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Retirement 101….

Posted on September 30, 2017 by kwundrow

First step, Plan less. Second step, slow down. So I am into the third step but not yet sure what to call it. I would always tell my clients that the first phase of retirement should be thought of as a vacation. The primary reason for this was the fact that vacations accomplish two things. First, they disconnect us from work. We need to stop reading the emails for a while and stop worrying about the day to day connection we feel at the work place. Second, they come to an end. As much as we want them to not do that, the reality is they do. While we are working we are controlled by the time clock, the requirements of the job and the need for the paycheck. In retirement those elements are gone. If we just retired to retire, there would be this tendency to never do anything again. The permanent vacation. Desirable image but not the reality anyone would truly live or thrive in. The need to move on dictates the need for the vacation to end.

So I am nearing the end of the first phase of my vacation. It has been incredibly relaxing and stress reducing. But here is the key. I have no intention of replacing one stress with another. I simply need to move into the next phase. I have always been about helping people meet their goals. I have spent a lifetime learning my trade and perfecting its processes. The next phase in my retirement will now involve me finding outlets through which I can continue to practice my trade, my purpose. The difference, no time clock, no job definition, no employer….no obligation.

So I am ready to name it. Retirement tip number three… wait for it… be picky. Once it is clear that your obligations have been removed and as your vacation phase is coming to an end, it is time to explore your outlets. But be picky. This is now your time and your choice. You have spent a career, actually a lifetime developing your purpose. Do not waste it …. nurture it. Stress free, passion driven, purposeful life. A zillion opportunities await from volunteering to entrepreneurship. Look for those that serve your need. Avoid obligation. Be picky. The future IS really yours.

And Suddenly I’m the Client

Posted on September 8, 2017 by kwundrow

For twenty years I served my clients as their financial planner. I tried to encourage them to stay patient with the market, not to over react to news stories, try to resist constantly checking the market and take everything you read with a grain of salt. I felt I was reasonably successful in getting my clients to adhere to these principals.

That was up to three weeks ago. Then I completed my retirement process and packed up my office and went home. Since my investments were placed and came with the luxury of a financial planner / guide, my accounts, like my clients’ accounts, were assigned to my replacement rep in my now former employer’s firm. And just like that, I was no longer the planner. I had suddenly become the client.

Now the question is, how will I behave? Will I heed my own advice or I will fall prey to the human nature that drives all of us? The first week turned out fine. I was able to just sit back and savor my new role. However, by the second week the background noise began to nag at the back of my mind. After all, there was hurricane Harvey and then Hurricane Irma, and as an added little teaser, North Korea. There were just so many things to worry about. In no time flat, I was asking for report access to my accounts so that I could look at them when ever I needed. Oh hell, admit it, whenever I couldn’t resist. I was one step away from becoming irrational. I was just one more bad headline, one more strategically placed piece of advice, and I would be calling my financial planner with the old “do you think we should be doing anything?’.

Here is the good news. I did heed my own advice. At least so far. I didn’t call my planner. I didn’t move things around. I didn’t even stop my auto investment from going through. I simply reminded myself that my long money was truly my long money and needed the patience and time it needed to reward me. Likewise, I knew that I had kept an appropriate amount out of the market and that despite a terribly low rate of return, reminded myself that safety and availability were the key goals for that money.

It is hard to be the client. It is certainly your right to use the copilot you brought along on your flight to financial freedom and to call on them every time there is a perceived crisis. It is their job to expect it and to be prepared to do what is necessary to calm your fears and keep you on track. When necessary, they need to be there to make the adjustments that will keep you on track.

I am glad to say that my planner knows how to do that. After all, I taught him everything he knows. Well maybe some of what he knows. Being the planner or being the client, what is important is to appreciate the dual responsibility that makes it work. No investor should have to go it alone and no planner can be responsible for all aspects of the process. The role of a great planner is to deliver service that feels like the best experience possible and the knowledge and communication necessary to keep the investor disciplined. The role of the client, is to exercise patience and to realize their responsibility to stay engaged in the process.

Trust is a critical emotion, but when the planner understands the client and the client understands their role, it is the one key ingredient in the relationship that makes the recipe successful. I loved being the planner and I am going to do my best to be a great client, but I would be less than truthful if I didn’t tell you it is an interesting transition.

I’m now your client Taylor. Keep me calm and I promise to behave.

Retirement 101….the three “tions”

Posted on September 5, 2017 by kwundrow

I have been telling my clients for years, I should say had been telling my clients (I will need to get used to that), that there were three “tions” (shuns) that make for a successful retirement.

The first tion is “vacation”. Every retirement should start with a vacation. Vacations are designed to let us disconnect from work. While we are enjoying our vacation we generally stop thinking about work. Some will be able to resist that temptation to look at their emails and voice mails and others will actually stop thinking about work altogether. The key to taking this first period as a vacation, is that vacations are always going to come to an end. This is not to say that the retiree can’t think of everyday from here on in as vacation, but its just not a reality. Life will pull us back in and that is where the next tion comes in.

While on vacation, I asked my clients to realize the next tion and that is “obligation”. For the retiree that obligation they felt each workday morning is now gone. There is no obligation any more. The retiree has the right to say yes to those things they wish to do and no to those they don’t. They can do things for money if they want, but they are not obligated to needing to be paid. Volunteering becomes something that now replaces punching the clock. And remember, volunteering means if and when I want to.

The third tion is “passion”. The biggest fear in retirement is wasting away. This is why the vacation can’t last forever and the only true obligation, is to oneself to find and exercise their passion. I have often asked people to tell me what they do that they are passionate about. The answer is often a description of the job they did in their career. But this is only what they did and not why they did what they did the way the did. I would have them think of a recent day at work where they came home with that smile nothing could wipe off. I then would ask them to visualize what they were doing that day. It is in that action that they will find their passion. Now it is their goal to exercise that passion in the things they do with their retirement. The beauty is that they have no obligations in their way and all the time they want to dedicate to their passion. They only need the outlet in which to express it.

So where am I in all of this? Have I heeded my own words. I have had the vacation or should say I am in week three of it and electing to stay on it for a little longer. I have definitely started enjoying the lack of obligation. I have even said no a couple of times already and for anyone truly familiar with me, they know I never really was good at that. So I am exploring my passion. I know what my passion is, see my earlier blog “Life as a Labyrinth”. I am now working on its expression. I know I have some opportunities to mentor, and maybe even some consulting, but I am ordained to being selective even picky about for whom and how that might happen. I am trying to balance my need to fulfill my passion with not becoming obligated into making it another career. For now I am content to talk with anyone who would listen to anything they want to talk about. Maybe I should just offer some retirement seminars. The art of successful retirement made easy. Stay tuned as even I am not sure where this is going. I only know I intend to savor the ride.

Retirement 101

Posted on September 1, 2017 by kwundrow

I guess my first lesson in retirement 101 was to plan less, see my earlier blog “Ah…Retirement, the sweet smell of Success” as well as “Retirement…What’s a guy going to do”. Everyone will want to know what you are going to do in retirement. Some will want to know out of worry that you may waste away while others I suspect are jealous and would like to scare you into staying on. If you oblige everyone with a plan list, you soon find out that the list gets too long and starts to include things even you don’t want to do. The less you plan the better you will be.

My second lesson now comes with the seasoning of almost two weeks of official retirement under my belt. And here it is, there’s just no need to rush. Remember that list, even though I advised against, I did have one and admit it so do you. Realize that you have a lifetime remaining to knock it out. Don’t hurry. Not only will there be plenty of time to tackle it, you never got to them before and you continued to operate just fine. That messy closet; it always was. Those little projects; still didn’t change your life. All those books you needed to read; you still carried on just fine without their content. Not only were you able to survive previously having not yet done them, you will need to lean on these little projects to get out of the big ones you don’t want to do later. Every gambler knows, never play your hold cards before you have to.

I personally lucked out on my first day. I was hundreds of miles from home watching a total eclipse of the sun. Not only was I unavailable to start any of the items on the forbidden list, I was too engrossed in the day to even worry about them. No one was going to speed up the moon so that I could get back to the list. In fact, watching it unfold was an epiphany of sorts. The beauty was in the gradualness of it all and that became my symbol of just how retirement ought to unfold. I left the day come to me and I took in what it had to offer. No rush, no deadlines, just an opportunity to relax into the moment.

There is no telling if there will be a series here so take advantage of these two pieces of advice as soon as you can. For those still awaiting retirement, know this, it is in fact scary going into it, don’t pretend you either didn’t or won’t harbor a few concerns, but the stress falloff is a treat. I suspect these first two weeks have extended my life by a year each. So plan less and don’t rush anything. Take your time. The more you follow this treatise, the more time you just might have to do all those things you never had time to do before.

Aaron Rodgers said it best “R.E.L.A.X”. He did and then so did we.

Twenty years and one box

Posted on August 16, 2017 by kwundrow

As I sit here looking over my office of the last twenty years, I see bookcases full of professional books and file cabinets full of years worth of files and lots of memorabilia filling the room. And yet when I leave in four short days, I know that what I will take with me, will for the most part fit in a single box. It is amazing how so much of one’s life can be boiled down to its essence. When I leave for the last time, I will take with me a couple of these books and most of the memorabilia, but I will also take with me so much more that doesn’t need a box, the memories.

I have worked twenty years building these memories and over the past year I have revisited them countless times through the stories shared with my clients as I slowly closed this chapter of my career. What has left me grateful is the affirmation that I had touched so many lives along the way. I have been with many of my clients for all of the twenty years in this office and for some, many years beyond that while I worked from home. Through the years I have been privy to many of the events that shaped their lives, graduations, marriages, births and sadly deaths. To know that I was invited into those events leaves me humbled. To be thanked for helping my clients navigate their way through them leaves me honored.

It is strange that all of that history can be crammed into one box. But it is only strange until one realizes it is the “why” we do what we do and not just the “what” we do. When you look at it from that perspective, you realize that the “why” is what creates that sense of accomplishment and pride in what you did and those memories and emotions need no box to be taken home in.

So as I leave my office for the last time, I will take with me one box of stuff and a heart enriched by the memories of the lives I have been honored to be part of.

The Slow Walk..or the only way to appreciate Madison

Posted on August 5, 2017 by kwundrow

I just finished the world’s slowest walk also known as The Madison Farmer’s Market. The pace was slow in part due to the throngs of people enjoying the chance to shop for the freshest produce to be found but also to the fact that it is the pace of a beautiful Saturday morning in Madison. For anyone who has not been able to experience it, the Farmer’s Market stands as the center piece of Madison summer Saturday mornings. The eight blocks surrounding the majestic Capital building are completely filled with all sorts of produce stands. Mushrooms to Meats, cheeses and cheese curds to cauliflower and cucumbers, fresh bread to fresh cut flowers. If you can imagine it, you can find it somewhere in those eight aroma filled blocks. Goats milk anyone? Maybe some Ostrich jerky. And did I mention the Capital views and the vista’s down side boulevards to the two largest Madison lakes? Or the view down State Street with the University and Bascom Hill at its terminus.

I came to Madison in 1977 after spending the first twenty-six years of my life figuring out how to get here. That fall, I began the next leg of a teaching career that would span twenty-one years and eventually morph into a career in financial planning. In the ensuing years, I have owned two homes on the eclectic East Side, met my wife and raised two beautiful children. I am currently enjoying being a part of the raising of two grandchildren and loving the fact that they can grow up here in Madison. I have sat on the world famous Union Terrace chairs, ridden on all of her bike trails, taken in countless music venues in her parks, restaurants and saloons (sounds so much more inviting than bars), soaked in the culture of Art Fair on the Square, oohed and awed at Rhythm and Booms and cheered on the Muskies, Mad Hatters and eventually the Mallards baseball teams. I have boated on her lakes, Monona and Mendota, watched water ski shows on her bay, yes that bay, the one with the “dock of it” and rode my bike along their shores. And on gorgeous fall afternoons I ate savory brats, washed downed with local craft beers and cheered on The Badgers at venerable and historic Camp Randall.

If I sound like a tourism ad it is because one cannot help but fall in love with this city. The activities it offers are countless. The culture it supports is woven into its fabric. The vistas and changing seasons are its own personal art gallery. From its lakes and parks to its gardens and architecture, there is no shortage of scenery to satisfy any of the senses.

Forty years have passed since I moved in to my little apartment on the South Side of Madison and I have never reconsidered that move. I guess taking that slow Saturday morning walk around the Square today made me realize and appreciate this city and all it offers. The crowds just reminded me I wasn’t the only one to feel that way. Hopefully there will be countless more slow Saturday mornings and my chance to remind my children and grandchildren who have lived in no other place, to never take it for granted. Take the walk, slow down and enjoy the views. Madison welcomes you every time.

Life as a Labyrinth

Posted on July 16, 2017 by kwundrow

It is official. I step across my line in the sand on August 17, 2017. It has been a 44 year journey to this last step. To tell you I am taking that step without fear would be a gross distortion of the truth. Of course there is fear. Ironically, I have held myself out as one who knows how to deal with fear and have prided myself in taking fear out of the equation for many people over the span of my career. I even intend to write a series of blogs about it so stay tuned if you are one of my followers. But here I am, ready to take the step, even committed to taking the step but fear still haunts my thoughts and dreams.

The fear I face is simple. Will I find the peace I have spent a lifetime looking for and in that peace will I still find fulfillment? I know that the fulfillment I seek will only come if I feel I still have purpose. I do not fear wasting away in the La-Z-boy watching hours of TV. I know I have too much restlessness for that to happen. But will I still feel that sense of purpose I have thirsted for all my life? Where will I replace what I do now, with what I continue to need going forward?

So why the title of this blog? I just returned from church where we rededicated our labyrinth. Before I go too far down this road, for those of you who don’t know what a labyrinth is or maybe think of it as a maze, it is not a maze at all and certainly not a corn maze. For a deeper understanding here is a link to a history of labyrinths and also a site to find labyrinths if you become so inclined to walk them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth

https://labyrinthlocator.com/

Ours comes up at the second site if you list Madison, Wisconsin as your search criteria and then scroll down to “New Life” church.

The effect of any good labyrinth is that you are walking a path that at times brings you oh so close to the center , while at other times, the path actually moves you further away. From the standpoint of Christianity, the center represents your relationship with God and the walking sometimes brings a sense of peace, while at other times at least a sense of re-centering. I prescribe to both the church aspect as well as the metaphysical aspect of the labyrinth. I will not preach here but rather just try to make my analogy work.

When I think of the labyrinth as a representation of life, I view the circular pathway as our journey through it. We are all looking for something. Monty Python said it most humorously in their film “The Meaning of Life”.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python%27s_The_Meaning_of_Life)

For most of us it is our “purpose”. At times, on our journey, we feel we are close to finding it, or maybe better stated, as perfecting it only to find ourselves moving further away and wondering if we were destined to do something else. In my life, I changed careers in part because I questioned my purpose during one of those periods when I felt I was just moving away. The amazing truth is that I changed to a different career and yet my purpose remained the same. I was just moving back toward the center again. I found out that financial planning was a career just as teaching had been. Only the audience had changed. The purpose, it turns out, was solving problems for anyone that would seek my advice and becoming a mentor to anyone who would take the time to listen. It was peace that continued and still continues to elude me. Solving problems requires a great deal of personal involvement in not only the process but the outcome as well. It can leave you in a constant state of anxiety.

So back to the labyrinth. If the path is the purpose, then the center is the realization that you have discovered your purpose and there in lies the peace that comes with the knowing. For the restless spirit, reaching that center may likely not happen until you finally take that last step of the journey, retirement. And so I prayed today as I walked our labyrinth, that I would find not only that peace in understanding my purpose but that there would be a way in retirement to be affirmed for what I had accomplished and the opportunity to still fulfill my purpose.

Do I fear it? Of course I do or I would not be who I am. Walking the labyrinth and seeing it as my journey through life has helped. I recommitted myself to never stop looking for opportunities to fulfill my purpose in any form or way that presents itself and I think I took one more step toward the peace I am looking for.

I am retiring, but I am not “gone”.

PS: Get out of your La-Z-boy and go walk a labyrinth. Even if nothing comes from it, you will at least have gotten some good exercise.

Looking Great at 241

Posted on July 4, 2017 by kwundrow

Happy birthday USA. You are 241 years old today and you don’t look a day over 200. A little gray around the edges but that’s just because we haven’t been doing our best lately to keep you beautiful. Some would say we need to make you great again but I for one don’t think you ever weren’t great. You are the most recognized country in the world and a leader in every aspect. You are a trend setter when it comes to the definition of Democracy and an example for any emerging country that would care enough about it’s populace to protect their freedoms.

None of this came without a cost. You have had your share of conflicts to resolve and growing pains when you learned to stretch the definitions of personal freedom. Through it all, you have kept your poise. Your fifty children have followed your example and each in it’s own way adds to the beauty of your legacy. Freedom and diversity are the cornerstone of that legacy.

So what’s all this about making you great again. Don’t take it personally when someone would imply that you had lost a step. You still are and always will be the land of freedom and opportunity. As such, you have always striven to offer those opportunities to all who would rise to the challenge. And rising to the challenge has been exactly what you have done.

As your song states, from sea to shining sea you are a land of majesty and beauty. From the mountains on your east to the peaks on your west coast, you rise majestically and scenically to the skies above. Your plains roll rhythmically across your midsection seaming the country together with their softly flowing rivers. You offer a vista of awe and wonder at every corner. Your interstates keep us connected and your back roads rise up to meet us when we leave the beaten path. Your cities afford us culture and style, while your towns and villages offer us history and Americana.

Happy 241st birthday, and with calm and sane reasoning, many many more. You are great and no amount of rhetoric can hide that obvious truth. Life is good and you continue to afford us the opportunity to live, love and grow, in and because of that goodness.

Let’s think about this the next time we Pledge Allegiance or sing the National Anthem. Let’s pledge ourselves not to making you great again, but keeping you as great as you already are. Let’s celebrate your birthday with fireworks and envision them as the birthday candles lit for you today all across your night sky.

Happy 4th of July, 2017.

What is a Mother

Posted on May 14, 2017 by kwundrow

A mother is that single driving force that brings life into this world and holds her family together through thick and thin. She is the shoulder to lean on when you can’t stand alone and the same shoulder you cry on when your heart is broken. She is hard as nails when you try to negotiate your “I wants” and as soft as cotton candy when you need her to forgive. A mother packs your lunch and tells you to be careful all the while she knows you will because she taught you to be independent and strong. She is there to help you plan your next adventure all the while making sure the adventure has boundaries. She picks you up when you fall and is the healing for your hurt. A mother gets up at dawn to ready the world for you each day and doesn’t go to sleep until she is sure that you are. She listens to your dreams and does everything in her power to give them a chance to become. She is your feet when yours are afraid to take that step. She is your heart the day you tell her you might be in love and your sensibility when life is too full of stress. A mother is your soul when you need the faith and courage to soldier on.

You are everything we wanted and gave us everything we needed. We owe you everything and so often return less than you deserve. Today is your day for us to promise to be our best. To be the reflection of your love and compassion, your strength and courage, you faith in the face of doubt. You are the embodiment of the noblest of all careers, motherhood.

Your mother brought you into this world and prepared you to be the mother you one day would be. I have watched your every move, your every act of compassion. I have seen you at your best and felt your pain when you couldn’t seem to take theirs away. You have produced two beautiful daughters and they are a testament to you. They are your heart and soul and their strength is the reflection of the courage you have shown them. You have prepared them to be the mother Bailey is and the one Kathryn may one day be.

Be content. Know that you are cherished and respected. Your legacy will live on through the generations that follow ours simply because you were in their lives each and every time they needed you. Never wavering, standing your ground when you had to and sacrificing everything if they needed you. Your heart and soul are imprinted on theirs and will live on long after we are gone.

Happy Mother’s Day my love. What a lonely journey it would be without you.

All my love,

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