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Coach Richard Leider says Life Planning is something that everyone could use as they face 20 or 30 years in late midlife.

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Life Planning Takes on a Whole New Meaning in Retirement.

In Late 2007, an assembly of the nation's leading baby boomer and retirement gurus descended on Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., for a first-ever "life planning summit," of sorts.

At issue? How to best address the multitude of concerns - some might say fears - facing the nation's "silver tsunami" - the 78 million baby boomers on the cusp of transitioning into retirement.

The Third Age Event

The event, called Third Age Life Planning: A Holistic Approach, was a pre-conference gathering connected with the first ever 2007 Positive Aging Conference and drew professionals from a variety of fields who provide services and programs for older mature adults.

Boston-based boomer think tank and non-profit Life Planning Network (LPN) was behind the pre-conference summit, with sponsorship and financial backing from Transamerica Retirement Management, Inc., a provider of SecurePath by Transamerica. The goal was to stimulate collaboration among a new breed of consultants - "life-planning" professionals - who are on the front lines helping boomers work through their retirement-transition issues.

And those issues are profound. Unlike previous generations, many baby boomers will be leaving fulfilling careers, have much higher expectations for their retirement lifestyle and will potentially face a much longer third-age. According to LPN president, Betsy Cole, most boomers haven't adequately thought through how to fulfill - and fund - those expectations.

Creating Professional Standards

In fact, LPN's view is that these challenges are profound enough to perhaps necessitate an accreditation process and new professional designation - "certified life planner," if you will - for life-planning professionals. Portions of the summit were dedicated to establishing a support for standards and competencies for these professionals and initiating steps toward creating a national network.

SecurePath by Transamerica took an interest in LPN and decided to sponsor the summit after both sides realized sympathetic approaches each was taking to help boomers examine all of the vital aspects of retirement, most of which go well beyond merely the financial concerns.

Leaders in the Field

LPN's pre-conference summit attracted many notable attendees, many of whom have written books on the subject of aging and life planning. Attendees included:

• Gene Cohen, M.D., Ph.D. and author of The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain and The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life and director of the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University.
• John Nelson, co-author of What Color is Your Parachute in Retirement?
• Richard J. Leider, co-author of Repacking Your Bags
• Ken and Mary Gergen, writers and facilitators in the field of positive aging.
• Harry R. Moody, Ph.D., Director of Academic Affairs for AARP in Washington, DC.

Video Interviews

Each of these notables was captured on video, and we asked them their opinion about positive aging, life planning, and the myriad issues related to transitioning into retirement.

Take a video tour of each of these key individuals to find out the very latest in thinking on these topics and more.