Opinion

Our Contributing Editor, Bob DeBroux, takes us through a wonderfully written, and well-researched account of the benefits of burning-the-midnight-oil or awakening at the crack-of-dawn. Whatever your preference, it seems we're looking at a coin-flip in what might be most productive for some people. In either case, thanks to Bob, we now have a new word we can add to our vocabulary, “chronotypes”; so it's best to read this article to find out what chrono is your type. 

Our founder and Editor-in-Chief, Tom Marks, writes about his father's relationship with Orville Redenbacher. It's a story chock-filled with humor, sadness, and lessons galore that every person can learn from. 

Everyone. 

Spoiler Alert: It's a long story but well-worth your time to read it. In fact, if it was a short story in book form, you'd be turning the pages faster than you can say, "More popcorn, please". Read it, share it, learn from it. 

Transitioning into retirement, as we know from many of our authors, isn't always smooth sailing. In this article, our Contributing Editor, Alan Bergstrom, has many words of wisdom that he shares with us regarding his own struggles with transitioning into retirement, and some characteristics that are important for us to consider. This is worth the read!

Our Guest Contributor, Tom Pattison, writes to us, and for us, about his phases of retirement. It's an interesting perspective as Tom walks us through (hmm, maybe crawls us through) the phases that he remembers and the phases he's looking forward to. Thank you Tom. 

Our Contributing Editor, Paul Rudersdorf, who we favor as "Peaceful Paul", has a framed writing of the Dali Lama resting on his end table, which isn't actually Paul's end table, if you know Paul. Unlike The Rolling Stones, who couldn't get no satisfaction, Paul's the opposite. He's got satisfaction and he's on a roll. We're thankful Paul is never more than a stone's throw from some truly wonderful insights. 

Our Contributing Editor, Bill Marks, didn't plan for retirement. Even at nearly 72 years old, he has no plans to retire, un-retire, transition, work less, work harder, or coast on the west coast. Maybe his plan is a plan after all. It's just that the "after" might not be at "all."

Our Contributing Editor, Mike LaBarbera, has a bit of advice for our children and even our children's children. Money doesn't grow on trees and that's a deeply-rooted fact. Teach them young just as our parents taught us. But hopefully, we won't grow older with a Great Depression hanging over our heads as it did our parents. That was a life-lesson for the ages. 

Our Contributing Editor, and broadcast Hall-of-Famer, Jim Arnold, has retired three times. He doesn't regret a single retirement decision and has found "peace" in his choices. Why wouldn't he? After all, his legendary broadcasting career began with his radio on-air name, "Sunny Jim Arnold".

Ken Cook, our Contributing Editor introduces us to his wonderful and captivating story about life with his father. It's a poignant lesson for all of us, and a real life "heads-up" of what can happen without proper retirement planning. 

Our Contributing Editor, Alan Bergstrom, has some contributions about what you should do when the rug is pulled-out from under you. Particularly when you're inches away from retirement. It's not a position any of us ever want to be in, but Alan walks us through some Plan Bs that he's finding to be essential. 

It was purported, although never confirmed, that Frank Sinatra owned as many as 100 tuxedos. It was confirmed, however, that Frank did say, "The tuxedo is not a piece of clothing. It's a way of life." The Chairman-of-the-Board also said, with great humility, "I am a thing of beauty." Today, our very own Marc Kadish asks the question, at 81 years old, if he needs a new tux.

Transitioning into retirement might not be easy for everyone. MJ Simpson gets personal with her challenges. And you have the opportunity to get personal with MJ by lending her a hand, and some of your great advice.