Seated: L-R: Jill Nooney, Cathleen Toomey, 2nd Row: Dr Art Babineau, Steve Vernon, Dr. Neil Hiltunen 3rd Row: Dr. Skip Homicz, Dr. Craig Rothenberg, Missing: Paul Whitcomb
Steve Vernon was our featured speaker for our 2nd Annual Meeting, which was successful on many levels. Attendance was up, the facility was conveniently located, the audience engaged, and the subject matter varied and informative.
Steve was quoted in Consumer’s Reports, and he has a regular column, “Money for Life” on CBS Moneywatch. Our New England autumn colors brightened the event for our attendees from as far away as Georgia, Mississippi, and California.
Steve’s book, Recession- Proof Your Retirement Years, served as the basis for his presentation, which was intended to help us create and refine our planning for the retiring process. It is very clear that “retirement” is an active process taking place over many years, not a condition that is an end point. He encouraged people to continue working and gradually transition away from full-time employment. He presented statistics showing that people who work, live longer than those who don’t. Gradually cutting back is beneficial for the longevity of retirement funds as well as quality of life in general.
“Purpose” was a strong continuing thread that wove its way through many speakers’ presentations, particularly those of our psychologist and the panelist dentists. In addition, early in the program Steve asked the audience for our goals and dreams, and “purpose” was also a recurring theme of those who spoke.
Steve Vernon spoke in the morning, and the afternoon consisted of six other speakers including three well-respected dentists. Topics included “Alternative Retirement Living Options,” “The Psychology of Retirement,” “Health Care Reform.” The dentists spoke about their experiences with transition.
The evaluation forms were helpful not only for future programs but also for the website and the organization itself. 96% of respondents responded positively that the program “Met expectations,” “The program was well organized," and “Will use specific ideas.” There was a slightly lower satisfaction response for the comparison to other “Venues” or “Programs” . Interestingly, twice as many respondents favored having sponsors at the meetings rather than not having them (29 yes vs. 14 no). Five dentists expressed an interest in starting small discussion groups. That’s where the real benefit of the ARD lies.
Here are just a few comments: “Keep these speakers coming,” “Steve Vernon was incredible-worth the price of admission” , “I could listen to Steve Vernon for several days,” “What a wealth of information,” “Steve Vernon demystified so many concerns of retirement planning.”
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Again our thanks go to Northeast Delta Dental, the New Hampshire Dental Society, and Aftco Associates as sponsors of our program, and to the speakers, Cathleen Toomey of RiverWoods at Exeter, Jill Nooney of Exeter Counseling, and Paul Whitcomb of D.B.Warlick; also the dentist panelists, Dr. Art Babineau, Dr. Skip Homicz, and Dr. Craig Rothenberg.