The Robust Retirement blog is intended to inform and enrich your retirement years.  I want to help you think objectively about your retirement goals, finances, lifestyle, and housing and care options, and to make well-informed decisions about each of these.

In the 25+ years I have studied senior housing and care and informally advised family, friends and co-workers, I have observed far too many pre and post retirees let their fear of aging, stereotypes about retirement and preconceived ideas about senior housing and care push them into bad choices, or delaying making a decision about housing and care until a move is force on them, making their retirement much less enjoyable than it could have been.

When researching my own retirement options, I found an information gap on the web between (1) commercial websites and blogs offering information and advice as a hook to sell a product or service, and (2) blogs documenting an individual’s retirement experiences, sometimes in excruciating daily detail,
but providing little useful information or advice.

Reading this blog will not guarantee you a robust retirement but it should help you make better decisions about your retirement goals, finances, lifestyle, housing and care, so you can take measures that will enable you to fully enjoy a time in your life unfettered by the demands of advancing your career and raising a family.

Blogger – Jerry Doctrow

Transition to Retirement – I turned 65 and partially retired in 2015.  My working life spanned 43 years. Over the last 25 years of my career, I worked as a market analyst, stock analyst and investment banker specializing in senior housing and care and
healthcare real estate. I was recognized seven times as a Wall Street Journal Allstar while working as research analyst and I enjoyed my job, despite long days, lots of travel and a very competitive work environment. The great thing about being an analyst is that you interact with, and are constantly challenged by, extremely smart people nationally and internationally. I was fortunate to earn the respect of some of the world’s best institutional investors and corporate leaders, some of who I remain in contact with nearly 10 years after I retired.

My father died on my birthday in 2003 at age 88 and my mother died in 2005 at age 87. I lost my older brother, Martin Doctrow, to a never-diagnosed debilitating neurological illness in 2014, when he was only 68 years old. My brother’s death was a major influence on my decision to retire at a relatively young 65. It reminded me to enjoy live while you can, and I was fortunate to have the financial resources for a long and comfortable retirement.

When I announce my retirement, my employer, Stifel Nicholas, offered me the opportunity to work less than full-time and shift from equity research to investment banking. My role as an investment banker was to use my senior housing and health care real estate industry knowledge and contacts to identify and market investment opportunities. I worked with Stifel’s real estate investment banking team, and we completed a number of significant transactions during my two-years as part-time rain maker and investment banker.

Shifting from full time work to part time work, to full retirement is a great way to transition. With labor markets tight, many employees now working from home, and experienced baby-boomers starting to retire in larger numbers, I believe most professional firms are open to flexible work schedules for valued employees transitioning to retirement.

Since I fully retired from Stifel in 2017, I continue to work as consultant a for a select group of clients through Robust Retirement, LLC. In November 2016 I joined the Board of Directors of Quality Care Properties (QCP). QCP’s CEO was Mark Ordan, well known as a senior housing and care and real estate turn-around specialist. In April 2018 QCP was sold to Welltower (WELL) REIT for nearly $2 billion. In January 2021 I joined the Board of Directors of Roland Park Place, a not-for- profit Life Plan Community, or Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) located near my home in Baltimore.

Housing & Care Choices – In 2006, my wife and I moved from a rambling two-story detached home on a good-sized lot to a thee-bedroom three-bath condominium in a historic mid-century building designed by Mies van der Rohe. Our 2,700+ sq. ft. condo was on one level, with wide doorways. The building was elevator served, had valet parking, a 24 hour-staffed front desk and a door-person who would bring your groceries and packages to your unit. We later installed grab bars in the master bath and made other minor changes to make it more accessible.

When I first started reducing my working hours, my wife and I were in reasonably good health. But in September 2018, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. My symptoms are pretty well-managed with medication prescribed by a motor disorder neurologist, but vigorous exercise, not medication, is the only thing shown to slow the progression of Parkinson’s.

The exercise program recommended to me by my neurologist and other patients that I used until last year was Rock Steady Boxing, in a gym pre-pandemic, online for two years and then back to a fully renovated space designed for the program. Rock Steady was developed and clinically tested for Parkinson’s. Sessions for patients who can handle them are typically an hour-long combination of intense boxing, aerobic, strength, balance and cognitive exercises specifically designs for Parkinson’s patients. The exercise regimen is intense enough that by session-end you are covered in sweat, tired and ofter a bit sore.

In Maryland, Rock Steady Boxing and other Parkinson’s exercise and support programs are offered multiple times a week at different sites at no charge to Parkinson’s patients. These sessions are paid for by the Maryland Association for Parkinson’s Support (MAPS). I contribute to support MAP’s ability to continue providing free programming for Parkinson’s.

I am a great fan of Rock Steady Boxing. It gave me a way to fight my illness and, after several years of twice a week boxing session, I was in the best physical condition of my life. I lost nearly 50 pounds between the time I fullyI retired in 2017, dropping four inches from my waist, with much improved muscle tone.

In late 2022, my wife faced a serious health care challenge and a I become her primary care giver, trying my best to offer emotional support, help her navigate her care delivery, and take on more responsibility for meals, housekeeping, grocery shopping, etc. While Rock Steady was good for me, in 2023 I decided my scheduled time (4:00 pm Monday and Wednesday at the beginning of rush hour), at a location about 30 minutes from our condo was more than I could handle and do what was needed as my wife’s caregiver

One of the most interesting aspects of Parkinson’s is the interaction between your mental state and your physical symptoms, and the stress of my wife’s illness and my increased caregiving responsibilities exacerbated physical problems with balance and increased the frequency of falls. To address these problems, I switch to more frequent and more personalized sessions with a physical therapist recommended by my motor disorders specialist. I also tried to do more exercises on my own as circumstances allowed. After using data from my Apple watch, I also realized almost all my falls were in the evening. To counter this, my motor disorders neurologist adjusted my meds to assure I was medicated in the evening after 6:00 pm and was medicated with a time released version of my key medication overnight. These actions, both the medication change and more personalized PT twice a week, together with my wife’s successful treatment, has improved my condition and significantly reduced the frequency of falls.