Last month, we asked a question that I hope caused you to stop and think: “You Won. Now What Was the Win For?” This month, I’d like to follow up with what may be an even more important question: Who are you without your business card?
Think about it. For most of our adult lives, our identity has been closely connected to what we do. When meeting someone for the first time, what’s usually one of the first questions asked? “What do you do?” And how do we answer? We describe our career, our company, our responsibilities, or perhaps the title on our business card.
For 40 or 50 years, that business card has helped define who we are. Then one day, we retire, hand in the keys, clean out the office, and the business card disappears.
Now what?
Few changes in life are greater than retirement. Some are wonderful, others challenging, and some we never anticipated. We’ve spent decades preparing financially for retirement, but how much time have we spent preparing for what comes next?
We know what we’re retiring from. But do we know what we’re retiring to?
The Real Secret to Maximizing Social Security
The #1 question I receive during every workshop or consultation is,
“How do I get the most out of Social Security?” My answer may surprise you.
LIVE!
Certainly, when to claim Social Security matters. But what good is maximizing a monthly benefit if we haven’t thought about maximizing the life we’re living? Research has associated having a strong sense of purpose with greater longevity.
Just as our muscles atrophy when we stop using them, our minds and spirits need to remain engaged. We need challenges, relationships, responsibilities, and perhaps most importantly, a reason to get out of bed every morning.
Think about someone you’ve known who retired after a successful career. Within 12 to 18 months, they seemed to age dramatically. Perhaps they even passed away.
Retirement itself isn’t necessarily the cause, but losing our sense of identity, direction, and purpose can be a serious challenge. Golf, travel, fishing, and time with the grandchildren are wonderful blessings. I enjoy them myself. But are they enough to give our lives meaning and purpose?
Your Gifts Didn’t Retire When You Did!
This morning, while reading St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians (4:7–16), I was reminded of something we often overlook. Paul tells us that each of us has received different gifts from Christ. Some were called to be apostles, others prophets, evangelists, pastors, or teachers. And why were these gifts given?
To serve others and build up the Body of Christ.
Notice what Paul doesn’t say. He doesn’t suggest these gifts have an expiration date or that our responsibility to use them ends when we reach retirement age! Think about the wisdom, experiences, relationships, talents, and lessons you’ve accumulated over your lifetime. Were they given to you simply for your own benefit?
Or perhaps were you being prepared for something you haven’t yet discovered? What if retirement isn’t the end of our usefulness but an opportunity to put those gifts to work in ways we never could while building our careers?
And from a purely selfish perspective, one of the best things we can do for ourselves is give back! As Bishop Robert Barron frequently reminds us, “Your life is not about you.”
Your New Business Card
Perhaps instead of viewing retirement as the end of our working lives, we should see it as the beginning of a new assignment. One that doesn’t require a title, an office, or a paycheck.
I’ve often joked that if I volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, I’d probably have sawed off several fingers by now! Clearly, carpentry isn’t one of my God-given gifts.
But perhaps spending the last several years writing Freedom of Choice, sharing what I’ve learned through life’s successes, failures, and unexpected turns, is one way I’m being called to use the gifts I was given.
And isn’t that St. Paul’s point? We weren’t all given the same gifts, but we were all given gifts meant to be shared.
What if your new business card identified not what you do, but who you are, whom you serve, and what you stand for?
What would yours say?
As we make the Turn and begin playing our Back 9, we may discover that life isn’t ultimately about how well we’ve played the game. It’s about understanding why we were invited to play in the first place.
My upcoming book, Freedom of Choice: Why True Freedom Requires Personal Responsibility In Spirit, explores these very questions—identity, purpose, and what we choose to do with the life still in front of us. Coming December 2026 from Morgan James Publishing. All author proceeds will go to charity!
Have a great month!
David P. Zander
CFP Emeritus Board ™
dzander@back9pro.com
260-615-0078
