Editor’s note: Bonnie Sewell is a longtime columnist with Rethinking65. Read more of her articles here.
Bonnie Sewell
Whatever ideas I’ve had about my own retirement, after decades as a financial advisor, have faded with the reality of the times we’re in. Plans can’t be executed in a vacuum. They are morphed in part by some guardrails outside my control. Gosh, that’s annoying. Also liberating.
I like the illusion of control. After all, wealth-management professionals specialize in the illusion of control. But with my paid work in the rearview mirror, the potential of a different kind of retirement is coming into focus.
The last year included heavy work responsibilities before retirement, illness, surgeries, two moves and the loss of my mother-in-law. I’m ready for peace. My health is improving. In important ways, many things in my retired life have become easier. Genuine relaxation is a daily feature.
My husband and I have moved to a new community. Something else moved in with us: AI. Artificial intelligence has comfortably settled into most corners of our daily life. Much of it is welcome, which I’ll get to in a minute, but some of it is actual trespassing.
Murray and I chose to buy our retirement home in Governor’s Land (GL) in Williamsburg, Virginia, because it holds all the amenities we enjoy and would have purchased a la carte anyway if we lived in a different community. We’re paying a fraction of what many of our friends are paying in other places for similar spaces.
Our neighborhood access to trails, golf, swimming and a restaurant reduces the time and energy I have to spend to create those experiences — experience that I’ve chosen to spend my time and money on in this stage of life. Governor’s Land is a special place that stands out for the sheer beauty of the river, forests, trails, and relative solitude of only 700 homes across 1,400 acres. The acreage isn’t in the home lots. It is in the forests, the beach, the golf course and the marina.
This morning, I type this from my serene writing studio as birdsong slips through my windows; my view of the sun splashing across the fifth green pull my eyes from the screen. In a bit, I’ll throw on my sneakers and walk a little over five miles in the tranquility of forest paths along the James River. Murray is headed out for 18 holes with the guys. The Queens of Clubs, my ladies golf group, recently gathered for brunch and we golf together most Wednesdays. The food-forward group welcomed this newbie with open arms and good conversation; I may have found my tribe.
“This is what we worked all our lives for. We’re here for as long as we’re healthy.”
Tomorrow night, we’ll dine with neighbors at the clubhouse restaurant. A couple of grandkids live across town. I know family and friends will delight in their visits here. We can’t wait to host more of them. This is what we worked all our lives for. We’re here for as long as we’re healthy.
How I Got AI to Mind Its Own Business
AI is a “connected experience” — whether we know it or not. I use Microsoft Word for writing (like this blog) and learned that AI is here too, scraping the content inside Word on my computer to feed itself. AI is also a bit of a politician. When I asked an AI program if its content was original, it answered, “AI-generated content is a synthesis of existing data and patterns learned during the training of AI models, which raises questions about its originality.”
I know, I initially laughed too. But then I remembered a post I saw that showed how to turn off AI’s ability to scrape content from little ole me. Sure enough, I went into Word settings, then options, then trust center, then privacy, then connected experiences … and unchecked all those boxes, I had to re-start Word to apply the my new found privacy.
AI Has Taken Over Our Home
Our new (to us) home was actually built in 1998. That means we are slowly changing over systems, appliances, lighting, security and sound to AI-powered autonomy. This Includes updating thermostats, installing the apps we use to enter and leave our home, and reworking the “built-in” sound system for 2025 and beyond.
The Skylight app turned our formerly independent professional calendars into one calendar that we can use on our phones. We can also display family photos and coordinate with family and friends using Skylight’s AI assistant, Sidekick. Skylight can even handle meal planning and recipes. The calendar also hangs on the wall, so what’s happening that day is crystal clear.
Staying Mentally Fit
Through the work I did for clients on retirement planning, I’m well aware that an idle mind ages more quickly than an agile one. That’s why Perplexity, an AI product with a reasonably priced pro version, has become a constant companion to feed my own busy mind. In seconds, I can research any topic, which is then sourced, leading to more research. The rabbit holes it leads me down are the point. It’s like a roller coaster with no stops, just the thrills.
Retiring doesn’t eliminate the need to read documents — the documents just change from work docs to medical, legal and government docs.
That’s where Google NotebookLM has come in handy. Simply uploading the documents to notebookLM.com lets me understand them quickly by asking questions about their content. And that’s not all: You can make your scrolling useful by plugging in websites in addition to documents. You can use this for trip planning, meal planning, fitness, writing — the possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Want to hear what NotebookLM has to say instead of reading it? Make it into an audio file and you’ll hear the information delivered back to you in an easy he said/she said podcast format.
AI is Also a Real Lifesaver
Real life problems don’t retire when you do. Recently, my oldest son — a dad, husband and executive — had brain surgery at the University of Virginia to remove an aggressively growing pituitary tumor that threatened him with loss of vision. My younger sister — a mom, wife and new retiree— had surgery at Kaiser to repair a mitral valve prolapse that became so severe that it threatened her life. The fact that their surgeries occurred on the same Tuesday was the universe winking at my devotion to planning life. I knew I could collapse in a heap of worry or I could get better information.
Did you know the University of Virginia (UVA) Health Pituitary Tumor Program is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to enhance the surgical treatment of pituitary tumors? This involves analyzing thousands of cases to provide decision support to surgeons; suggesting optimal approaches based on past similar surgeries; and guiding the surgical process. Kaiser’s AI initiatives include efforts to streamline clinical workflows and improve diagnostic accuracy, which then benefit preoperative planning and postoperative care for mitral-valve repair surgeries.
Both my son and my sister are doing well having benefited from these institutions’ use of AI.
Another Ankle Repair, This Time With AI
I have a repair coming up on my right STAR ankle which was replaced in 2011 and repaired the first time in 2017. Repair recovery can actually take a few weeks longer than replacement recovery so I’ll be non-weight bearing for 14 weeks this next time. With literally nowhere to go, you think I’m not excited about this new online world of research at my fingertips?
My next ankle repair involves a part made on a 3D printer. Using AI in the ankle-replacement process can reduce up to 30 steps in the surgical process, decreasing overall operative time. AI, combined with weight-bearing CT scans, enables the creation of 3D virtual models of my ankle. This guides the design of the 3D-printed implant to help prevent long-term complications.
Do the Upsides Outweigh the Downsides?
Some potential downsides to AI in retirement are connected to many of the same downsides as other activities. Using AI, one still needs to be aware of privacy! To determine if you can turn off the constant feeding of AI through scraping and data collection. look in the settings of the AI products you use. Remember that AI is a tool, not a solution. Seniors using AI can still be hacked. And AI can also be wrong!
“Don’t leave your critical thinking behind when using AI.”
For health matters especially, keep AI as a tool that can help you develop questions to ask a competent doctor. Don’t take medical advice from AI. Remember that AI is literally a product of all that came before it in terms of knowledge and opinions, so its results contain a lot of garbage. Don’t leave your critical thinking behind when using AI.
Overall, though, I see more upsides to using AI as a retiree, including the creative pursuits that are often limited by a lack of time when working.
Playfully pursuing personal expression, I can create digital art through Midjourney, then share it with others when I choose. Want cozy travel from your sofa? Most great experiences require virtual reality (VR) headsets and software, both of which can be expensive. But this is still a fraction of the cost of real-life travel. As much as I’ve enjoyed going overseas the last several years, it’s increasingly overpriced, overcrowded and underwhelming. I can see a time when VR might overcome at least two out of three.
My retirement is enhanced by AI in so many ways including the time I save to use elsewhere. So far, AI isn’t making more of that.
Bonnie A. Sewell, retired CFP®, CDFA™, AIF®, CEPA®, is the owner of We Do Exits, a B2B consulting company. When not promoting smart and sane exits, she’s busy writing, golfing, cooking up a storm, biking, swimming, and enjoying friends and family.
