Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Winner: Meg Tilly
Former occupation/notable position held: Academy Award-Nominated Actress
Activities during retirement: full-time mom; author
Retirement Report Card Grade: B+

A strikingly intense and dynamic screen presence, Meg Tilly's fade from acting came as a disappointment to fans of her work in films like 1983's The Big Chill and Agnes of God, for which she earned an Oscar nomination in 1986.

Tilly quit film in 1995 to raise her children, a decision quite possibly owing to the theme of her book Singing Songs, focusing on a sexually abusive stepfather, and that Tilly later confirmed was autobiographical.

The instinct to protect our children, from threats real or imagined, is primal and palpable. It transforms Tilly's choice to walk away from the craft at which she so excelled from confounding, to entirely logical and courageous.

That Tilly chose to write in retirement is healthy not just in helping her come to terms with a traumatic past, but in providing a new avenue for her creativity. Her second novel, Gemma, came out in 2006, was followed by Porcupine, a finalist for a major children's literature prize.

Tilly's just-short-of-"A" retirement grade perhaps owes to wishful thinking: that she may one day choose to un-retire from acting and delight her fans once again. Somehow you know if Tilly makes that choice, it will be a well-thought out and heartfelt one.

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

Celebrity Retiement Scorecard: Meg Tilly originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Loser: Sumner Redstone
Former occupation/notable position held: Controlling Owner (still active), CBS Corporation; Viacom (includes Paramount, MTV Networks, etc.)
Activities during retirement: Not applicable
Retirement Report Card Grade: D-

What keeps Sumner running? Why won't (can't) he just stop?

One of the great things about being a mogul: no mandatory retirement age. That's not a bad thing, as long as said aging mogul is still operating in the best interests of all of his stakeholders: himself, his family, his friends, employees, and public shareholders.

Much of this doesn't seem the case for Redstone, 85. His latter-day career highlights include a publicly waged battle with his daughter Shari, long named his heir apparent, over corporate governance and strategic issues. The battle has played out in the press, sometimes in brutally personal detail.

His refusal to cede control has cost him other dear relationships, like that with longtime confidant Tom Freston, widely credited as the architect of the modern MTV. Redstone ousted Freston as head of Viacom for reasons few in the know understood. And Redstone's public kneecapping of Paramount money machine Tom Cruise made Cruise's own infamous Oprah couch-stomp seem downright sane.

Redstone stays just a hair shy of a retirement "F" for one, purely semantic reason: he hasn't retired. His is a cautionary tale that, regardless of its super-sized scale, has much to teach. Only Redstone may know why he keeps on, even at the expense of his most precious relationships.

For one, Redstone gives a window into how close friendships and familial relationships diverge in (what should be) retirement. You choose your friends and associates, but your family, not so much. So while Freston and Cruise have likely moved on, Shari doesn't have that option. That's unhealthy all around, and saddest for Redstone himself.

A guy like Redstone, who built a fortune estimated at $9 billion, may have made one hell of a mentor during his transition into retirement, and perhaps in retirement itself. There are so many options left unplumbed.

Work can and should continue to be part of life for retirees for whom it balances a healthy portfolio of interests and activities, and serves as a prime source of mental challenge, a feeling of social connectedness and other vital things. There's just no glory seemingly vowing to die in your head-of-the-boardroom chair, simply because you can.

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Sumner Redstone originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Loser: Geraldine Ferraro
Former occupation/notable position held: First female candidate for U.S. Vice President; Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Activities during retirement: high-level consultant; political commentator
Retirement Report Card Grade: C-

The last thing Hillary needed at her campaign's crossroads was an honorary fundraising committee member making headlines, invoking race and openly attacking her media-darling opponent. But that is precisely and famously what Geraldine Ferraro did, and why she rates a retirement "C-". The grade goes deeper than knee-jerk, current events-fueled cynicism.

What could the former Congresswoman and groundbreaking Vice Presidential candidate have been thinking? Most likely, it was the bitter taste of two failed bids for the U.S. Senate in 1992 and 1998. Her behavior suggests that her many (and lucrative) activities since leaving public office - media commentator, management consultant, corporate board member among them - were time-markers, not true callings. She may have felt badly wronged by the electorate, and never got past it.

If Ferraro's retirement from politics reveals a person stuck in neutral, she's far from alone among retirees. Far too many leave their careers feeling like they never quite achieved what they should have, and wind up hamstringing what should be a great and fulfilling next chapter. While reinvention may be radical for most, some of the most satisfied retirees are those who worked hard, experimented, and found new passions and pursuits - and got over whatever it was that left a sour taste from work.

For Ferraro in retirement, it's not about the money, as it won't be for many fortunate members of the most asset-rich generation we may see for some time. It's about time, and what choose you do with it.

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Geraldine Ferraro originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Winner: Victoria Principal
Former occupation/notable position held: TV actress (Pam Ewing on CBS's Dallas)
Activities during retirement: Cosmetics entrepreneur; part-time actress; civilian astronaut (upcoming)
Retirement Report Card Grade: B

Tabloids and 90210-zoned plastic surgery offices are jam-packed with once breathtaking actresses seeking to stretch the soup just a little further. (See "Dunaway, Faye"; "Ryan, Meg"and too many others to name.) Otherwise known as deferred retirement, it's not a pretty sight.

Not Victoria Principal, who showed big-picture acumen and a proclivity to plan early on - essential seeds to sow for healthy retirement and overall life planning. Disappointed with her career's early course, Principal was on her way to law school, with the intent of becoming a studio executive. Then legendary producer Aaron Spelling found her and offered her a year's tuition to take a role in his pilot for Fantasy Island. She accepted, and her Dallas opportunity soon followed.

Her Principal Secret line of skin care products, set in motion while she was still riding high as Dallas mainstay Pam Ewing, broke new ground. Instead of endorsing a product (and scooping up the quick dollars that come with), she was the product, opting to build an eponymous brand with potentially serious, long-term value.

Her skin care line may owe in part to her omitting a clause in her Dallas contract that would have granted CBS the right to consent on, and participate financially in, her outside projects. (She was the only cast member to hold firm on the language.) She also started a production company soon after leaving the series. "I retained the control and ownership of my image," she said. "No one owns me."

Evidence of solid, early and long-range planning rates Principal a healthy "B." She's kept a relatively low profile the past few years, opting for a few acting jobs, and divorcing from her husband of 21 years in 2006. Living privately in semi-retirement is, of course, her prerogative, and perhaps reason enough to upgrade her upon later examination.

Principal may, indeed, have a career re-launch in mind, but one of a quite different kind. She is reportedly training to be one of the first female civilian astronauts on one of Sir Richard Branson's upcoming commercial space flights. Stay tuned.

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Victoria Principal originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Winner: Billie Jean King
Former occupation/notable position held: Multi Grand Slam-Winning Pro Tennis Player
Activities during retirement: Gender equality advocate; Olympic Coach; Goodwill Ambassador
Retirement Report Card Grade: A

One of the toughest things about retirement is the initial transition. It's a disruptive life change that many don't realize ranks with the likes of childbirth and divorce until they're right in the middle of it themselves.

Transition wasn't a problem for 39-time Grand Slam champion Billie Jean King. She was transitioning "on the fly" even at the peak of her career by semi-retiring, one step at a time. She immersed herself in issues like gender equality, prize money parity for athletes, and the rights of female athletes to unionize. Her legendary "Battle of the Sexes" victory against Bobby Riggs, televised in primetime by ABC, was more than women's rights-era spectacle: It ushered in the modern era of women's pro sports.

King's leadership among players in supporting the Virginia Slims tour, which brought real money to women's tennis for the first time, is more typical of someone with over-the-hill status in a sport, not a player in her prime. The same goes for King's role in helping found (and later, leading) World Team Tennis, an arena-sized attempt to capitalize on tennis's huge popularity in the '70s.

King seems to have carefully calibrated her career to remain vital to, and in, the sport she loves for as long as there is mutual benefit. That's a taut tight rope walked by precious few.

After tackling gender and pay activism - and coming to grips with eroded skills - King successfully transitioned to coaching. In the mid-1990s, King became the captain of the United States Fed Cup team and coach of its women's Olympic tennis squad. She guided the U.S. to the Fed Cup championship in 1996 and helped three players capture Olympic gold. She came to grips with her sexuality, now speaking about it publicly and inspirationally, after long resenting having been "outed" years ago.

In 2006, the USTA National Tennis Center in New York City was rededicated as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The center is the largest sports facility in the world to be named after a woman. An honor rather befitting this Grade A retiree.

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

Celerity Retirement Scorecard: Billie Jean King originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Winner: Phoebe Cates
Former occupation/notable position held: Actress
Activities during retirement: full-time mom; part-time actress; boutique owner
Retirement Report Card Grade: B+

The scene is etched in the heads of many of a certain generation. Pool. Red bikini. Slow-motion walk, to the Cars' pulsating "Moving in Stereo." Judge Reinhold clandestinely gazing on, from not-so-afar at a young beauty named Phoebe Cates in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Who would have guessed some 25 years later the word "retired" -- and successfully, at that -- would be attached to Cates, especially after audiences realized her looks were just part of her appeal. (Turned out, she could really act.)

Cates constructively called her acting career quits after the birth of her son in 1991 (with husband Kevin Kline, who has not stopped working), appearing in just three films since. A daughter arrived in 1994. Cates rates a retirement "B+" because of her clear commitment to the choice of full-time parenting over what may have been an A-list Hollywood career. Planning and passion are two retirement success cornerstones and her path speaks of both. .

By returning to the screen sporadically, Cates keeps her options open - an ideal way for most any retiree, particularly those early-on, to operate. Leading-edge Boomer retirees, for example, are discovering that a modified version of work - one with more flexibility and less day-to-day responsibility -- to be an important part of their first phase of "retirement."

That Cates's most recent film, The Anniversary Party, cast her as a former full-time actress who retired to motherhood, winks and nods to her feeling comfortable with her choice. She opened a New York City boutique in 2005, and has been nurturing her own children's acting careers.

It's still early in the game for Cates, thus the B+ grade for now. Apparently healthy marriage, committed parent and varied interests are all the stuff of an eventual A.

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Phoebe Cates originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Loser: William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton
Former occupation/notable position held: 42nd President, United States of America
Activities during retirement: Philanthropist, foundation head; public speaker; best-selling author; political albatross
Retirement Report Card Grade: D

In the heat of the Presidential primary battle, now presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama publicly mused that he sometimes didn't know which Clinton he was running against.

America agreed. It wound up hurting Hillary, badly.

The damage the former president was doing to his wife's campaign went high-profile at perhaps the worst popular time, following her unexpected, comeback victory in New Hampshire. His thinly-veiled invocation of race on the South Carolina stump turned a campaign just catching the wind into listing sloop.

No one would ever confuse Bill Clinton with a political or media trainee. So what's to explain his well-documented campaign travails?

It does wash if you look at Bill as a guy finding his way into a new phase of life - not traditional retirement, but a period that requires sublimating a Presidential-sized ego, and finding a new identity.

It can be tough work establishing a new persona when you turn the page. For many traditional retirees, the cocktail party icebreaker "what do you do" becomes loathed if the best they can conjure is, "I'm retired." Bill was in uncharted waters for someone used to having the spotlight trained solely on him.

Look at Bill's public-facing activities since leaving the White House, and you see a similar pattern: worthwhile pursuits, starring Bill Clinton as, well, Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton as a brand is a good thing if it means getting desperately needed dollars to Africa, or delivering what Homeland Security could not to New Orleans. But Brand Bill didn't fly on someone else's Presidential campaign trail. Maybe it did early on, but not during the campaign's latter, critical phase.

The former president gets a "D" for this marking period, with big potential to return to his former, higher-scoring self.

A smart guy once said (paraphrasing) when you're President, they play music every time you enter the room. When you're not, the music stops. Bill would have done well by his wife by remembering these, his own words.

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Bill Clinton originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Loser: Bill Parcells
Former occupation/notable position held: Coach & executive, multiple NFL Teams (Current: Miami Dolphins, EVP)
Activities during retirement: TV analyst; un-retiring
Retirement Report Card Grade: D

Two of the subheads in Bill Parcells' Wikipedia entry give away his retirement story: "First Retirement" and "Second Retirement."

This two-time Super Bowl-winning gridiron guru didn't invent the concept of returning to the sidelines. The difference is that the likes of Pat Riley and Phil Jackson (and others of their ilk) don't serially leave jobs under the pretense of "retiring." They tend not to use the word, biding their time as TV analysts, waiting for the next good gig to come along. Not so Parcells, who famously and publicly vowed not to coach again after leaving the Jets' sidelines in 1999.

Parcells chooses to call his leavings "retirements," because retiring is probably what he really wants to do -- if only he could. Said Parcells to The Dallas Morning News, upon agreeing to un-retire a second time and coach the Cowboys in 2003: "How can you resist this? Going into this, I knew that this could be it for me. My last stop. You can either do this or pass this by and know that it's over."

Turns out, it wasn't his last stop. For Parcells and football, it may never be over. Until it's really over.

Parcells stands as a prime example of what sometimes binds talented professionals of all stripes: a singular focus on an all-consuming passion, at the unhealthy exclusion of other worthwhile pursuits, interests, and often, people. It's a personality-fueled straight jacket that makes retirement all but moot.

Parcells thrives on the mental challenges of sideline X's and O's, and in returning formerly celebrated franchises to glory. That's his new quest as top executive of the Miami Dolphins. He's looking to repeat his successes with the New York Giants and New York Jets. The problem is, that kind of thing doesn't happen very often.

The same kind of consumption that precludes serious thought about other life and career options takes a serious and sad toll on relationships. Parcells has openly admitted to his gridiron obsession's role in severing his 39-year marriage in 2002. On the professional side, Parcells left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- and just last year, the Atlanta Falcons -- standing at the altar, opting for sexier gigs in a less-than-above-board manner.

Parcells gets a retirement "D" with the hope that his eventual third retirement will be a charm. He'll need some good help to get there.

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Bill Parcells originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Winner: Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr.
Former occupation/notable position held: Hall of Fame Guard, Los Angeles Lakers and member of 5 NBA championship teams
Activities during retirement: businessman; philanthropist; HIV/AIDS prevention advocate; NBA TV analyst
Retirement Report Card Grade: A

Magic Johnson's stat sheet goes well beyond his colossal assists, points and steals numbers. Along with longtime rival Larry Bird, Johnson's talent, charisma and statesmanship helped restore America's love for a game badly tarnished by a drug-addled, late-1970's dark period.

Johnson's many and major post-hardwood achievements - as broadcaster, as inner-city-minded businessman, as philanthropist -- easily earn him a retirement "A." His greatest feat may well be his role helping usher in today's understanding of HIV and AIDS.

It's a retirement story few may have foreseen in November 1991, when Johnson disclosed that he was HIV-positive and would immediately retire stunned the world. Although he attempted comebacks as a player, his retirement planning did begin in earnest with that announcement. He vowed to fight for his health as aggressively as he did for rebounds. And when he did return, it was not with the expectation to return to his former playing self, but to leave the court on his own terms.

"On his own terms" is indeed Johnson's retirement lesson. When he went into business, it wasn't the typical post-jock "name slap" on a car dealership. Rather, Johnson leveraged his already well-developed brand to bring modern movie theatres to inner cities where there were none.

Johnson shows us that in retirement -- as with any worthwhile pursuit -- you can't fear failure, rather, you should expect to adjust. When his late-night FOX talk show failed badly (and quickly), Johnson didn't disappear from the public eye for career rehab; he kept pushing forward. He diversified his Magic Johnson Foundation's philanthropy to reach beyond HIV and AIDS, and was the main speaker for the UN World AIDS Day Conference in 1999.

In retirement, as in his career, Johnson keeps moving the ball up court.

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Magic Johnson originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Winner: Paul Newman
Former occupation/notable position held: Academy Award-Winning Actor
Activities during retirement: Food company founder/executive; philanthropist; race car driver/team owner
Retirement Report Card Grade: A

Recent unconfirmed reports have Paul Newman, now 83, battling lung cancer. If that's the case, you can bet on Newman to keep it a private affair. It's how he's lived his life, both as hot-commodity actor and as longtime, semi-retiree involved in far-ranging pursuits like Le Mans-caliber race car driving, food company leadership and philanthropy. Newman merits a hard-earned "A" as retiree.

Can you think of an actor who literally announced a retirement from stage and screen? In doing just that last year, Newman mused to BBC News, "You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention. So I think that's pretty much a closed book for me."

The commentary shows how in touch Newman is with himself. It's the kind of self-awareness that anyone contemplating retirement would be well-served by, in setting goals, evaluating abilities and considering what can continue to bring fulfillment.

Newman started his food company, Newman's Own, in the early 1980's, when it can be argued he was still near the peak of his acting powers. Having more money than he needed (not because the world needed another bag of microwave popcorn), he pledged all proceeds after taxes to charity. Tops on that list is the Hole in the Wall Gang camp, a live-in summer refuge for seriously ill children he founded just a few years after debuting Newman's Own.

In a way, Newman seemed to always possess a retiree's mindset: He made lifestyle choices meant to please none other than himself and those closest to him.

He shunned Hollywood living from the get-go, opting to set up house in his beloved Connectitcut. He openly (and without compensation) professed his love for Budweiser. He chose his work carefully, from iconic fare like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, to downright rowdy turns like Slap Shot.

If retirement is personal (it is), Newman may well have made the mold. His last big-ticket acting gig came in 2006 as the voice of Doc Hudson in Disney-Pixar's Cars, where his love of all things racing came through, as they used to say, in Technicolor.

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Paul Newman originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Loser: Daniel (Dan) Irvin Rather, Jr.
Former occupation/notable position held: Anchor, CBS Evening News
Activities during retirement: HDNet Personality; litigant
Retirement Report Card Grade: D

Don't feel bad if you've never heard of HDNet, a high-def cable network bankrolled by Internet mogul Mark Cuban. But you are sure to know one of its hosts, Dan Rather.

Channel 798 (give or take) is certainly not where the 76-year old journalist envisioned spending his career's sunset, and it may seem sad or justified depending on your feelings about the often polarizing newsman. His original script may well have called for a king-making hand-off to a new occupant of his CBS anchor chair, occasional contributions to 60 Minutes and maybe a few healthy book advances, which is the kind of retirement fun Tom Brokaw is having.

Nowhere to be found in that script was very publicly suing his longtime employer for violating his contract. CBS forced Rather to step down as anchor in 2005 as part of the fallout from a disputed report on President Bush's military service aired during the run-up to the 2004 election.

While Rather's circumstances are extreme in both nature and profile, retirement is packed with altered expectations and changes of plans. The question becomes how prepared you are to accept those changes and to make adjustments. That starts with the right kind of introspection, and getting a handle on how you've handled stress and transition in the past. The quality of your social network, and your ability to take good advice from those you trust matters a great deal too.

Rather's retirement grade of D owes not to his diminished media stature, but to the quite surprisingly undignified way he's handled the whole affair. He did anything but adjust positively to new circumstances.

You have to figure a concept like legacy means something to an out-sized personality such as Rather. But most every action he's taken since parting from CBS runs counter to being remembered for a career populated by some extraordinary journalism, particularly covering the JFK assassination, Vietnam and Watergate.

But hey, the media is famous for bringing back its own to get a much-needed ratings fix. (See "Albert, Marv") In the wake of Katie Couric's abysmal viewership, perhaps CBS head Les Moonves need look no further than her chair's former occupant. Now that's what you'd call creative lawsuit settlement.

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Dan Rather originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Loser: Ed McMahon
Former occupation/notable position held: The Tonight Show, longtime Johnny Carson sidekick.
Activities during retirement: TV host; foreclosure victim
Retirement Report Card Grade: C-

Ed McMahon got off to a strong start on his post-Tonight Show career, making his recent difficulties all the more poignant. How did he end up in the headlines recently as the victim of foreclosure?

Transitioning to a new chapter is one of the hardest things to do, but McMahon got a running start, parlaying his fame into a hosting gig on American Idol-prototype Star Search, even while riding shotgun with Johnny nightly on NBC. He also co-hosted with Dick Clark the popular TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes on NBC, among numerous other gigs in the twilight of, and soon after, his Tonight Show career.

Now it seems like it might all be gone. While McMahon's financial details are not fully known, it is likely that while wealthy by most standards, McMahon needs steady and heavy cash flow to maintain a lifestyle built for a younger celebrity with greater earning power. McMahon (and/or those advising him) obviously lost touch with his marketability and sustained potential. Bit parts in flops like 2005's Bewitched and a weekend radio show simply don't rain down big network money.

Now McMahon finds himself appealing to Larry King's CNN audience as a potential victim of the mortgage foreclosure crisis. A broken neck reported earlier this year, coupled with a bad fall last year, hasn't help matters. McMahon perhaps best serves as a sobering example of retirement's dynamic nature, and for how a fast and fortuitous start doesn't necessarily make for retirement-long success.

The best retirement plans - particularly, non-financial plans - are built to be revisited and adapted over time. In some cases, we need to rewrite these plans the fly/. Boomers may on average live some 25 years in retirement - too long for a static plan.

McMahon appears to have a big fund of goodwill to draw from, and we can hope his story will turn out OK. Somewhere, Johnny may well be air-swinging a putter for him.

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Ed McMahon originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You might think that the rich and famous never have to think about life the way the rest of us do, and certainly planning for retirement may seem like the least of their worries. But just because a person has a name up in lights doesn't mean that he or she is any better at figuring out the tricky transition from working at a main career to stepping away or starting a second act. And when it comes to money, sometimes those riches can evaporate fast.

Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

• Jimmy Carter
• Roger Clemens
• Jack Welch
• Dan Rather
• Magic Johnson
• Ed McMahon
• Paul Newman
• Bill Parcells
• Billie Jean King
• Bill Clinton
• Phoebe Cates
• Sumner Redstone
• Meg Tilly
• Geraldine Ferraro
• Victoria Principal

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Winners and Losers originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Winner: Jack Welch
Former occupation/notable position held: Chairman and CEO,GE (1981-2001)
Activities during retirement: BusinessWeek columnist; MIT professor; best-selling author; world traveler; avid golfer
Retirement Report Card Grade: A

Welch made his legendary leadership bones by declaring a company should be number one or number two in an industry, or not bother playing. He remade GE to that maxim, handsomely rewarding shareholders and himself (to the tune of $720 estimated net worth) along the way. Under Welch, GE's market value methodically climbed from $14 billion to more than $400 billion.

The portfolio approach Welch took at GE, with business units ranging from aerospace to broadcasting, is serving him well in retirement, too. There is a sense he's going for balance - a healthy mix of recreation, mental challenge and ongoing engagement in what he appeared to love most in his work: theorizing on and mentoring others in management.

In his best selling book Winning, he acknowledged that a bad back made him give up golf, and that he was surprised to learn he didn't miss it. (The back has since healed, and his back at it.) That bespeaks someone with multiple, primary interests, not just one post-career-defining passion.

Today, Welch spends his time teaching at MIT's Sloan School of Management, working with a select group of promising students with avowed interests in leadership. His vast contributions to Sacred Heart University's College of Business affected its renaming in his honor.

Welch co-authors a popular BusinessWeek column with his third wife, former Harvard Business Review editor Suzy Welch, with whom he travels the world extensively. The Red Sox and modern art are among other assets in his activity-rich, post-career portfolio.

You don't need a Jack Welch fortune to enjoy a Jack Welch retirement. Nurturing varied interests and staying connected to what we loved most about work are, happily, within most of our sites.

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Jack Welch originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirements scorecard for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Loser: Roger "Rocket" Clemens
Former occupation/notable position held: Major League Pitcher
Activities during retirement: Testifying before Congress; filing defamation of character suits; tamping down infidelity accusations
Retirement Report Card Grade: F

It wasn't simply steroids buzz that landed Clemens an "F" grade. His widely-suspected juice use is symptomatic of his failure to plan for retirement; not the main reason he failed. In fact, if the six-time Cy Young award winner did seek anabolic help, it was to prolong a career that started fraying at the seams.

Clemens tried to retire for good in 2007, but wound up coming back to the Yankees instead."Well, I guess I failed retirement again," he declared to the press. Little did he know, that was no throwaway line.

A competitor of Rocket's caliber had to know that last year was the end, and it only got clearer with each start. But while the competitive juices still pumped, his aging body whispered what Senator Mitchell's report would soon shout from the mountain, albeit for different reasons: "it's time."

Clemens is spending his retirement's early days attacking his accusers and various detractors the way he attacked the strike zone, living in the past rather than trying to move forward with new projects. It's a function of his personality, but it's also a waste of whatever value is left in his reputation. Imagine what he could do if he took that same competitive fervor - that stubborn tenacity - and channeled in a positive direction, whether for the good of the game that made him wealthy, or the world at large? Think of the kind of businessman a guy like Clemens would make: the kind that would make his competitors even better, spur innovation. But there's no danger of that anytime soon from the Rocket.

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Roger Clemens originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who is making it? Who is not? We've concocted retirement scorecards for some showcase retirees in entertainment, politics and sports. See the full list here.

Winner: James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Jr.
Former occupation/notable position held: 39th President, United States of America
Activities during retirement: Founder, The Carter Center (world peace & health advocacy); author, Habitat for Humanity (key proponent)
Retirement Report Card Grade: A

While the Iran hostage crisis and an oil embargo may have tarnished his presidential legacy, Jimmy Carter has passed retirement with flying colors, as his 2002 Nobel Peace Prize attests.

Passion is one of the keys to sustained fulfillment during retirement, and President Carter's pursuit of humanitarian issues is not only noble, it demonstrates his deep devotion for something he identified early on as meaningful and worth pursuing. He has been doing good deeds with such vigor from virtually the moment he left office,

Struggling with no-easy-fix, macro issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, homelessness, genocide and world hunger has kept him mentally engaged, which is vital to post-career satisfaction. And the former president clearly understands the key retirement value of keeping up with (and adding to) a social network built during career, as his advocacy with today's world leaders demonstrates.

That he founded The Carter Center jointly with his wife, Rosalynn, soon after leaving office suggests they planned their post-White House years together. That bespeaks the best kind of retirement planning: taking into account the wants and needs of those closest to you.

Most former presidents take pen in hand upon leaving office, but Carter has done it a little differently. There are his memoirs, his musings on politics, his deep explorations of the Middle East conflict, and then there is The Hornet's Nest, a work of fiction set in the south during the Revolutionary War. There's a good chance he wrote it to please one person: himself. In retirement, that is not only permissible, it's healthy.

Michael Burnham is CEO of My Next Phase, a consulting firm offering non-financial retirement planning products and services (www.mynextphase.com).

Celebrity Retirement Scorecard: Jimmy Carter originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Financial giant TD Waterhouse is out with its first-ever survey examining Canadians' satisfaction in retirement. Bottom lines: (1) unexpected, tough adjustments to life after work; and (2) widespread realization that money provides the means to, not the ends of a happy retirement.

Among the findings, as reported in Canada's National Post:

- A quarter of retirees aged 55 to 70 found it hard to adapt to a life no longer defined by their work;

Continue reading TD Waterhouse Study: Life a mixed bag for retirees

TD Waterhouse Study: Life a mixed bag for retirees originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 15 May 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I love Norm Brodsky's long-running "Street Smarts" column in Inc. It got even better for me a couple of years ago, when he turned it into a diary chronicling the sale of his business. Having sold one myself, I couldn't wait to see what was in store.

Brodsky didn't disappoint. The ups, the downs. The starts, stops and re-starts of getting a deal done. The thrill of the payout. All in this refreshingly blunt, first-person way that somehow made it OK for Brodksy to brag, because he'd tell you he was doing just that.

I just finished his May column, where Brodsky wears on his sleeve his struggles six months after the sale -- struggles that have zero to do with money. He doesn't sound at all like the same, master-of-his-domain kind of guy. I'm writing this somewhat spooked, because he wrote about precisely what I experienced after my sale: the misery, the weight of trying to figure out what to do next.

Continue reading Help wanted: Support groups for the newly retired

Help wanted: Support groups for the newly retired originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 02 May 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I was sad to learn Jonathan Clements was leaving The Wall Street Journal, not to write at another media outlet, but to work at Citigroup. (Though I was far from shocked; the Murdoch-era editorial cleansing rages on, just today claiming top editor Marcus Brauchli.) Make that, I'm happy Clements is pursuing something new, different -- hopefully, stimulating and lucrative, too. I'm sad because he was the rare personal finance writer who indeed understood the personal, going beyond raw dollar signs to keep financial planning in perspective.

Clements made his last column unabashedly about the personal, lifting the editorial curtain to expose his feelings about the endgame for all this financial engineering. "What is the real reason for all this saving and investing?" he asked. "The short answer is, you save now so you can spend later. But what will you spend your money on? People dream of endless leisure and bountiful possessions. Unfortunately, after a few months, endless leisure often seems like endless tedium."

He went on to cite three key things wealth can - should -- do for us, noting their relevance to the fat of wallet and modest savers alike: (1) If you have money, you no longer should worry about it; (2) Money can give you the freedom to pursue your passions; (3) Money can buy you time with friends and family.

Continue reading A personal finance writer who made it refreshingly personal

A personal finance writer who made it refreshingly personal originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSNBC recently posted some good advice for engaged couples about transitioning to a new financial life together. It has good tips on how and when to initiate a discussion about money, on budgeting, understanding one another's spending and saving patterns, setting goals and on getting outside advice.

Long-married couples and partners can benefit from advanced versions of this kind of advice. Far too often, couples with even the most solid financial plans hit serious potholes when the main breadwinner(s) retires. To those accustomed to a healthy direct deposit landing in the bank account every two weeks or so, the transition from accumulation to depletion can be a tough (if for some, only psychological) pill to swallow.

Dealing with money as retirees is a whole new ballgame. Everything can come into play, from who keeps the checkbook, to how (and by whom) income will get generated, if need be. The net, unexpected effect of not acknowledging these changes, or of not addressing them, is serious friction -- a kind of pressure in direct odds with the automated relaxation response most expect when work ends, and a leading reason even some well-heeled retirees cite for having a less than fulfilling retirement.

Continue reading Good financial chicken soup - for newlyweds and long-marrieds alike

Good financial chicken soup - for newlyweds and long-marrieds alike originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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