The Second Fifty – Debra Whitman

Nov 14, 2024

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Take Charge of Your Future. Imagine Possibilities with Design Thinking – and Test Them.

Join our Design Your New Life in Retirement Program – two new groups start in January.

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Getting older brings questions. Debra Whitman, PhD, the Chief Public Policy Officer for AARP, had questions, too. Her research led her to write the new book “The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond.” You’ll benefit from her insights from interviews with experts and takeaways from cutting-edge research across a range of topics including brain health, an older workforce, caregiving and retirement.

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Bio

Debra Whitman is the author of The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond. She is an economist and expert on aging issues with an extensive background in policymaking and research. As EVP and Chief Public Policy Officer for AARP, Debra leads a team of 150 experts in all aspects of policy development, analysis, research, and global thought leadership to produce policy and research insights and solutions that help communities, lawmakers, and the private sector improve our lives as we age.

Debra serves as an AARP spokesperson on a diverse set of issues including long-term care and caregiving, financial security, health and longevity, and engaging a multi-generational workforce. She connects with a range of stakeholders such as the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Forbes and the Aspen Institute.

Previously, as staff director for the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, Debra worked across the aisle to increase retirement security, lower health care costs, protect vulnerable seniors, make the pharmaceutical industry more transparent, and improve our long-term care system. Before that, she worked for the Congressional Research Service as a specialist in the economics of aging and served as a Brookings LEGIS Fellow to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Debra is a public speaker, mom, and an advocate for those whose voices need to be heard.

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For More on Debra Whitman

The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond

@policydeb on X

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Podcast Episodes You May Like

The Measure of Our Age – MT Connolly

Breaking the Age Code – Dr. Becca Levy

Ageism Unmasked – Dr. Tracey Gendron

Lifestyle and Financial Decisions As We Age – Marjorie Fox, JD, CFP®

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Wise Quotes

On the Big Questions of Midlife & Beyond

“So I’ve been working on aging for the last 25 years at the Social Security Administration, running the Senate Aging Committee and then here at AARP, but I realized when I was about to turn 50, I didn’t have the information I wanted at my fingertips. I had books like What to Expect When You’re Expecting and Social Security for Dummies and lots of other great resources, but nothing that just comprehensively looked at all of the things that I was curious about. And so I wrote down a list of questions, everything from the most basic: How long will I live? Will I be healthy to more practical things like How long will I work or Will I have enough money? And then some tough questions like Will I lose my memory? and How will I die? And so those became the chapters of the book, but one of the things that happened as I was starting to put this together was my husband had a major heart attack at 48. And I’ll get a little bit emotional talking about it, but he was hiking by himself and had what they call the Widow Maker, which, being his wife, is not a great term when I heard it. And luckily Boulder Mountain Rescue raced up the mountain and carried him down before his heart stopped. And that experience, Joe, just helped me to think that even though I spent all my career planning for aging and a long life, we really don’t know how long we’re going to live. And so it also makes me really appreciate every day that I have – and I certainly appreciate him a lot more.”

On Zip Codes & Genetic Codes

“And so women, we live in the United States six years longer than men. I spent a month trying to figure out why. I know that people with a college degree live seven years longer in the United States and related to a college degree, people with the highest 1% of wealth, men live 15 years longer, and women live 10 years longer. That’s decades of extra time. And if we look across the country, we also have huge disparity. So your zip code is more important than your genetic code in how long you’re going to live. And so not where Boulder is, but Summit County, Colorado, where Breckenridge is, is the longest lived county in America. And people there live about 20 years longer than people in Ogallala, Lakota County in South Dakota. And so when you see these huge differences in how long people live, it’s not because we as humans are different, it’s because of the physical exposures we have, the access to good healthcare, the ability to take care of ourselves, all of these things play out. And it’s, to me, kind of not fair that everybody in America can’t hope for a good and long life.”

On Habits and Attitude

“So, the research shows, and that’s probably not surprising to you and your listeners, there’s five healthy habits that we can do that can give us as much as a decade more of health. The five healthy habits are eating a good diet, exercising, not smoking, not drinking, and then maintaining your weight. And even if you do one of those, you can live an additional two years. But I think what I was surprised about was how your mindsets and your behaviors also really impact how you how long you live and how healthy you are. So I know you had a Marc Schulz on recently talking about The Good Life, and their research has really shown how having really strong relationships matter in order to have better health later. And we know social isolation is is about the same as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It’s toxic. So having good relationships is really important, important. Having a sense of purpose and purpose can come from our work from caring for others from volunteering. It could be coming from your pets, but having some reason that helps you see value in your life. And then the last one, and this is Dr. Becca Levy’s research from Yale, is your mindset about aging. So if you have a positive view on what your future is going to be like, and I know you try and cultivate that through this podcast, you live seven and a half years longer. Your risk of heart attacks go down. Even your risk of dementia and cognitive decline go down. And so, to me, these lessons are I need to exercise but even more important maybe have a meal with friends. And even more important, I’ve always had a positive view on aging, but how do I really enhance that and have a sense of purpose? So those are those are the things I really took from the book.”

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About Retirement Wisdom

I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident.

Schedule a call today to discuss how The Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one – on your own terms.

About Your Podcast Host

Joe Casey is an executive coach who also helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a twenty-six-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Today, in addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, which thanks to his guests and loyal listeners, ranks in the top 1 % globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.5 million downloads. Business Insider has recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy.