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The Retirement Wisdom PodcastAuthor: Retirement Wisdom
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Can You Learn to Be More Optimistic as You Age? – John Trauth
Episode 435
Monday, 21 September, 2026
Is optimism something you’re born with, or something you can learn? John Trauth, author of Maintaining Optimism While Aging, believes that the way we process events plays an important role in how we navigate aging, setbacks, and major life transitions. In this conversation, John shares lessons from Positive Psychology, his own experiences with adversity, and a useful framework for examining negative events using 3 questions from Martin Seligiman’s work on Learned Optimism: Is this permanent? Is it pervasive? And how much of it is personal? Leaving work to retire comes with losses; the structure that organizes your day, the community that surrounds you, and a sense of purpose that has grown over decades. John explains why anticipating those losses, and deliberately planning to replace them, can make the transition to retirement more successful. He also makes an interesting case for planning ahead for some of the realities of aging: not as an exercise in pessimism, but as a way to reduce uncertainty and free yourself to concentrate on living now. John Trauth joins us from Sausalito, California. __________________________ Bio John Trauth, MBA is a management consultant based in San Francisco and the author of Maintaining Optimism While Aging. He was born in New York, graduated from Colgate University with majors in Economics and Psychology, and proceeded to earn his MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth, majoring in marketing, finance and corporate social responsibility. He has worked for large management consulting firms in both Boston and San Francisco. For the last 10 years, he has run his own consulting practice specializing in strategic planning. He and his wife Astrid lived in France in the mid-1990’s, is fluent in French, and now resides in Sausalito, California. He is co-author, with Alan Bernstein, of “Your Retirement, Your Way,” which achieved the #1 position in Amazon’s “retirement book” category , and later was rated by Consumer Reports as one of the 15 best books on retirement. John and Alan gave keynotes and seminars around the country, counseling people on planning strategically for their retirement. In writing Maintaining Optimism While Aging, John collaborated again with Alan who provided his perspectives, guidance, and experience as a renowned New York City psychotherapist working with people in major life transitions. _________________________ For More on John Trauth Maintaining Optimism While Aging Website _______________________ Other Retirement Podcast Episodes You’ll Also Love Breaking the Age Code – Dr. Becca Levy Thinking Better to Live Better – Dr. Woo-kyoung Ahn Change Your Questions, Change Your Life…in Retirement – Marilee Adams, PhD _________________________ Wise Quotes On Optimism “Some people grow up in bad circumstances but still are optimistic. So, it’s really not baked into your personality as much as it is baked into your thought process. And if you can change your thought process, you can basically change whether or not you’re optimistic, pessimistic or in the middle.” On Metacognition “If you can really think about thinking, really embrace metacognition and understand why you think the way you do, then you can change how you think. But if you don’t know the why, you can’t change the how.” On Optimism & Adversity “When you’re hit with some of these things, there’s a natural tendency to feel a sense of helplessness. That’s very normal. You need to go through that. It’s like when someone close to you dies. You’ve got to grieve. You got to go through that. It doesn’t mean it has to last forever. You’re going to get through it, but you need, mentally to process that, and to be able to then pick yourself up and move forward.” ________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You’ll get smarter about the investment decisions you’ll make about the most important asset you’ll have in retirement: your time. 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 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 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master’s degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia University. In addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, ranked in the top 1% globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 2 million downloads. Business Insider 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. _________________________ The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Retirement Wisdom Podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the host or Retirement Wisdom, LLC. The Retirement Wisdom Podcast covers the non-financial aspects of retirement. From time to time we may invite guests who discuss other aspects of retirement planning, solely for educational purposes. Listeners are advised to consult qualified financial and/or medical professionals on those matters.
