Alan Spector, local author of “You’re Never Too Old to Play the Game,” about his lifetime attachment to playing baseball and “Hail, Hail to U. City High,” about his high school and post-graduation experiences as a student and alumnus of the University City High School, has teamed up with Keith Lawrence, his former colleague at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, to publish a very different kind of book, but equal in quality to the first two. “Your Retirement Quest: 10 Secrets for Creating and Living a Fulfilling Retirement” (Cincinnati Book Publishers, $18.95, paper) lives up to its title’s promise by providing an easy-to-follow plan to assure that one’s retirement will indeed be made up of “Golden Years” as opposed to crushing boredom and a sudden loss of a “purpose-driven life.” 

Spector and Lawrence, who have each constructed fulfilling retirements, share their experience, strength and hope in this highly accessible and practical how-to book. Both are retired from 30-plus year careers at Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest consumer products company. Each of the co-authors has extensive professional and personal experience with the same 10 key elements of a fulfilling retirement they describe. They are founding partners of LifeScape Solutions, which enables prospective and current retirees to gain clarity, confidence and commitment in their futures. They also partner with companies to fully engage their most experienced employees and enable those employees to plan for and realize a fulfilling retirement.

The two write, “In each life phase, you were on a quest for knowledge, personal growth and fulfillment, and you came to recognize that you did not need to blaze your own trail. Rather, you could learn from those who had gone before, just as they had learned from others. While your life is unique, you also share life’s journey with others. You are on your personal quest, yet have the opportunity to acquire and use the secrets of success others have learned along the way.”

They add, “Although there are many similarities between retirement and the other phases of your life, there is also an important difference-in retirement, it is not as obvious from whom you will be learning. Who knows the secrets?”

Among the “10 secrets” they outline:

• Freedom: retirement sets you truly free for the first time in your life. Take advantage of freedom from work, obligations and stress, freedom of choice and action, and freedom to explore, discover and pursue your passions.

• Money: Retirement is about much more than the money. The best things in life are not the things; plan your financial security, then focus on what really counts to you.

• Quest: retirement is a journey with five distinct stages, and some people get stuck. Understand what phase you are in and move forward.

• Planning: Retirement is exciting, but also unnerving, causing some to hesitate to think about and plan for your future. Create a holistic plan before you retire to reduce the anxiety and increase the odds of a fulfilling retirement.

The other six “secrets” are equally helpful to anyone who is contemplating one of the most exciting, yet possibly disorienting periods of life.

The authors launch into their book with a quote from Don Quixote in “Man of La Mancha” – “This is my quest, to follow that star….” Just as the astronauts would not “follow their stars (and planets)” without the support of Mission Control, people setting out on the wide-open journey of retirement should have handy a copy of “Your Retirement Quest” by Alan Spector and Keith Lawrence. Not only are they talking the talk, they also are walking the walk in a fulfilling retirement.