Real Talk with Cheryl

Everyone prepares for retirement by asking, “Do I have enough money?” It is an important question. But it is not the one that will determine whether your retirement actually feels good. After 45 years in healthcare leadership and an unplanned exit, I can tell you: there are three questions that matter far more — and almost nobody thinks to ask them. We Plan the Wrong Thing Ask most people how they are preparing for retirement and they will tell you about their 401(k), their S

When your job title disappears, it takes more than a paycheck with it. It takes the answer to the most fundamental question you’ll ever be asked: Who are you? Notebook and Pen on Wooden Table For 45 years, I had an answer. At parties, at professional events, at my kids’ school functions, at the doctor’s office—any time someone asked: “What do you do?” I had a complete sentence ready. “I’m the Director of Quality Informatics for a national physician group.” It was efficient.

Two weeks after my mother died, the phone rang. My position was being eliminated. Just like that — one year before I was ready — I was in retirement. Here is what those first months really looked like, and what I wish someone had told me. I Had a Plan Forty-five years in healthcare leadership, and I had a plan. I knew the date. I knew the timeline. I was one year away from a carefully organized transition into retirement. The finances were in order. The calendar was clearing.

I had good work friends—really good ones. And then I retired—and most of them disappeared. Here’s what the research says about why that happens, and why it might be the best thing for your social life in the long run.

The first week of retirement felt like a vacation. Then Day 8 arrived, and nobody warned me about that. Here's the research behind the honeymoon crash, and why it means you're doing everything right.

April 14th marked the end of my 45-year career in a single phone call. But the real retirement identity crisis wasn't losing my job—it was losing myself. Here's why I wrote this book.