Services
The journey to Sustainable Retirement, like any other journey, is a series of steps that move you to your destination. If you are not familiar with the territory on your journey, it is helpful to have a guide.
I can be your guide on the path to Sustainable Retirement. The process has four steps that we work on together. These steps are:
Perform the Home and Lifestyle Assessments - Review the qualities of your home and your lifestyle to uncover the opportunities that are available to you.
Set Your Goals - Define your goals for Sustainable Retirement.
Develop Your Plans - Create a plan that works for you.
Take Action - Implement your plans.
This four-step process is a holistic approach to planning for a Sustainable Retirement. We will look at many aspects of your life and create a plan that will help you save money, become healthier, reduce your financial risk, create a safe, comfortable and energy efficient home, increase your income producing opportunities and reduce your impact on the environment.
Home and Lifestyle Assessments
Home Assessment - A review of your home to determine what you can do to create an energy efficient, safe, comfortable, affordable and low-maintenance living environment for your retirement.
- Home Energy Use Assessment (how to save energy).
- Home Safety and Comfort Assessment (how to make your home safer and more comfortable in retirement).
- Home Maintenance Assessment (how to reduce the maintenance in your home).
Lifestyle Assessment - A non-judgmental review of your lifestyle to identify the opportunities available to you that will support your Sustainable Retirement. We will explore the following areas, and more:
- Health and Healthcare
- Transportation
- Food
- Energy Use
- Retirement Income
- Housing
- Community Partnering (Explore the benefits of working with others to create your Sustainable Retirement).
Goal Setting
After the Home and Lifestyle Assessments are complete, it is important to set goals to help direct your efforts. These are your individual goals, but I can help you develop them.
Every person has a their own idea of what Sustainable Retirement might look like. They have their own individual health concerns, transportation needs, living situations, varying levels of income and resources, and other individual needs. The goals need to meet your requirements.
What are your goals? Here are a few examples of what these goals might be.
- Reduce healthcare costs and increase your health and fitness.
- Reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 50%.
- Reduce living expenses by 25%.
- Create a living space that allows you to stay at home as you age.
- Eat a healthy diet and reduce food costs.
- Reduce transportation expenses by 50%.
- Work with others to create an affordable and sustainable food system.
- Increase the use of renewable energy.
- Decrease your home maintenance needs.
- Re-size your lifestyle for a sustainable retirement.
Plan Development
Once you have established your Sustainable Retirement Goals, we will work together to build a plan that will guide you on your journey to Sustainable Retirement.
I can help you develop an effective plan that will save you time, money and effort by:
- Identifying timing priorities so that savings from early low-cost investments in sustainable living can finance future projects in your plan.
- Sharing helpful planning insights that I have gleaned from prior projects and my experience as a finance and strategic planning manager, property manager, energy rater and Certified Aging-In-Place Specialist.
- Identifying potential problems and suggest solutions.
- Providing you with information on available tax incentives, rebates, low-interest loans, incentives, etc.
- Helping you set realistic expectations.
- Identifying resources (books, professionals, articles, internet sites, organizations and people who have made the Sustainable Retirement transition) that will provide you with information, ideas, guidance and encouragement.
Take Action & Consulting Services
Once you've developed your Sustainable Retirement Plan, I can assist you in a number of ways. I can:
- Guide you in the selection of products and services to implement your plan.
- Provide you with information on how to chose a contractor, purchase energy efficient appliances, purchase services and products to increase the safety and comfort of your home, make lifestyle changes to increase the likelihood of your success, etc.
- Introduce you to trustworthy professionals who can help you implement your plan.
- Schedule calls or visits to check-in with you to help you implement your plan and provide you with the encouragement to "stick with it" as you make this life transition to Sustainable Retirement.
- Keep you up to date on the latest developments in the Sustainable Retirement movement.
Public Speaking
Ed is available for interviews, lectures, conference presentations, workshops and other speaking engagements.
Please contact Ed for more information about his public speaking.
Prior Speaking Engagements
United Church Of Gainesville, FL, April 5, 2009
Santa Fe College, Gainesville, FL - Prime Time Institute, January 29, 2009
Alachua County Library District, Hawthorne, FL Library, February 1, 2009
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, Anthropology Department, May 22, 2008
Healthy Planet of Brevard, Cocoa, FL, April 19, 2008
Gainesville AARP Chapter, Gainesville, FL, January 7, 2008
University of Florida, Campus & Community Sustainability Conference, October 2006
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, Honors Class In Sustainability, March 2006
Santa Fe College, Community Education, Solar Energy Primer – February 13 & 20, 2006
Contact Sustainable Retirement for more information 
