Our special guest on this week’s episode of the Secure Retirement Podcast is Helen Livingston. Helen was a teacher, a high school counselor, and a principal in Alabama, and earned both her Master’s and PhD, all while raising four children. She was also an integral part of opening the Medical School at Florida State University. Helen has had an extensive career in education and continues to stay busy and active in her version of retirement.
“It's important that you take a good clear-eyed look at your fiscal situation so that you know that you're not going to add stress to your life in retirement, because there will be enough stress. Getting old is not for the faint of heart,” says Helen.
We chat with Helen about living with passion and enthusiasm, as well as:
Life in both K-12 and higher education, and the changes witnessed over the years
The community impact of a new Medical School
Doctors returning home to make a difference in places of need
Saying YES to opportunities when they present themselves
Evaluating your reason for retirement
And more
Mentioned in this episode:
Call the Tallassee Office at 850-562-3000
John’s website: https://johnhcurry.com/
Transcript
John Curry: Hey folks, welcome to another episode of John Curry's Secure Retirement Podcast. Today I have a lady named Helen Livingston sitting across the table from me. And Jay Wolfe is sitting here with us. Helen, welcome to our podcast first.
Helen Livingston: Thank you very much.
John: I've been wanting to do this interview for a long time. Because every time that we're sitting with you, I learn something new. You're a fascinating lady. She's always very kind, very gracious. She's tough as nails, though, I think you'll hear that come out in a few minutes. But, Helen, you retired twice from Florida State University, most recently as Associate Dean of the College of Medicine.
Helen: Correct.
John: If you would please just kind of give us a background of who the real Helen is a little bit about your background, personally and professionally. And then we'll just take it from there. And folks, I have no idea where this next 30 to 40 minutes is going, we're just going to have fun and talk.
Helen: Well, I'm old, so I've lived awhile. I started out as a teacher, k-12 teacher, and did that for many years, and became a school counselor, I found myself after my second marriage did not work out, supporting a single mother pretty much supporting a family. And so I pursued, earned four degrees during that time.
John: You said four? Tell us what they were.
Helen: Well, I had two masters, my bachelors, of course, two masters degrees, certification, administration certification when I became a high school principal. And then I earned went back and earned my doctorate. And I did that because I could see that as a teacher, your options were limited. So if the more education you got, then you would have more options, and as a single mother with four children, whom I had to educate, raise and keep alive, that it seemed to me that my future depended upon the education that I availed myself of. So that's what I did.
And fortunately, it has never bothered me to leave one situation behind and move into the unknown. And I was had, I left my k-12 position, I was a high school principal for five years. And I decided that I couldn't that five years is probably as much as you could give to a 24/7 type of job like that, and survive. And I had, in the meantime gone back and was very close to getting my doctorate, I had everything done, but my dissertation. So I had an opportunity through some connections, of moving to Troy State University, in Dothan, as an administrator and working there, and I chose to leave my principal's position and go to Troy State. And while I was there, I finished my dissertation and earned my doctorate.
John: So of this you were in Alabama.
Helen: I was in Alabama, during all this time. Not during no time at work, but during this latter part. I was decided, well, when Alabama the taxes don't meet the needs of the state. They have what they call proration. And everybody gets cut. And I had in the position I had. When I was Director of Extended University. I found myself having I'd worked two weeks without a break. And I had a staff of 12 people to help me. And when proration hit, I lost all but two of them. But I still had to maintain that same job.
John: The work did not get prorated.
Helen: The work did not get prorated at all. And so I started looking for positions. And the gentlemen that hired me at Troy State had moved on to southwest Georgia. He had a position I applied for that they were getting ready to hire me. Internal politics happened and they withdrew the job offer and that would have been as a teaching developmental psychology, lifespan development, which was would have been a good job. So I kept looking and there happened to be a position at FSU in the program in Medical Sciences and I applied for it.
My daughter live down here, outside of Tallahassee, and I thought now that will then be a nice place to relocate to. So I just apply. And six months later, I got a call from Dr. Myra Hurt, who is the director of the program, came down here interviewed and she had me on the spot. I was I was suddenly at FSU. And it was just a wonderful job. I was working in the program and medical sciences, which was the precursor to the medical school. We were then affiliated with the University of Florida, learned an awful lot had never been in medical education. So I had to come up to speed learn an awful lot.
John: Had you completed your PhD by then?
Helen: By then I had.
John: And did you have children at home?
Helen: No, thank goodness, I finally got all the four of them raised and grown and gone. So I was alone at that time. And came into the program medical sciences, thinking that that was going to be the end of my career. And it would be a nice ending, you know, interesting job. I was working in admissions. And working in the outreach program that Dr. Hurt had developed with her her colleague Thesla Anderson. And we were three of us working together in that with other staff members as well.
She had also developed a advising office to handle pre med students pre medical advising office, and I was in charge of that as well. So during that time, learned an awful lot. And then about I had been there for about a year and a half. And suddenly, there was this proposal that began floating around to establish a four year medical school at FSU. The legislature got involved Dr. Durell Peaden, who was in the legislature at that time. John Thrasher, who was I think Speaker of the House at that time, and they began to develop this law.
John: You remember what year that was?
Helen: That was in 98, I think was when the first proposal because it took us about two years for the law to really emerge to create the medical school and to pass the legislation.
John: It was a great thing for our community and the university. We'll get to that in a moment.
Helen: Yeah, and so then I was involved in that. So the law was passed in 2000. Governor Bush was governor at the time. And we, you know, he signed it into law. And we had to start admitting students to the new medical school. But we still had the program of medical sciences students that we had to finish out, had to have them complete their program and get them on to the University of Florida. It was a it was a challenge. You know, creating a new medical school was the first one in a generation. And people were not happy.
John: And you got it on the ground floor
Helen: I was on the ground floor. And there were many battles to fight. Dr. Hurt was our leader. She was the Interim Dean until we could hire one. And it was a real challenge. One of the main things was that the kind of medical school we were establishing was not the traditional school where you have a medical education, hospital, we were going to train our students in the community. The only there were two programs that did that in the nation at that time. One was in Washington state of the WWAMI program. And the other was in Michigan, Michigan State. In the upper peninsula, they had apprenticeship kind of model.
So Dr. Hurt, looked into that. And that's how we began to develop this apprenticeship model for Florida. And, and the idea is you if you look at where patients were, they were in the community, right? There were only about 1% were in the hospitals where most physicians received their, their training. So our model was going to be based on training the doctors where the patients were. So that was that was the the glorious end to my first career and we got that up and running and I decided I wanted to retire.
John: Well, before you go there. Let's talk about the impact that the medical school had in our community and surrounding communities, because I've I remember, with my doctor Bill Kepper, he did a lot of the training helping some people with some of the doctors or students working in his office.
Helen: I mean, we couldn't have done it without the community physicians.
John: And it was amazing listening to the doctors talking about how the hope was that many of these students would go back to their communities
Helen: Exactly right.
John: And set up practices there in the rural communities.
Helen: Exactly.
John: I was shocked at how many people have never, ever even thought about having a hope of being a medical doctor, or able to come to Florida State to go back to their local communities and serve.
Helen: And it's amazing the percentage that have gone into primary care of the graduates from the medical school at FSU. The many of the graduates, how many of the graduates have actually done that? There are many out there. And we recruited students from those rural communities. That was my first task, as, as we were founding the school was to find these these students and entice them to come to FSU
John: Tell us more about that. How did you identify them? How did you get them here? And how do you how would you say? How would you go about even possibly measuring the impact that they've had in their communities?
Helen: Well, I think, you know, now they can actually look at that and and see where our students are. And I don't have the exact data. It's available on the College of Medicine website. But I want to say that more than almost 60%, have entered primary care, and are actually in a rural our underserved community in the state of Florida. The rest of the students are slung throughout the nation, and in all of the all possible specialties.
But our focus, and we made no bones about it, we were honest with students, we were recruiting, but this was our focus. Our training program was set up for that kind of primary care training. We want to be a good physician with who put patients first. Whatever specialty they entered, we didn't, we didn't try to influence them. But we felt that if they came from a community, that they wanted to go back to that community that those needs would emerge.
John: That's great. I grew up in a place over Holmes county called Westville. Went to high school in Bonifay, we didn't have any doctors there.
Helen: No, you do now. You have the Hawkins brothers, as a matter of fact.
John: That's good. That's good. So talk a little bit about the recruiting process. How did you identify the people that might be good candidates?
Helen: Well, they found me if you know that, you have sort of a recruiting trip that you make to all the colleges and in the state of Florida, and I just visited every college. And I would those that were interested in medical school, or maybe something in medicine, they would find me, okay. And it's, and then you have to, then they have to they have to come with the goods, they have to have the academic prowess and the ability to, to make it.
John: So you told the story, and those who are attracted to the story came to you.
Helen: Exactly.
John: Pretty good. All right. Now let's talk about because you ultimately retired from that job. But tell us leading up to the you there, how many years in that role?
Helen: I was there for 10 years.
John: 10 years, and then you decided to retire?
Helen: I did.
John: Tell us about that. That was an interesting journey along the way.
Helen: Along with my daughter who is an artist. I had opened a bookshop book and art shop. And I thought that's what I wanted to do. And today the truth started in medical school. It took a lot out of all of us. And I had reached that age when I could retire, so I did. Things happened. And I found that retirement didn't keep me busy enough so I called Dr. Hurt, told her if she had a part time position, I'd be interested.
John: Would you share what you share with me during lunch about what happened with the business? Because our people need to hear these type stories too.
Helen: Well, in 05, we had all the hurricanes that came through Dennis, Ivey, I can't remember them all, but just a bunch of hurricanes, Katrina. That hit the coast. I think there were about four or five that came in this area and it was the year of the hurricanes. Not as bad as this year. But almost there were some really bad ones. And the entire Gulf Coast was just devastated. And that impacted my business because it was down in the Big Bend area. And so I was doing pretty well, before that happened. I looked at my bottom line and saw too much red. And I had said, when I opened the business, as long as I was breaking even, maybe making one make a lot, but doing pretty well, I would keep it open. But if I saw it going the other way I'd get out. And that's what I did.
John: One thing that I'm taking away from listening to you, that I've picked up bits and pieces during our time of working together. Is that you what you said earlier about willing to move on? Yeah, you have to be willing to cut your losses.
Helen: Oh yeah.
John: And you have to be willing to pursue opportunities as they appear.
Helen: Well you have to look at your situation. You have to put away the rose colored glasses. And you have to you have to really be you know, look at it in an honest, through honest eyes, you have to see what's there, not what you wish was there.
John: How do you think you learn that? Because you're pretty strong person when it comes to how did you realize?
Helen: I think I came started out in the cotton fields to Southeast Alabama, if you're, if you're farming, you have to be honest with what you see. And you have to respond and react to things that are not in your control. And, you know, for some people, it makes them skittish, they are afraid to do anything. And for others, it makes them bold, and it just happened to make me sort of bold. And then life's experiences, were such that taught me that. If I, again, was honest with myself, looked at the field in a with clear eyes. I could make good decisions. Sometimes they were scary decisions. And sometimes they didn't work out the way I felt they would work out. But if you keep persevering, you can succeed. But you have to be aware of when an opportunity is in front of you and what you need to do with that opportunity.
John: Okay, now you brought up age while ago, you made the comment, because you're old. How young are you now tell us how young.
Helen: I'm 77.
John: So here's a lady 77 years old, you're sitting across the table from where you never believe she's 77 full of energy, just full of energy period and a passion. So go back to your story about you retired, you had the business. You called Dr. Hurt again. So take it from there.
Helen: So she had in her hand this lady, you have to understand her. She's a she's a dynamo herself. And she's always thinking, and always looking forward. So when I called her, she said, Yeah, I may have something that will come up. She said, let me work on it. We've got some things going on. I was thinking part time. And I was doing some traveling at the time. And she says what when you get back, give me another call. By then she said I should know something. And so when I did call her when I returned and did call her back, she said Yeah. And this and she said let's talk about it. And she came in and she told me what she wanted me to do. So I was still thinking part time. But she wasn't.
So she had there were several things that that she felt needed to be addressed. And she felt I had the skill set to do that. Before I had retired the first time she and I had started a bridge program, which was a transition program to help get students who might have some weak or academic background or had some difficulties that would make it they needed to beef up on some coursework, to do well in medical school, and we knew that they were the type of student that we wanted to, to meet the mission of the medical school. But when they needed some extra help, and they met the demographics and the background, rural, minority underserved kinds of communities that they came from.
So we had started that program and it was doing well. But she and the administration at the time at the Medical School felt that it should be a master's program, but it could only be a nine month or 12 month program. It couldn't be that traditional two year program because they simply didn't have time. We had to get them in and get them into medical school. And how do you how do you make a master's degree that does that.
John: That's what's called fast track.
Helen: That's fast track is right. But it had to also have the rigor and the kinds of academic experiences that when you grant a master's degree, that is a true master's degree, not a watered down version.
John: Well it had to be, you had to have standards, you had to earn it.
Helen: You had to have standards had earned it had to have some had to have a research component had to have all the academic components that are necessary, because you also had to bring the students up to speed so that they would be successful in medical school. And so that was my task when I came back. And then there were, there were there was a list of other tasks that needed to be attended to that she felt that with my education background, Iwould be the one to help get those realigned so that they were fulfilling the standards that we wanted them to fulfill.
John: Nice. How long did you do that?
Helen: That was, well, again, I was thinking five years, it turned into another another 10 year, 11 years, 11 years.
John: 11 years after retirement.
Helen: Finally, I, you know, before I said, I'm wanting to retire before turned 80. So I told them, I'm going. Plus, I had identified a young man who could take my place and as Associate Dean, and I felt that he was ready, and I could walk out and not worry about it.
John: Knowing that your baby was taken care of.
Helen: My baby would be taken care of. And I wasn't wrong, he does an excellent job. Dr. Anthony Speights.
John: Can you talk a little bit about what I know you travel quite a bit.
Helen: I have I don't do so much anymore, unfortunately.
John: Well the pandemic can stop. But talk a little bit about some of the things that you've done, quote in retirement both times, and some of the things that are in the future, because we find that the most popular podcasts we do are the ones where people talk about what they're doing after retirement, because most people have a hard time retiring, and enjoying life. So talk about that.
Helen: Well, as I say, I do love to travel. I was very, very fortunate to have two sets of families. My third husband has family in North Carolina, so I visit them quite a bit before the pandemic and there he was from Ireland. And we I was able to take a trip back to Ireland before the pandemic it was last September. But really enjoyed traveling all over. I've been to China done the Mediterranean cruise, anything that puts you into a new situation and enables you to interact with people you don't normally interact with. So to me, that's the traveling is not it's the sights, yes. But it's also interacting with people who are different from me. One of the reasons I worked, we just got through work in the polls in Wakulla. County, which is pretty rural, pretty different. Of course, it was like going back home to me. I mean, I grew up rural. So this is being out with people that were like the people I grew up with was was a good reminder.
John: That just reminded me of something. Let's talk about your experience. Yesterday, you shared with us about the gentleman who was voting for the first time at age 50 having some difficulty share the bit of that story. Because I think and this divisive world we're in, I think people need to hear about how people are willing to be so helpful. Would you share that?
Helen: Well, you know, it's it's I was very impressed with the poll workers who were and the Supervisor of Elections in Wakulla County. My buddy Wells, who's just adamant that the votes counted. And anybody that came in there that wanted to vote. Their vote was going to count. So this gentleman came in he, he just had difficulty with the ballot. Tt you know, obviously, if you don't if you're not in some bureaucratic functionary job or situation where you had to fill out a lot of forms, you hand him a ballot. I mean, yeah, I know, there were samples around and so forth. But it's still different. And he just was having difficulty and we I think he had spoiled two ballots. And we were on the third. And finally, they just set him down at the table, and just helped him. Make sure that this third ballot was going to go through, okay. It didn't matter how you voted no, didn't matter what color he was.
John: That's right, comes down to what you do as a citizen.
Helen: Well is what is the basis of our whole democracy is that every person's vote is important.
John: I have some people one time at a social function, this was years ago, they were complaining it was back in 2000. Because the Bush/Gore debacle, you know, and one guy spoke at me, so I never I've never voted, and never will. And I said you obviously never served in the military, did you? He said, no, I didn't. And I said, I cannot imagine anyone not voting. Because so many people sacrifice their lives to give us that right, going all the way back to the American Revolution. Give me a break here. And but yeah, you're here you are sitting and complaining. And you're telling me you've never voted? To me, you have no right to complain at all.
Helen: I agree with you. But I think it's amazing. And you know, as divisive a time as we're living through, which is unfortunate and uncomfortable. The fact that in this election, over 130 million people voted in this election is astounding.
John: Yes.
Helen: And by the time they hit through getting all the votes, I think it's going to be even higher than that. And it's, you know, we should all want 100%
John: Yes.
Because then we get a true picture of what our country is, warts and all.
John: I agree with that. But I will, I'd rather talk about politics, but I tell you what I do wish. I wish that there were no polling allowed. And no discussion of who's ahead.
Helen: Obviously. They they're, they're useless anyway.
John: Well, that's true. But I think you should just you discover once that's done, yeah. Then we'd put a lot of TV anchors out of business.
Helen: That might be a good thing.
John: Might be, might be. So let's talk about your future.
Helen: Okay. Yeah, my future.
John: You're a young 77 year old, you're in good health. Physically looking good. What's the future?
Helen: Well I hope to one day be able to go visit my family again, because as I was with it with a career that was very demanding, I unfortunately, didn't spend a lot of time visiting family. And now I can, and I want to do that. That's, that's what's important, I think. I also want to do some traveling again. And I don't have any particular destinations in mind. But there are some, there are some interesting places that I might want to
John: What are some of the places you'd like to go to?
Helen: Well, I want to, what I'd really like to is the there's a trip across Canada, that I would like to take a rail trip that I've always wanted to take. And then when I get to the other side of the, to the Pacific side, I'd like to take a trip and see Alaska. Internationally, it's funny, as I've grown older, I'm more interested in this country and this hemisphere than I am in, going across the ocean. That travel is difficult.
John: It's interesting. You say that, because I came to the same conclusion. I've been to Europe a few times love it. But I'm to the point now where I literally want to go to all 50 states. Now I don't mean just fly in and fly out.
Helen: Go do something there.
John: Yeah, just enjoy. And as much of it as I can. I just want to drive to drive and take into scenes.
Helen: One of the best trips I took was with my sister. And we just we we have a brother that lives in Tucson. And so and she lives in Alabama, so I drove up, picked her up. And we didn't have we didn't have a schedule. We had a map. And we headed West. And we'd say something that looked interesting, and we'd stop and tour and visit and just had the best time and of course drove my brother crazy. He was ex military. He wanted to know when where we were in when we get in there. And we said oh we don't know we're in truth the consequences tonight, so we might be there tomorrow.
John: We'll be there, when we get there.
Helen: And it was really so the driving is if you leave yourself open to stopping and enjoying plus along the way.
John: Okay. I would like for you to offer some advice here.
Helen: Oh goodness.
John: So if someone who is still working, let's say someone's listening to this, that's fairly, let's say they're in the 40s or 50s, maybe in the 60s even, but they're to the point of where they're challenged by their work. They have opportunities, but maybe there's some fear. With your background, share, a little bit of how you would counsel them to consider options in front of them. And then we'll talk about people that are retired.
Helen: Well, it's really easy to stay where you are. But it is not always the most fulfilling, nor the most lucrative. I think you have to have a clear eyed view of opportunities when they present themselves, and the courage to walk through those open doors, and not look back.
John: Amazing. So we talk with people about the dangers they're facing, threats, the opportunities in front of them, that maybe they see them, sometimes I don't see them. And also what are your existing strengths? And we challenge people, a friend and I do this all the time. He'll say, John, I need you to question my answers. I'll do the same with Steve. So it's amazing, though, that you're looking back on your career, the changes you've made, the doors are open, you could have easily said no, thank you. I have four children, I'm taking care of. I'm not doing that.
Helen: You know, one, for example of becoming a high school principal, I was the first woman hired to be a high school principal, since World War II, in the state of Alabama. It you know, because people didn't think that women could manage. They were mainly worried about the high school boys. So the boys were the easiest ones, the girls were the ones you had to worry about. And I saw it as an opportunity. I had credentials to do the work, it would have been easier for me to remain in my position as a school counselor.
But it, it, I felt like I could do the job. And I felt that I could be a good instructional leader for the faculty. And that was my goal. And I could bring some needed changes to the programs in that particular school. And I did that work for five years. And I had one old guy that told me when I, it was quite a thing for me to you know, every meeting I went to there, just there was a there was me, and then all the other principals were men. So it was interesting being the only female in that setting.
John: Were you having to prove yourself all the time in that environment? Were you having felt like you had to prove yourself all the time?
Helen: Yeah, I mean, yeah, you do. And when the fact of the matter is, you know, think about those that day in time in the 90s 80s and 90s. You better be able to prove yourself and willing to do it and not take offense when you had to.
John: More so then than now.
Helen: Oh, absolutely. So one old fella said you have to worry about the four B's that the buses, the budget, the band. And those things. If you were if you get all of that squared squared away, you'd be okay. And he was absolutely right. And ball. Athletics. Yeah. And so I took that to heart. I thought he'd been at this a long time, that was good advice, made sure that all the four B's were taken care of. And but that is it. It's a hard job being a high school principal. A very hard job.
John: I can't imagine being an educator period. In today's world. Yeah, it's at any level, any level, especially our school teachers, K to 12. Okay, let's let's counsel people who are either close to retirement, they're thinking about, okay, do I retire? Or do I stay? Because I look at myself, I'll be 68 in about a month, and I look at I don't want to ever fully retire. As long as I am relevant. I bring value, and I'm healthy and can do what I want to do. I want it. But I want to do more on my terms. You mentioned that earlier, you're living a lifestyle you want to live. So I don't want to have to go to work. I choose to go to work. And I get to pick and choose who to work with. But some people don't have that. Some people are in jobs where you do it my way or the highway. But for that person who's close to retirement, and they're trying to decide, do I stay or do I retire? What would you say to that person?
Helen: Well, I think you have to ask yourself, okay, I want to retire. Why am I wanting to do that? Why do I not want to work? I mean, sometimes it sounds like because I don't want to have to get up in the morning. I don't want to have to do this. I want to do what I do. I want to do well, you have to be I think you have to understand what the time how much time that's going to allow you. Because it's it becomes how do I fill my days? Do you have? Do you have the physical and intellectual wherewithal to fill your days? That's one of the questions, I think you have to ask yourself.
John: That's a good question. I like that. I know, in my case, I take quite a bit of time off, but I want to plan it then go. But as you know, I have a little shoulder issue and I was out of work for a while and I don't like sitting at home. Now if I've got something planned to go do that's one thing that I do, like, I like sleeping in just kind of like laying around. But I know me enough to know that I can't do that every day. I'm not there. The day may come, but I'm not there.
Helen: And I think you have to, you have to understand that about yourself. Just like you have you, you understand yourself. You understand your needs. Now I'm perfectly fine being by myself. I like my company. But not everybody is that way.
John: Let me be clear. I like being by myself. If I'm out of my property, where I'm out there by myself and as planned. That's one thing. But sitting home watching,
But you still want some sort of purpose?
John: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Helen: And and I think that that's another thing you have to be clear eyed about that do I do I have the wherewithal to create the kind of purpose that will be fulfilling to me because you don't want to become depressed or angry at your situation, when you're old and finished your your your work phase of your of your life. And some people just may never retire. And I think that's okay, too. I think you have to understand who you are. It's also important that you take a good clear eyed look at your, I hate to use the word financial, but your fiscal situation, so that you know that you're not going to add stress to your life, because there will be enough stress getting old. It is not for the faint of heart.
John: What'd you say earlier? Getting old is not for sissies.
Helen: No, it isn't. And and so you have you want to make sure that you you do not create more stress for yourself upon retirement.
John: Right. And that's the part that I focus on. About 25 years ago, I said I'm gonna focus on retirement planning issues, not just you,
Helen: And you're very good at that.
John: Thank you for that. We've got a good team. Jay, April, Audie, myself, Zack, we one thing I can't teach people is how to care. We have good caring team. And it's not just about money. No, it can't just be about how much money is coming in.
Helen: That's why I hated to use the word finance, because it isn't that.
John: No, I'm glad you said it the way you did, because we like to ask people this question. That's great. So now you're retired, you got plenty of time? Do you have enough money to allow you to do what you want to do in that time? They go, I don't know. I say, let's find out. But I think there's a lot more. I have an advantage ove people. I've been doing. I'm in my 46th year doing this. And I started focusing on retirement planning stuff a long time ago.
Helen: And I'm glad that you exist. Because I don't want to know all that.
John: Thank you for that. But what I learned over the years is I have, by dealing with literally 1000s of people, I have the benefit that I've learned from them. I'm thinking of people. Now our oldest client's 102. A lot of clients in their 90s, mid 90s, late 90s even so I've learned so much in working with them. Because they would say what do you know about this? I know nothing about it? What would you please figure it out and help me? Well, of course, by learning about that for that person, it allowed me to help the next person that comes along. So we take the mindset that if we can learn something new, that's great. I was interviewed yesterday for a survey. And I said, Well, what keeps you going? I said the fact that I every day I learned something new. And I get to share that with other people. So you got to be the student and you also got to be the teacher.
Helen: Well, and I think that's excellent. I'm glad you brought that up. That's important because I I think continuing to learn and continuing to be a student about things around you whether whether it's a formalized setting or not. And I think also aging and retiring sort of go hand in hand and good health and making sure that you maintain that and recognizing when you enter a situation either physical or mental. Where you need help, and then you seek that help out. And I think sometimes people retire and they just forget about all of that. And then they wake up one day and they find themselves not happy, or are they find their circumstances difficult because life continues. Yes. Even though you're retired, it continues. You know, one of the things we had here, here, we're in the midst of a pandemic. We didn't plan for that, did we?
John: No, we didn't.
Helen: And I've been, I've had a horse for 25 years that I quit riding when I turned 70. But anyway, I still had him, I had to put him down, that was unforeseen. I did not realize how difficult that was going to be for me. And saying goodbye to my old friend, was hard. And that's, that's one of the things you have to have to I think, gird yourself for and that is loss, because it will come in some some shape or form. And you have to understand the strength that you have, and your vulnerability to handle and deal with it and move on.
John: On that note, there's nothing else that I think either one of us could say that would back up, what you just said, make that any better. So let's move on. And just simply say this, I thank you so much for allowing us to do this.
Helen: Well, thank you. I've enjoyed it.
John: Same here. And folks, I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. I get the benefit of sitting across the table interviewing people like Helen and it's just fun. And I learn something new every time and you're an inspiration.
Helen: Well, thank you. You are, too.
John: Thank you so much. Thank you so much.
Voiceover: If you'd like to know more about John Curry's services, you can request a complimentary information package by visiting johnhcurry.com/podcast again that is johnhcurry.com/podcast or you can call his office at 850-562-3000 again that is 850-562-3000. John H Curry chartered life underwriter, chartered financial consultant, accredited estate planner, masters in science and financial services, certified in long term care, registered representative and financial advisor Park Avenue Securities LLC. Securities, products and services and advisory services are offered through Park Avenue securities a registered broker dealer and investment advisor. Park Avenue Securities is a wholly owned subsidiary of Guardian, North Florida Financial Corporation is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Park Avenue securities. Park Avenue Securities is a member of FINRA and SIPC. This material is intended for general public use by providing this material we are not undertaking to provide investment advice or any specific individual or situation or to otherwise act in a fiduciary capacity. Please contact one of our financial professionals for guidance and information specific to your individual situation. All investments contain risk and may lose value. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Guardian, its subsidiaries, agents or employees do not provide legal tax or accounting advice. Please consult with your attorney, accountant and/or tax advisor for advice concerning your particular circumstances. Not affiliated with the Florida Retirement System. The Living Balance Sheet and the Living Balance Sheet logo are registered service marks of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America New York, New York Copyright 2005 to 2020. This podcast is for informational purposes only. Guest speakers and their firms are not affiliated with or endorsed by Park Avenue Securities or Guardian and opinions stated are their own.
2021-115530 Expires 2/2023