country. I'm a city guy."
To my surprise, I found a cemetery minutes from our house that checked four boxes: Jewish cemetery, urban setting, offering green burials, convenient for my kids to visit.
When I told Amy, she told me she'd always thought she'd be cremated and have her ashes spread off Cape Cod, but as we were driving to the cemetery, she said, "Turns out cremation's bad for the environment."
"Well, I'm not getting cremated. The Jewish tradition doesn't allow it."
"You don't keep any of the traditions," she argued. "I'm keeping that one," I said.
Paging Through Information 
Ethel Krinsky greeted us, handed us masks and information booklets and we began to talk. As she and Amy discussed green burials, I flipped through the booklet to get my bearings.
Basic Services: $4,000
Caskets: Price range - $1,250 to $15,000
Video Montage: $700. I figured I'd pick out some still photos in advance and ask my daughter to bring them to the service and place them in the entryway, next to the:
Register Book: $225
Shomer: $30 an hour (12-hour minimum) $360. The shomer sits with the body and prays. I don't need anyone sitting with me. I'm not going to be going anywhere.
Eventually Ethel handed us off to Dov, and we followed him outside, over to the green burial section. The cemetery was as expansive and manicured as the loveliest golf courses; the green burial area, the size of a pickleball court, was tucked far away, at the edge of the property.
I immediately liked it. It was green, and it felt tranquil and private, feelings I'm always after.  
Left With Many Questions 
Dov, a kind, middle-aged man, smiled at us as he spoke admiringly of the ecological benefits of green burials. I was ready to sign when Amy pointed at the wall across the way. "Tell us about that," she said.
"Compartments at eye level start at $17,000. As you move up or down the wall, the price decreases."
It was a wall crypt divided into hundreds of compartments that looked like safety deposit boxes. "For those who choose cremation, your urn can be stored here," Dov said. "Compartments at eye level start at $17,000. As you move up or down the wall, the price decreases."
"So for the top row where someone has to climb a ladder to slide in the urn?" Amy asked.
"Twelve thousand."
I looked at Amy, wondering how she was feeling but not wanting to ask until we were alone. Still, I had to be honest.
"I love the green burial," I said. "No pine box. Just a shroud. Simple. Dust to dust. I love that. How much for a green burial?"
"Two prices," Dov said. "Depending on whether you wish to have an individual plot or a double."  
"Next to each other?" Amy asked.
"One on top of the other," Dov explained.
"So, if I die first, I get the bottom bunk?" I asked. "Exactly, and it's cost effective," Dov smiled.
Amy and I both cocked our heads. "How much?"
"40,000 for one plot, $60,000 for a double."
Amy and I had been holding hands, and now, for the first time, I squeezed hers. It was a signal for "Let's go."  
As we drove home, we were quiet until I blurted out, "Forty for one. Sixty for two. They're bundling. Like Spectrum or T-Mobile."
I've lived in LA for 44 years, but that day I understood that I can live here, but I can't die here —not without dropping fifty grand on a small piece of land I can't build on.
Ever since our cemetery tour, Amy and I have been discussing our options. We've talked about my family's plot in Houston, but I spent my entire youth trying to get out of Houston, and I'm not going back. We've talked about Amy's family's plot in Cleveland, but I've never been a cold weather guy. 
And besides, whichever of us survives the other will have to arrange transporting the other's body halfway across the country, while mourning. Seems complicated, expensive and sad. The whole point of this pre-planning was to ease the burden on the surviving partner. Alas, we've hit a wall.
For our ages, 72 and 71, we're in excellent health, but we both know that could change in a flash. And if and when either of us faces a serious health problem — which seems inevitable —care will impact our finances, and everything else.
A Familiar Option 
Recently, Ethel Krinsky called to check in. I told her we were still discussing, but that her place was too expensive. She suggested the cemetery where her friend, Ailene, works. It's the place my pal Davy is buried.
And maybe, this is where we'll eventually end up. Our plots, side by side, facing a mountain, way out of town.
Ethel gave me Ailene's number, and when I called she crooned about their acres of beautiful space. "Wherever you're standing on our property, you have a mountain view. And we have many options, in many price ranges," she said.
"So I hear."   
"Next time you come to pay respect to your friend, please drop by my office."
"Thanks. We will," I said.
Ailene's place doesn't check all the boxes, but Amy and I are planning to drive there, place a stone on Davy's headstone, walk around. I'll talk about how much I miss my friend, how his loss has left a hole in my heart.
Amy and I will hold hands and check out the mountain views and read the engravings on people's headstones. And maybe, this is where we'll eventually end up. Our plots, side by side, facing a mountain, way out of town. Near my best friend. 


To Live, but Not Die, in LA

Dennis Danziger

Of all the latest books about retirement, you'd be hard pressed to find two more different than these: Teresa Ghilarducci's "Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy" and Mark Walton's "Unretired: How Highly Effective People Live Happily Ever After."
Next Avenue thought it would be interesting to bring those authors together on Zoom and let them share their perspectives. So, we did.
"Successful unretired people not only love their work, they're fascinated with it. It naturally pulls them forward."Turns out, Ghilarducci, a progressive New School economics professor, and Walton, an award-winning journalist and leadership educator, agree on several aspects of retirement in America but have alternative takes on working in retirement.
Ghilarducci explained that her research shows that working in retirement is more difficult than many experts have insisted. She sees an ugly retirement crisis, particularly among older lower-income and minority adults. For his book, Walton interviewed chipper people working in retirement who he calls "knowledge executives and professionals."
Here are highlights from the conversation Next Avenue contributor Richard Eisenberg had with Ghilarducci, who was attending the recent American Society on Aging conference in San Francisco, and Walton, who spoke from his Palm Springs, California, home:
Defining Retirement Today
Next Avenue: What do you think the word 'retirement' means these days?
Teresa Ghilarducci: Retirement is a highly personal decision and varies by socioeconomic class, race, gender and luck. What I discovered is that most people who say they are retired were pushed out or laid off or had to leave because of their health, their sense of declining abilities or their spouse's care needs.
What did you and your research colleagues find about people working in retirement?
"Retirement is a highly personal decision and varies by socioeconomic class, race, gender and luck."
Ghilarducci: We found that when people said they were retired but also worked part-time, those jobs were often temporary and more likely to be lower paid than their career jobs, somewhat substantially.
We also found that 20% of people between 62 and 70 were working, but also collecting Social Security. So, it meant that instead of using work to delay and get a higher Social Security benefit, they were using Social Security to supplement their low wages.
You wrote that every time you congratulate someone on their retirement, you hear what you call 'shame, tinged explanations.' What's going on there?
Ghilarducci: I think that only happens in America, where the word 'retirement' denotes disuse and uselessness. There is this idea that if you can work, you have value. And there is a sense that if anybody has a pension, they're greedy geezers. So, there's shame about earned leisure.
A Unique American View
If you ask a 67-year-old woman if she's retired, she hangs her head in shame and says, 'Well, yeah, kind of, but I really am doing something.' And then she makes a list of all the productive things she does. Whereas a French woman at 67 puts on her red lipstick, her scarf and says, 'Yes, I'm retired and I'm going out to lunch.'
Mark, how do you define retirement and unretirement?
Walton: I tend to use the layman's definition that working is working, whether it's full-time or part-time, and being retired is not working.
Your book is called "Unretired." What does that word mean to you?
Walton: It means working. I would guess that perhaps 30% of the folks I interviewed are working part-time of their own choice; the rest are working full-time.
Teresa's research is primarily about folks who would like to retire at some point but cannot, and may not ever be able to, afford it. They need to work. Mine is about people who could afford to retire for the most part and have no interest in it.
Retirement and Personal Identity
Mark, you wrote, 'the more successful you've been in your career, especially financially, the more likely you are to feel like a failure in retirement.' Why is that?
Walton: It's a matter of loss. Losing your identity in a traditional retirement is extraordinarily painful.
Ghilarducci: Can I add to that? I was going to name this book 'In Praise of Retirement,' but it became more complicated than that ... If you retire, you have to decide who you are without a boss or the identity of your job. I think it's a very sensitive period.
That's the growth work we have to do. You don't need a boss to structure your day or to create personal interactions. It's self-knowing in the service of growth. When people do that, it doesn't really matter if they're employed or not.
Mark, what makes for a successful unretirement?
Walton: What I found is that there are three building blocks: fascination, flow and generativity.
Successful unretired people not only love their work, they're fascinated with it. It naturally pulls them forward.
Highest Form of Happiness
By putting the fascination to work, they experience flow — the highest form of human happiness, according to Greeks.
And then, there's paying it forward and being generative.
Ghilarducci: That's nice. What I want is for everyone to have a pension so they can sit down at a certain age and decide: 'What fascinates me? What gives me flow? What gives me generativity?'
If you don't have time to do that, you die in your boots or you die struggling.
Teresa, your book's subtitle is 'The uncertainty of retirement in the new economy.' What does that mean?
Ghilarducci: There's an uncertainty, a desperation that you'll never be able to retire. And the new uncertainty lifts up the growing reality-based anxiety that we cannot afford to grow old in America.
A Gigantic Experiment
The new economy is the product of the last 40 years of experiments providing economic security. One place we experimented is in pensions and retirement. We loaded in a lot of insecurity into those systems.
401(k)s?
Ghilarducci: Yes, and not helping pension plans flourish where they could. Congress was struggling to give more and more tax incentives to employers and employees to have a retirement plan. But the only people that respond to that are the very wealthy. So, you had this growing inequality.
The other part of the uncertainty of unretirement is the appalling difference in longevity by socioeconomic class.
When I read your two books, I felt they were polar opposite views about working longer and working in retirement. Mark was very optimistic and Teresa was pretty pessimistic. Would you characterize it that way or do you think I've got it all wrong?
Ghilarducci: It really is a tale of two retirements.
Walton: Absolutely. I would say my book is optimistic for people who can afford to seize the opportunity of continuing to work at things that fascinate them as long as they want to.
Teresa, you have this phrase in your book, 'the working longer consensus.' And I felt guilty as I was reading it because I feel like I'm part of that. The consensus is comprised of people who've said: 'We just need to work longer and that'll take care of retirement insecurity and solve retirement crisis.' But you're not buying it.
Ghilarducci: Yeah. My friend, the economist Alicia Munnell, wrote a book saying that if everybody just extended their work life one or two more years, they could make it. I've spent years refuting that assumption, asking: 'It works on the spreadsheet, but does it work in practice?' And I found that for most people it doesn't work.
Working Longer Doesn't Work
That's because of age discrimination and health issues for older workers?
Ghilarducci: Yes. Most will get pushed out. Even when people work longer, their wages are so low because wages have not kept up. They have to collect their Social Security. They've had to draw down their 401(k)s.
So, all the good things that come from working — delaying Social Security collecting and saving more — aren't happening for most of the people who are working.
"Everyone I've spoken to who is unretired tells me the same thing about themselves: They feel better."
Mark, you found that working in retirement was making unretired people happier and maybe healthier.
Walton: Everyone I've spoken to who is unretired tells me the same thing about themselves: They feel better. They consider themselves to be healthier and expect to be healthy for however long they continue to work.
But Teresa, studies you wrote about found that people working in retirement often run into worse physical and mental health issues than before. Can you talk about that?
Ghilarducci: If you're forced to work because of economic necessity past 62, you are more likely to hasten your morbidity and your mortality. There does seem to be a straight line to that.
It's especially true for women because they're often in physically difficult jobs — home health care, warehouse work. If you have had those kinds of jobs and that socioeconomic status, you're more likely to have some metabolic disorder. The class inequities just accumulate.
Proposing a Gray New Deal
Teresa, you've proposed The Gray New Deal to help people retire better or work in retirement if they want to. What is that?
Ghilarducci: The Gray New Deal requires worker training and Medicare being paid to people who are aged 60 or 65. But the most important thing to make work better is to make pensions better. We have to have universal access to a pension plan.
You want guaranteed retirement accounts where every employer would be required to offer a retirement plan that they and their employees would contribute to, right?
"Reflect on what fascinated you in your 20s and 30s ... that might be the basis of your future success."
Ghilarducci: I've updated that because that's hard. Democrats are for it; Republicans are against it. But Republicans are for a modification where everybody who doesn't have a plan will be in a government plan. We won't force the employers to do anything.
The Republicans changed my mind. That's actually a good idea. Just get the employers out of it and just have the government provide an account on top of Social Security.
Teresa and Mark: What's your advice for people in their 50s and 60s about retirement or working retirement?
Ghilarducci: Do a risk assessment of whether or not you can stay in the labor market in your 60s. Your Plan B should be very strong.
Walton: The advice I've heard from people who have continued to work is that somewhere around 60-something, it's helpful to reflect on what fascinated you in your 20s and 30s that you may have given up to do whatever it is you did to become a doctor or a lawyer or a stockbroker.
That might be the basis of your future success. Take it seriously.


A Spirited Exchange About Working in Retirement

I tuck my jacket, shoes and bag in the cubby room and walk out with a mat, towel and water bottle. The intense heat envelops my body as soon as I open the door to the dark quiet room. I find a spot on the second row and roll out a pink mat, a hand-me-down from a friend. I lay on my back in savasana, a meditative pose in restorative yoga.
People begin yoga for many reasons – pain management, strength building, stretching and flexibility – but the social aspect may be an understated benefit.Weeks before running a half marathon in November 2023, pain in my feet and legs concerned me. An assessment pointed to arthritis, tight hips and a serious need to stretch my hamstrings. At about the same time, my running partner asked if I wanted to join her in a yoga class – they were offering a special for the month of October. She could bring a friend to class for free.
Worry about the aches and pains I was suffering superseded my nervousness about going to a yoga studio.
Although she'd been a member of this hot yoga studio since the beginning of 2023, I always said no when she asked me to join her. This time, I said yes. Worry about the aches and pains I was suffering superseded my nervousness about going to a yoga studio. I attended a slow, deep stretch class with her.
Nothing about the experience was what I expected. The preconceived notions in my head – young women with thin bodies wearing expensive yoga clothing mastering every pose in perfectly manicured feet – were replaced with a diverse group of people, men and women from various backgrounds, with all body shapes at different places in their yoga practice. I was wrong about everything. I became a member that day and have been practicing yoga four and sometimes five times a week.
Yoga's history is rooted in India and dates to more than 5000 years ago. The practice became popular in Western culture in the 1970s and has steadily increased. In 2021, 34.4 million or 10% of the population practiced yoga in the United States. Despite my assumptions, they're not all young and experienced: 38% of yoga practitioners are over 50 years old  and 39% of practitioners consider themselves at the beginner level.
Getting Started With Yoga 
My friend made it easy for me to find a yoga studio, but with more than 48,000 yoga studios in the country, how do you narrow down the choices? Louis Bryant, a registered yoga teacher, has taught at 15 different studios in the U.S. including I Am Yoga Buffalo and Evolution Yoga Buffalo in Buffalo, New York, and many others through his company, Americasana, a national teaching and community service initiative.
Bryant recommends exploring studios close to home or on the way to work. Look online or call to ask about what types of classes are offered and the level of experience needed for each one. Learn about the instructors and how they're trained. If you need a shower, an accessible entrance or want to bring a chair into the class for stability, find out the information before you head to the studio.
Try a few classes to see which ones you enjoy, Bryant says. Once you arrive, take note of how you feel: Do you feel welcomed into the community? Are there classes you want to attend?
"The social aspect has as much an impact as the physical one. It can be another community where you can find connections and feel valued."
Often, online marketplaces such as Groupon and LivingSocial offer deals, and some studios promote a package such as 20 days for $30 with unlimited classes during a specific period. ClassPass gives users the option to studio-hop within the region.
Unexpected Benefits of Yoga
In January, when one of the studio members asked to swap phone numbers, I was pleasantly surprised. People begin yoga for many reasons – pain management, strength building, stretching and flexibility – but the social aspect may be an understated benefit. Most yoga studios provide a lobby with seating for people to gather while waiting for a class. If you go into the experience with the intention of meeting new people, you might find a community of friends.
"The social aspect has as much an impact as the physical one," Bryant said. "It can be another community where you can find connections and feel valued."
Dave White in Mooresville, North Carolina, joined a yoga studio in 2008, when he was 52 years old. He'd been searching for a way to get in better shape but more importantly, clear his mind of worry. The recession hit his company hard, and he needed an outlet for stress.
"When I come out of class, things are more in perspective."
"It allows me to focus on my practice and not think about the other pressures in the world outside of that environment for 45 minutes," White said. "When I come out of class, things are more in perspective."
Whatever Will I Wear? 
After my first class at the yoga studio, I Googled, "yoga etiquette," to understand the protocols in these unfamiliar surroundings. The immediate change I made was swapping out my oversized beach towel for a yoga mat towel to keep from sliding during poses. My wide leg yoga pants and tank tops from running worked fine until I was ready to invest in yoga clothing.
Barbara Agnello, co-owner operator at High Frequency Loft in Taos, New Mexico, has been practicing yoga for 25 years. The right fit and texture in your clothing may keep you supported and safe, she said. Hoods and loose clothing could make practicing more difficult. Some men wear swim trunks and take off their shirts for a hot or vigorous class, depending on studio policy.
"I strongly recommend that whatever people are going to wear, try it at home first," Agnello said. "Play around. Move your body and see if what you're wearing is going to restrict you, constrict you, make you uncomfortable and get in the way."
"People think you have to automatically be the most flexible person in order to practice. I think that is a big misconception about yoga."
At the High Frequency Loft, staff welcome a new student with a tour and assess the needs of the student. "When I have someone new come in, I ask them if it's their first time at the studio or is it their first time at yoga," Agnello explained. "Then I can gauge how much I need to tell them. Do I need to tell them the particulars of my space or do I need to give them the whole 101 lesson?"
Agnello's go-to etiquette list includes showing up on time, being quiet inside the room they hold class, not wearing shoes inside the room and refrain from applying heavy perfumes or lotions before class.
Bring your own mat, yoga towel (for hot yoga), water bottle and a hand towel because they're personal items that will touch your body parts, Agnello said. Although studios typically rent mats for a small fee, if you think you'll continue practicing, consider buying one.
Expectations of the Practitioner 
My inflexibility, both physically and mentally, has been a running joke with my husband for decades. Besides being among young women who can fold like pretzels, I was most worried about looking like a fool. I can't touch my toes, and I wasn't familiar with all the yoga poses.
"People think you have to automatically be the most flexible person in order to practice," said Jenna Reynolds, co-owner of Arrichion in Charlotte, North Carolina. "I think that is a big misconception about yoga."
Classes are set up for students to succeed. The instructor demonstrates in the front of the room, suggesting modifications for poses. Yoga blocks, straps or even a longer towel may be helpful to modify poses to make them accessible to everyone. The practitioner receives the benefits but without overstraining or overstretching, Reynolds says.
"Making something accessible to you and your body, that's what it's all about," Reynolds said. "You have to do what feels good for you."


Everyone's Welcome: Joining a Yoga Studio After 50

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