Retire...to what?
Seminar explores options for enriched life

Watch video on this topic

When many of us think about retirement planning, finances and health care often come to mind first.  Sometimes, those are the only plans retirees make, giving little thought to the life they will live when they leave the 9-5 behind.  Two area women are working to guide people in planning their retirements beyond financial concerns, to help them identify their needs, wants, and dreams.  Camille Wright Miller and Helen Ardan offer their seminar, “Retirement…to what?” at the Dabney S. Lancaster Community College Rockbridge Regional Center in Lexington.

“What are the things that have always been there that your life has gotten in the way of allowing you to do?” asks Miller.  The seminar uses a self inventory to help participants move toward satisfying the soul rather than simply filling time.  It involves defining where retirees want to be, and then devising a plan to get there.

Ardan says the point of the seminar is to guide people so that they can create their own retirement.  The planners don’t do it for them.  Miller’s experience watching her own father retire inspired her to teach this seminar.  He moved from watching Jeopardy and Gunsmoke, to traveling, becoming part of a barbershop chorus, publishing a book of poetry, and taking Spanish lessons. 

“That experience of watching someone go from ‘just ‘till it’s over’ to ‘what is my purpose, where is my meaningful life’ is what we want to help people uncover,” says Miller.