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Remodelling Retirement
CONSIDERING HOUSE AND HOME
» Thursday 26 June 2008 | 4:30 pm
» The Bohemian Café, 524 Bernard Avenue
An informal afternoon hour showcasing the people and ideas featured in Okanagan Home. Join us as life planner Nigel Brown, anthropologist David Counts, and retired businessman Mel Kotler examine the options and opportunities of retirement.
» This is a free event. Refreshments will be available at a modest cost.
» Seating is limited, please reserve yours HERE
Taking a Close Look at Retirement Choices
 Retirement is unquestionably one of the biggest life adjustments we make, and every year more and more of us are doing it. But that doesn't mean we're happy about it, and many are avoiding it all together. Equally true is that the Okanagan is losing some of its luster as a retirement capital in no small part due to rising house prices and ever-more-costly services.
Is retirement a good idea? If not, then what's the alternative? If so, how can we make it work for us? What should we do with our "golden years", no matter what our age? Where should we live? Are retirement homes, gated communities, condos, houses, or intentional communities the right choice for us? We're all different, and there's no one-size-fits-all answers for any of those questions.
This Thursday, June 26 at 4:30 pm at the Bohemian Café, the Okanagan Institute Express casts its inquiring eye over these quandries with Remodelling Retirement: Considering House and Home. Three energizing speakers - life planning expert Nigel Brown, anthropologist David Counts, and retired businessman Mel Kotler - examine the options and opportunities of retirement.
 Mel Kotler spent more than 20 years building up Fabricland into a successful business with 40 company stores stretched across Western Canada and another 20 franchisees. He has been on the boards of Pacific Safety Products, QHR Technologies and the Okanagan Innovation Fund. In 2003 as chairman of the Central Okanagan United Way he led their fundraising efforts and surpassed $1-million. Over the years he's received numerous community service awards for his varied work with the Special Olympics, Canadian Cancer Society and many other organizations, including the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.
No wonder retirement didn't suit him. "I failed retirement," he laughs. Instead he traded one career for another, and now works as a developer for such projects as Southpoint at Big White and The Madison in downtown Kelowna. "I wanted a sense of still being able to accomplish something and be productive in some way, but it takes more time than I figured."
An engaging speaker, Kotler will talk about some of the surprises he faced moving into this second phase a life - a stage Nigel Brown coaches people through on a regular basis.
 Nigel Brown is the principal of Life Planning Matters, which provides "mid-lifers" with a positive reality check on what the next 20-30 years can hold. Founder of the Make A Wish Foundation, Brown spent his early career working in financial services before moving into this field. His clients include the BC Veterinarian Medical Association, City of Kelowna, Interior Savings Credit Union and others.
Brown says house and home plays a critical role in mid-life, and the last thing people should consider is packing up and moving into a 55+ condo.
"A supportive environment that creates contact with members of the younger generation is most likely to be positive for elders when they perceive themselves to be in a meaningful and valued role," says Brown, a thoughtful presenter who received his training through the University of Minnesota's Centre of Spirituality and Healing.
Not everyone chooses a static place to call home.
 David Counts - Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at McMaster University - has lived his life examining how other people live - whether in Papau New Guinea, or New Mexico. With his wife Dorothy, also an anthropologist, he researched and wrote the book Over the Next Hill, which examines the intricacies of lives lived on the road.
"RVers call their rigs their 'houses' and say of places where they have stayed: 'I used to live there," Counts says.
Remodelling Retirement: Considering House and Home is a free event, and takes place at the Bohemian Café. This marks the 46th event the Okanagan Institute has held since the Express series got underway in July 2007. Since that time, the series has played host to many Okanagan luminaries, including former deputy secretary general of Amnesty International Derek Evans, artists Lee Claremont and Gary Pearson, BC Book Award nominee Don Gayton, CBC Literary prize winner poet Harold Rhenisch, animator and filmmaker Jim Cliffe, architect Jim Meiklejohn, and others from a variety of creative fields.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE CLICK HERE
Okanagan Institute at the Bohemian Café A hearty feast of lectures, presentations, workshops and showcases celebrating our culture and community. Produced by the Okanagan Institute in association with Wheat King Publishing magazines: Okanagan Arts and Okanagan Arts. Express is sponsored in part by the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, Wood Lake Books, UBCO Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, and supports the work of Project Literacy Kelowna.
The Okanagan Institute is a group of creative professionals that have gathered around the goal of providing events, publications and services of interest to enquiring minds in the Okanagan. We partner with individuals, organizations, institutions and businesses to achieve optimal creative and social impact.
Our mission is to ignite cultural transformation, catalyze collaborative action, build networks and foster sustainable creative enterprises. We invite the participation by all members of the creative community.
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