Are You Ready to Exit from Work with Dr. Gregg Lunceford [Podcast]

Podcast #203 – Career Pivot Community Member David Jenkins Interviews Author Dr. Gregg Lunceford

Description:

Dr. Gregg Lunceford is a retirement researcher and financial planning practitioner. He is a Certified Financial Planning professional and holds a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University where he conducted retirement studies. His writing focuses on the changing dynamics in retirement for 21st-century retirees, He is the author of EXIT FRO M WORK: What Will The New You Look Like?

He will be interviewed by David Jenkins, who is a charter member of the Career Pivot membership community. David has launched a blog focused on urban planning and plans to launch a podcast on the same topic. We have been helping David get up to speed on podcasting and this was an excellent practice in interviewing.

Please check out David’s review of the book in the post, Exit from Work – What Will the New You Look Like? [Book Review].

I am kicking off my annual podcast survey. If you would be so kind to go to take the survey, I would be most appreciative. I will be planning out the podcast schedule for 2021 during the month of December and the first half of January.

This episode is sponsored by Career Pivot. Check out the Career Pivot Community. Make sure and pick up my latest book, Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life Third Edition.

Now on to the podcast…

Dr. Gregg Lunceford is a Chicago native and has 25 years of experience as a financial advisor.

Back in 2008, Gregg started to see prospective clients who were being offered lucrative early retirement packages. He thought they would be jumping for joy but they were not. He was trained that work was a necessity. If you no longer need to work you would be happy.

He knew there was more to this time of life when you exit from work.

Gregg enrolled in a P.h.D. program at Case Western Reserve University to study the Retirement Transition process. He had the financial part down but it was the emotional side that the retirement industry he did not understand.

Out of this came the bucket list mentality. When you retire you have a limited amount of time left to live and the goal was to cram as much of what you want to do before you die.

That has changed.

Retirement scared a lot of people. Gregg did not understand that but wanted to learn more.

Work Transitions

Retirement has “tired” as part of the term. In earlier times, workers retired because they were tired. Yet they were still valued.

Gregg uses the example of a farmer who would deed their land to their children so that they could retire.

Later came the industrial revolution and management science. Labor unions wanted seniority rewarded while management wanted a younger workforce that could work faster. Pension plans came out of this but pension plans were really created to get older workers out of the workforce.

Now people can be productive for many more years.

Ageism

Prior to COVID-19 if all of the boomers exited the workforce there would not be enough workers.

Early in your career, lots of people are interested in career development. Then you hit your fifties that seems to come to an end.

There used to be a transition from middle age to old age. Because we are living longer there is now this period called the third age. The third age is when you have fulfilled all of your responsibilities to others and have the freedom to what we want. We need to advocate for ourselves.

When to Exit from Work

Is there a normal exit from work? Some want that but some do not. The assumption in the past you reach 65 years of age, you walk out the door and retire.

There is a high probability of depression in retirement. You get a lot out of work above and beyond the financial aspect.

Gregg did not put retirement in the title of the book as there are people who are in their 60s, 70s, and beyond who are incredibly active. They do not want to retire but they do want to exit from their traditional work.

It is about restructuring work on their terms.

When to Start Planning for Exit from Work

Financially you should start planning early in your career.

Socially and emotionally you should leave when you are ready. When you reach a stage in life when it no longer for you, that is the time to exit from work.

Gregg talks about how you might think of your self in 3 ways:

Profession – attorney or doctor
Role – Manager
Corporate Brand – I work for Google or Nike

When you exit from work that view of yourself may be broken.

David talks about his kids all are very grounded and they understand the difference between work and play.

Steps for Exiting from Work

First, do a financial check. Many very successful people never check.

Second, look at your social relationships. Find people a decade or two older and younger than you.

This is the time to figure out what they want to do when they grow up.

How to Find Dr. Gregg Lunceford

His book is available on Amazon – EXIT FROM WORK: What Will The New You Look Like?

You can reach Dr. Lunceford at authorgregglunceford@gmail.com

Support the Show

Make sure to check out the Career Pivot Community.

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Marc Miller

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