A leadership consultant and trainer for 40 years, Roberta Streimer “retired” in 2021 to work with people nearing retirement or already retired who want to live fully in the next phase of their lives. She is teaching “Your Next Phase: Making the Most of Your Retirement” with us this fall.
People put so much thought into saving for retirement — but not always into what comes after. Why do you think that is?
Great question and, like everything in this workshop, it depends on the person.
Many workshop participants say they’ve lived busy, full lives. They've raised families, launched their kids, been working for decades and now phasing out of their career, been active in their communities, have cared for aging parents. They’ve been so immersed in life that they haven’t had time to think about retirement, let alone plan for it.
Many say it’s overwhelming and time-consuming to search through online resources to navigate retirement, and there’s so much information out there that it’s hard to know where to begin. So they don’t.
And many are thinking about the future and have never asked themselves, "What do I want for me?"
This workshop is an opportunity to pause and reflect on key questions about the future: "What is the life I want to live? Who do I want to be? What’s important and meaningful and matters most to me? How can I organize my time and life so I live fully and with less stress? How do I take action on my own behalf?”
My belief is that participants enroll in the workshop because they’ve saved for retirement and now want to think about how to make the most of their own next phase, especially given that time is so precious.
What’s the first thing that tends to surprise people in class?
What people discover in the first session is that they're not alone. I ask participants to briefly share why they’ve enrolled, and everyone soon realizes that others have similar concerns about retirement — they don't yet know what they want, they don’t know what’s possible, they’re anxious about navigating their own path, and worried about making a wrong decision. The workshop quickly takes on an informal, relaxed energy where people listen and share and learn from each other and feel supported. It’s wonderful to witness.
Retirement isn't just one moment in time. How do you work with people in different phases of it, whether they’re preparing to retire or are years into it?
People preparing for retirement are often ambivalent. As they wind down to their retirement date, they’re often concerned about leaving what's familiar and structured, what they've done forever, what they've loved doing, what has become their identity and reputation. They also long for the wide open time that being retired will bring to their lives and wonder, with excitement and trepidation, what’s out there for them and how they’ll fill that time.
And there are participants years into their retirement who've done what they set out to do, enjoyed it all thoroughly, and now wonder, "OK, what else?"
They’ve mastered the things they wanted to learn once they left the work world, and they’re looking around for something new, something age appropriate, something that will bring out their best selves.
What participants in these two groups share in common is that they're each seeking something else. They have the appetite to keep learning, growing, contributing, and the willingness and resources to explore.
The oldest participant I’ve had in this workshop was 84 years young. When I asked him, “What brings you to this workshop?,” he said, "I love to learn, and I'm always looking for something new!"
What inspired you to create the course?
After decades as an organizational consultant, leadership trainer and workplace mediator, I came to a point where I felt “DONE”. I loved my work, but the pandemic had so drastically changed the workplace that I realized that I didn’t want to adapt to the new world of work, and that it was time for me to bring my career to a close. Like so many workshop participants, I had the means to retire, but I had no clear idea of what I would do and how I would live life if I didn’t work.
During this time, I discovered many of my clients, colleagues and friends were having similar thoughts. They were approaching the “I’m done” decision and yet did not have a clear idea of what would come next. I realized what I was experiencing is quite common; people with the appetite to continue to learn and grow and experience life often do not have a clear vision for their future.
And so, I created this course. Not to start a new career, but to do something I truly love to do, which is design and teach courses that help people navigate life.
My job as the instructor is not to give participants the answers, but to serve up lots of ideas to ponder, then create a safe space for discussion, and provide resources that widen everyone’s view of what’s out there to explore, and then, encourage participants to come up with next steps, small or large, that feel right and realistic for them.
What do you hope people walk away with?
The workshop is an exploratory experience. I hope people walk away with tools and resources that help them discover new things about themselves and remember the things they used to love to do.
I also hope they feel emboldened to experiment, take some steps, create some momentum for themselves.
And finally, I hope they enjoy the experience of being with like-minded people who are kind and supportive and open to learning.