One of My Favorite Reviews of Suddenly Retired…by Steve Magnino
5.0 out of 5 stars A timely and much needed guide for rocking retirement (or rethinking the role of work)
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2022
Verified Purchase
Don Hurzeler’s new book Suddenly Retired showed up in my mailbox yesterday, four weeks to the day after my last day of work in a nearly 41-year professional career. Unlike experience, which is something you get just after you need it, the arrival of Hurzeler’s book was serendipitous in that it arrived precisely when I needed it, and as I am working through what, exactly, retirement will look like for me. Retirement is still uncharted territory at his point, with both the sense of opportunity and anxiety that accompany any new chapter in life. For me, Hurzeler has written an invaluable guide for what comes next and how to make the most of it.
Hurzeler begins his book in November 2019, describing a vacation trip he and wife, Linda, took to China which included a cruise on the Yangtze River. Unexpectedly and without explanation, the cruise was diverted from its final stop at Wuhan, and the ship’s passengers taken to an airport about 100 miles away. In this context, the timing of Hurzeler’s book could not be more perfect, not only in terms of what I needed to know about retirement, but also in terms of how Covid has changed the world of work for all of us. As he points out “Millions of people are deciding if they want to continue down the career path they were on, given how radically the world has changed in the past couple of years…For many of us, this time is the most difficult we have faced in our whole lives. For all of us, it is also a time of great opportunity. This book is focused on that great opportunity.”
Hurzeler is unfailingly upbeat and optimistic, but he is no vapid cheerleader or Pollyanna. The man is a steely-eyed realist who sees the world clearly as it is. And he knows where of he speaks. As a former insurance chief executive and national professional-association president, Hurzeler has been rocking retirement for over a decade now. When someone with the track record and credibility that Hurzeler possesses tells me the best maybe yet to come, along with sound advice on how to make it happen, well, you know it is not just idle talk or wishful thinking. With a highly readable, accessible style, Hurzeler writes with grace about the dangers, toils, and snares that exist in the seemingly upended and often confusing world in which we find ourselves. Most importantly, he offers clarity, actionable insights, and prescriptions to not only survive, but to thrive. Highly recommended for anyone newly retired (like me), anyone considering retirement, or anyone rethinking the role of work in their lives.