Meet the Team: Why We Created Unwrapping Retirement

Episode 10 You're listening to the Retirement Life Podcast, a place where we help you cast a vision for your retirement and take the next steps to live it. I'm Tony Hall here with my co-host Rc Arseneau. And each episode, we'll bring you real stories, honest conversations, and practical ideas to help you build a retirement that's meaningful and life-giving. Let's jump in. Welcome back to the Retirement Life podcast. I'm your host, Tony Hall, and today's episode is a special one uh because you'll get to meet the Retirement Life team. Uh we're going to introduce you to our course, Unwrapping Retirement, what it's all about, why we created it, um and and how it can help you step into this season of life with more clarity, confidence, and community. I'm here with my co-host, Rc Arseneau. And RC, maybe you want to take a minute and introduce our other two uh guests today. Yeah. So, we've got our uh co-founders with us today from the course, my wife, the beautiful Deana Arseneau and the wonder Yeah. [laughter] and wonderful Madison Justus. Awesome. Awesome. Well, RC, um just to get into this, you've had such a strong vision for the retirement life, especially for this course. Um can you tell our listeners where all of this started? like how did we get here and what you're what you're hoping that people will discover if they step into this course. Yeah. So the retirement life originally and when we started developing this course, it came from my experience as a financial planner and I've been working with clients primarily retirees and and folks that were moving into retirement and we'd always been focusing on like everybody the financial plan like how do we prepare financially to make sure we've have enough money so you can set the date and call it a day, you know, go live your happy life right off into the sunset And um and it it just so happened over the last few years that a lot of those clients actually started retiring. And here's what happened is some of them launched beautifully into retirement. Uh they they they took their money and they did amazing things, bucket list kind of stuff and all of that. And then some were just really struggling even though the financial plan was in place. um they were struggling with other things and it was relationship transitions and identity transitions and just so many other things. And um and they didn't really have a place to go to to kind of work through those things. And so they they would start talking to me about them in our financial planning meetings. And I used to joke a little bit like if someone peakedked in at my meetings, they might have a hard time knowing that I'm a financial planner, not like a counselor or, you know, something like that, which I loved, but I didn't feel really equipped necessarily in some of these other areas. And so um and then simultaneously in this same process, Dana and I were kind of reaching our early 50s. Um our uh our we started having grandchildren and it just kind of started putting our mindset into this phase of life. Uh and so we were having discussions also like man what's this transition going to look like for us? you. Um, and it just became evident that as we were trying to find answers that there just aren't a lot of people having real conversations about this when we're talking about retirement. It's usually about the money or um or maybe it's about health. There's some health voices out there about what you should be doing as you age. And there's there's a lot of information out there. It's just that it's tough to find some that's actionable and and really holistic. And so um and so that's what kind of inspired this whole thing is as we began to process this we wanted to try and give it some organization so that we could really invite people on our journey together as we were processing. That's awesome. That's great. Well Dina then um what would you say was the catalyst to getting this started? Yeah. Yeah. Well, RC kept talking to me about what he was experiencing and watching and seeing as far as the mixed results of happiness. And I can say I always assumed I would be the happy person in retirement. Like that was going to be me because I've always just look so looked forward to it. So my assumption was if I'm looking forward to it, therefore I'm going to be happy. Um, one of my dearest, dearest friends retired and she was so sweet to be just really vulnerable and honest with me as she was talking about what it was actually like. And as she was just sharing with me like her thoughts and her feelings and her experiences, a light bulb went off in my head and I was like, "Wow, I'm going to actually be one of the people who struggles in retirement." And it was at that point when I realized that's me. Like I am the one who's going to struggle. That was that was my catalyst for going okay RC. Um I need to do this for me not for others. Like this is something I need to do for myself. And that was when I got very very serious about preparing myself for it and went on a journey of just learning and reading and doing everything I could as far as you know going through retirement certification courses and doing all these different things of just what do I need to do to set myself up well for retirement. That's great. That's great. And then you have uh the two of us who somehow get into this um [laughter] mess with you guys. But um so so tell us what your process was for for involving other people. Yeah. Well, I I remember as Dana and I were processing just kind of some of the topics that we that we wanted to kind of lean into and unpack together and and some of them we were um equipped for and you know passionate about and we felt good about talking about. And then we we had some areas that we we just thought, man, it would just be it'd be great if we could get some some some voices in here that really could speak to this um with heart. And and so I remember reaching out to you and we we started to share a little bit about what we were doing and you know we've talked about in the previous podcast you were part of that initial you know group and what have you and um but you know the way that you're able to speak about spirituality I think it's a it was a unique way that we wanted to just kind of bring into the fold and um and we knew each other so we had a little bit of history together right so we knew there'd be a comfortability and a sameness on the same page. Um, and so we're just thrilled to have you as like pouring this voice, your voice into this course in a a unique way that we we just wouldn't be able to do it. And so we wanted to kind of lend that out there. I I remember walking down uh the street in the town that we all live in and uh my boys were occupied that evening, so I like I'm going to go out to dinner by myself. walking down the street and you guys were sitting outside of a restaurant and uh but that I was going past uh to go somewhere good to eat. Uh no, it's one of my favorite restaurants, but um to go past and you guys stopped me and was like, "Hey, come eat with us." And and uh yeah, and that was that was literally the introduction for me into it. It was a a huge blessing. But yeah, and we you were a part of our focus group that we did. And in the focus group um the feedback we got was that physical wellness needed to be a part of the conversation which we had not intended on physical wellness being a part of the conversation. Um I you know that voice there's a lot of people out there covering physical wellness. There's a lot of um fitness instructors, yoga instructors, nutrition, uh nutritionists, doctors, um supplement specialists, all these different voices out there. So, I knew if we were going to have a wellness voice, I wanted it to be a different perspective. Um and I remembered when I went through my MBA program, I remember remember one of the um things that I learned and it was talking about hospitals and they said as hospitals created a culture where nurses felt comfortable speaking up, patient care improved. So, I just had the realization that wait a second, if nurses can make that impact in a hospital setting with patient care, what kind of a perspective could a nurse bring to our participants as far as patient care? And I had no clue, no idea what our physical wellness portion was going to look like. And I started having conversations with Madison as a nurse. And we just started having some really deep conversations about aging and wellness and the perspective of of a nurse who has a paradigm view that no one else has. And at the end, by the time we were done with the course, I I said at the end of our wellness session that this session had the greatest impact of me of all of the sessions, which I did not expect that going into it because I thought I knew everything. And I mean, what what more is there? But I really believe the same like with the hospitals of how this had such a huge impact. I really believe that my time with Madison completely changed my life and how I will care for myself going forward. It was completely life-changing. So, her voice was very [clears throat] unique and very special. And I'll let you go ahead and speak to that, Madison. I appreciate that. Well, yeah, as we were talking, we we decided, you know, there is plenty out there about um physical wellness when it comes to what supplements should I take or exercise or, you know, we all know, you know, what being healthy is supposed to look like. We wanted it to be something different. And um I I saw that statistic that it's only about 5% of adults are actually up to date on preventative care. Um and so that's obviously a huge gap that you know that's missing. So um it felt like an opportunity to influence that gap a little bit to talk about that. Um so a lot of talk about preventative care and and being an advocate for yourself in healthc care situations. Um and and that's something I'm I'm very passionate about. So um was really excited to to bring that to the table. Yeah. and Madison, you know, works with the aging population as a nurse. So, it was just such a natural conversation. She immediately got it. She was immediately like, "Oh, yeah. I know exactly what you're talking about. I see patients who have this mindset and it's very detrimental to how they're caring for themselves or I see this patient that have this mindset and it's, you know, it's a very positive outcome." So she immediately got it from her paradigm view of actually working with people uh and being with them on a you know on a very personal very personal level. She works in neurology very personal. [laughter] Well maybe uh maybe RC maybe um if you could give our listeners an idea picture of what the course actually looks like. So, um, if if if they're going to get into the course, how's it laid out? What what can they expect if they go through the course? Yeah. So, we laid the course out really to try and make it accessible to to people in a way that would work well for them. So, the course is a digital course, so you can actually go on to our website at the retirement.life and sign up. Um, and once you do, you're you're immediately you're going to be met with a dashboard that begins to lead you through the process. And um and really the course can be taken individually, but the way that we really designed it when we put it together is we believe together is better, right? Community and that um you know, yes, when you start the course, what's going to happen is you're going to you're going to have a video intro that's going to kind of set the table for a particular topic. And then there's a phase two um that that we would encourage people to to go over this set of questions as a group. It's meant to dig in together, right? And we call that dive deeper dive. Yeah. Deeper dive. [laughter] I should know that. But yeah. Yeah. And then and then uh once that group portion is done, that first section for those that really want to actually dig deep, we have a section called dig deep. And that's something where it's it's almost interactive where it's it's digital. You can go you watch some short videos and you're really digging in and making it personal. and and coming up with here's the idea. What's the action that I can do with this? Yeah, it's great. Well, let me ask uh each of you uh just to give a a response to this. What what is your personal goal in seeing people go through unwrapping retirement course? I think my personal goal is for people to find their inner child and and what did you find funny and entertaining when you were young? because you know when we're little um we laugh at things um we find things funny we enjoy things and then you know 40 years of work and a career has kind of beat that out of us and we're so serious now um and so I think for me um that's what I'm most excited about is just this journey of self-discovery for people to go through of like what would you what did you used to find fun and funny and entertaining and find your inner child. It's good. Yeah. My my son, it was the first snow this morning and when he woke up, he was so excited. He wanted to call everyone he knows and tell them, "Hey, it snowed today." Um, so I think that would be would be cool. It's a It's like retirement is like a second chance where you get to kind of start fresh and and remember, you know, what excited you to begin with. Um my goal is to help people navigate a difficult health journeys. Yeah. And you know, everyone has will have different levels of difficulty with all of that, but um just to know how to navigate that and advocate for themselves. That's my goal. That's good. That's great. Yeah, man. I love both of those. It's tough to follow those, isn't it? Yeah. So, I like I love the I love this idea that Dana shared about about retirement kind of like bringing the the fun, you know, back in retirement. And I think for me, um, it's tied to the to to the vision for starting this in the first place. It's it's kind of like I'd like to kind of just blow up this old idea of retirement that people maybe have, this stale idea. And um, and and hopefully we'll play a part of like recreating what retirement can mean for generations moving forward. And that's and I'm hope I'm hopeful that and optimistic that it's actually viewed as a very positive thing. Yeah. Right. Like you said, it's like a it's like a fresh start. It's like fresh snow, you know. And um and and I think we're doing that now and I'm just excited for it to keep growing. But this this idea of just focusing on finances and then just calling it a day and not understanding that the finances are there to support so many greater things. And that's what I think we should pay attention to. That's awesome. Yeah. I think for me, um, my goal would be just getting people together. I mean, seeing community developed more in retirement. Um, I think it matters that we are with other people. We were not created to be alone. And, you know, we've talked about in previous episodes RC. Um I sadly what we see is so many people go into retirement and end up sitting in solitude and watching TV or whatever and just giving opportunities to to see people connect with other people and having meaningful life together with others throughout retirement and and kind of on that I think that that we would all say um we agree on the importance of community in this season of retirement. Um, so whether someone's approaching retirement or stepping into it or they're already there, a lot of people are longing for that, for deeper community, um, just having relationships with others. How would, you know, not everyone has to answer this, but how would you say that, um, unwrapping retirement will help with that? Um, well, I think that the way that the course is set up, like I mentioned before, it it's, you know, I think our our vision for this is that unwrapping retirement actually can be used as a tool by others to form community, right? And and so, you know, whether it's um you know, I guess my our heart would be that this this is something that you can reach out to your neighbors and do a have a group at your house, do it with your book club, do it with your small group at church or, you know, if if you're in a leadership role at a church, use that as a as an outreach to the community. you know, it's just providing um a really unique conversation that that there there isn't much of an outlet for today. Yeah. You mentioned earlier, I mean, people aren't talking about these aspects of retirement. And so, being able to pull people together, even into small groups, communities, whatever, to have these discussions, I think, is is vital. Yeah. Well, RC, Dena, Madison, thank you all so much. We're going to continue this conversation in the next episode as we give you some uh more insight into what unwrapping retirement is all about. If you're curious, um come back for part two uh of this discussion, but also check us out on Facebook. Uh follow us there at the retirement life or go to our course website which is www.theretirement.life. Uh we'd also love to hear from you. Uh, until next time, keep imagining the life that you dream of and take one small step toward it this week. Thanks so much. This podcast is intended for general information, educational, and entertainment purposes, and is not intended to provide financial, legal, medical, health, or lifestyle advice. Individuals should seek their own advice from a qualified professional. It is not an endorsement of any particular product, service, or organization. The opinions and views expressed on this podcast are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the retirement life. The retirement life and Arseneau Financial are separate entities. This podcast is not to be considered a solicitation for investment or financial planning services through Arseneau Financial LLC.