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How much critical thinking are you bringing to your retirement planning?  And not just with your investments, but on how you’ll invest your time in retirement. Critical thinking can help you avoid distractions, make smart choices and chart your own course in your retirement life.

Dennis Torres shares his lessons from a varied career and from six years in retirement. He joins us from Malibu, California.

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Bio

Dennis Torres is a skilled, talented mediator, arbitrator and negotiator who is committed to serving the best interests of all parties. He has successfully settled and negotiated thousands of disputes and contracts throughout his professional career. More than 30 years of business experience enables Torres to quickly identify the key issues of any dispute, separate the conflict from the personalities and pragmatically work toward resolution. Additionally, he brings a high degree of integrity and creativity to the process, often being praised for his “out of the box” solutions.

A daily meditator since the mid 1970s, it is easy for Torres to remain centered, focused and neutral while being firmly committed to resolution. His style utilizes a full range of facilitative, evaluative, distributive and transformational methods as best suited for the individuals and the uniqueness of each challenge.

While varying the process to fit the parties and the dispute, typically he will first caucus with counsel for both sides, followed by a joint session with all parties, then individual caucuses with each disputant and their attorney. His success rate is among the highest in the industry and his solutions among the most satisfying.

Torres received his formal training in dispute resolution from Pepperdine University’s School of Law, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, which is rated number one in the country.  He has both a Master’s Degree in Dispute Resolution and a Professional Graduate Certificate in Dispute Resolution. Additionally, he is a graduate of The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York where he earned a degree in industrial engineering.  He also studied law at LaSalle University before being assigned duty with the United States Air Force in Vietnam. In 2006, he completed the PON at Harvard Law School.

In addition to his private practice, Torres served as an adjunct professor of negotiation and dispute resolution for Pepperdine University and as a mediator for the Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR), the California Academy of Mediation Professionals (CAMP), the Arbitration, Mediation & Conciliation Center (AMCC), the State of California Superior Court in Ventura County and Los Angeles County, and the Courts of Malibu, Santa Monica and Van Nuys, and as both a mediator and arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). He had been professionally associated with Pepperdine University util his retirement.

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For More on Dennis Torres

Website

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Podcast Episodes You May Like

The Power of Saying No – Vanessa Patrick, PhD

Life After Work – Brian Feutz

Purpose Driven Retirement – Jet Vertz

Independence Day – Steve Lopez

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Retiring?  Check out our recommended Best Books on Retirement with short summaries.

It’s not a just a list – and not just typical titles…

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Wise Quotes

On Critical Thinking & Retirement

“Critical thinking is important in all aspects of life, but what it means is to start thinking why we believe what we do. Why do we do the things that we do? We are bombarded throughout our life with philosophies, with commercial advertising that sort of shape our thinking. And especially true in retirement. Many people think, well, we got to go on a cruise. We have to go see the world. We have to go do this, we have to do that. And that may not satisfy people. They think of me personally. I took one cruise in my life, and while I always make the best of a situation and enjoyed meeting people, it was something I would not do again, because the cruise that seemed to be about the eating and gambling and entertainment, none of those things interest me. I’m interested in nature and relaxing and in learning. So the point I’m making here is think about what’s really important to your life, what you want to do with your life that’s going to feel fulfilling instead of rushing around doing things that you think you should do.”

On Simplicity

“Simplicity is the essence of life. We’re bombarded with so much, especially now with the social media and internet. The real fulfillment in life comes from simple things. I was thinking also today about frugality. Frugality is not just money. Frugality is a simple lifestyle, and that’s what’s fulfilling. I see people now and now that I’m retired, and by the way, I’d loved working. I loved meeting people and being active and creating. I retired because the simple fact that I knew I was not going to live forever, and I wanted to try something different, something that was not scheduled. And I find so many retired people try to busy themselves with things, cruises and traveling and all that, and how many times I’ve heard people come back from Italy or Europe or Asia and say, wow, it’s so good to be home. You’re leaving thinking that this is going to be fulfilling and actually you’re happy to be home where you can relax and get into your normal routine. So people should not be afraid of routine and just enjoy the simplicity of not being bombarded by so many things in life. Life will fill all the time that you have. Get in there and make the best of it. Do something that’s fulfilling.”

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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 The Multipurpose Retirement.™

A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident.  It takes more than a vision. 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.

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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 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.