Experts Matter. Find Yours.

The Grace to Fail: My MBA Journey (Part 3)

I have a confession to make. My wife Bonnie and I are addicts. Not the kind that requires an intervention, exactly, but close. We are addicted to home improvement. We are always planning the next upgrade, the next project, the next thing to tear apart and make better. It gives us genuine pleasure and a profound sense of accomplishment. Bonnie leads most of these endeavours. She is remarkably capable with power tools and can pull off a tool belt like she is strutting down a Home Depot runway (aisle). Our shared obsession has even spawned a series of Facebook posts called the 2 Capable Women, where we document everything from felling trees to the deeply humbling art of Ikea assembly. So there we were, driving in traffic, and Bonnie was telling me about her next project: removing the circa-1960 wood panelling and replacing it with modern shiplap. Mid-conversation, she went quiet for a moment and said, almost to herself, “I guess I need to allow myself the grace to fail.” I nearly drove off the road. You must understand something about Bonnie. She is a self-declared perfectionist. Not casually. She is committed to being a perfectionist at being a perfectionist. So, hearing those words come out of her mouth, unprompted, while discussing a renovation project, was like hearing your accountant quote Oprah. It stopped me completely. The truth has a certain ring to it. I heard that bell loud and clear. Because sometimes wisdom does not arrive in a lecture hall or a leadership book or a TED talk. Sometimes it arrives in a car, in traffic, from the person sitting next to you holding a coffee and thinking about shiplap. That phrase has not left me since. Many of us do this. We replay mistakes endlessly, convinced that self-criticism is somehow productive. We lie awake revisiting conversations and missteps, assuming that if we beat ourselves up long enough, we will emerge wiser. All we accomplish is a thorough self-beating followed by self-flagellation. Lots of noise. Zero progress. Zero calories burned. This is not just a problem for people climbing mountains or starting businesses. It plays out in perfectly ordinary moments. You send an email and immediately wish you had worded it differently. You make a comment at dinner that lands wrong and spend three days replaying it. You make a small error at work and carry it around like luggage for a week. The inner courtroom convenes regardless. Most of us are not failing spectacularly. We are just living, occasionally getting things slightly wrong, and treating that as evidence of something deeply and permanently wrong with us. It is not. It is just Tuesday. I have been thinking about this a lot lately because I am in the middle of my MBA at the Sprott School of Business. I wrote about My MBA at age 69 in Part I and Part II. Back in graduate school after four decades in the workforce, opportunities to feel uncomfortable, uncertain, and occasionally like you have wandered into the wrong building are plentiful. A recent assignment on crafting Team Charters and enhancing my leadership skills inspired me to write a personal manifesto for my graduate studies and to take a closer look at myself. You can read mine here. While working through it, I made a surprising discovery. Most of the commitments I was making to myself had nothing to do with school. They were about life. Read the instructions carefully. Ask for help sooner. Pay attention to what your emotions are trying to tell you. Trust your experience. Hold yourself to your own standards. And this one, which stopped me cold, and sounded very familiar: Allow yourself the grace to fail. There was that bell again. Those six words turned out to be the most important thing I wrote. Not because failure is something to celebrate, but because the willingness to risk it is the price of admission for virtually everything worth doing. Failure is not a topic most of us rush toward. It is about as pleasant as stubbing your toe in the dark. Yet every meaningful thing I have ever done required me to risk it. Starting a new career. Leading a sales team. Launching a business. Climbing a mountain. Writing a book. Going back to school at 69. None of it came with guarantees. All of it came with uncertainty, mistakes, and moments where I genuinely wondered whether I had lost my mind. The jury is still out on some of those. The irony is that failure and growth are inseparable. Dweck (2006) found that people who view setbacks as learning opportunities rather than evidence of inadequacy are more likely to persevere and ultimately succeed. Duckworth (2016) agreed, and in Grit, one of my favourite books, long-term success depends less on talent and more on the willingness to keep going after things fall apart. Neff (2023) added that people who respond to failure with self-compassion rather than harsh self-judgment show greater improvement and are more likely to try again. The friction produced by failure is often exactly what generates learning, but only if we give ourselves enough grace to stay in the game. I see this everywhere. Professionals are staying in jobs they no longer enjoy because starting over feels too risky. Retirees hesitate to try something new because they might not be good at it right away. Students who will not ask a question because they do not want to appear uninformed. And if I am being honest, I see it in myself. Every time I hesitate to contribute to class because everyone else seems younger and sharper. Every time I catch myself wondering whether I belong in the room. One exercise has helped me enormously. When I catch myself spiralling into negative self-talk, I imagine my five-year-old self standing beside me, listening. Would that little girl feel encouraged? Not a chance. So why do we think inner dialogue helps us? A recent example: I made a point in a meeting that got a polite nod and complete silence. You know the silence. The one that could mean anything from “interesting” to “what on earth did she just say?” I replayed that moment for two days. Eventually, I asked a colleague how the meeting had gone, and she said she barely remembered it. The forensic investigation was conducted entirely in my own head. I am not suggesting we lower our standards. We should hold ourselves accountable, learn from our mistakes, and strive to do better. But there is a meaningful difference between accountability and cruelty. Between reflection and rumination. Between learning from a mistake, and building a summer cottage on top of it, and checking in every long weekend. I worry about what this means for the generation behind us. Research by Professor Gabriel Rubin at Montclair State University found that despite living in one of the safest periods in history, Gen Z perceives risk virtually everywhere (Rubin, 2023). They have grown up knowing that at any moment, someone has a phone. One stumble, one terrible dance move, and the clip is posted before you catch your breath. Permanent, searchable, shareable public failure is something entirely new, and the consequences are showing up in surprising places. Monocle magazine noted young people standing completely still on nightclub dance floors, phones in hand, unable to lose themselves to the music. The club has become a stage, and the crowd has become the content. Instead of dancing, people film. Instead of connection, there is performance. This is not a small thing. Dancing is how humans have always signalled availability, built trust, and found each other. It requires a willingness to look slightly absurd. If we have raised a generation so terrified of being captured mid-stumble that they will not move to the music, we have handed surveillance culture a victory it does not deserve. Calculated risks lead to new opportunities, foster innovation, and teach lessons that comfort never could (Rubin, 2023). Risk aversion makes short-term sense. As a way of life, it quietly closes doors that were never meant to stay shut. Give yourself and the young people around you, explicit permission to be unpolished in public. To dance badly. To say the wrong thing and survive it. The phone will always be there. So, fortunately, will the music. Here is what I keep learning inside this MBA: wisdom arrives disguised as failure. The assignments that challenge me teach me more than the ones that come easily. The questions I most resist asking are usually the most important. I did not expect graduate school to teach me this. Then again, I did not expect to be here at seventy. I no longer think in terms of Wins and Losses. Those categories are too simple. I think in terms of Wisdom and Learning. Success builds confidence. Setbacks build insight. Both move us forward. Read that again. So the next time you find yourself at two in the morning replaying something you said three days ago, ask whether your five-year-old self would find your internal monologue useful. If the answer is no, offer yourself a little grace. Which brings me back to Bonnie. Last weekend, she pulled off that 1960s panelling. Every last piece. It was messy and uncertain, and at several points she was unsure what she would find underneath. There were surprises. There were moments of doubt. She kept going anyway. By the end of the weekend, the shiplap was going up, clean and bright and exactly right. She did not do it perfectly. She did it anyway. And it is beautiful. That is the whole lesson, right there, delivered by a woman with a pry bar and a tool belt, on a weekend in June. Failure is not the enemy. Most of the time it is just fear wearing a funny hat. And if you are lucky, it will teach you something genuinely worth knowing. Sometimes it comes from a research paper. Sometimes it comes from your wife, in a car thinking out loud about shiplap. Either way, listen for the bell. Writing my manifesto was one of the most clarifying things I did this year. Not because it solved anything, but because it forced me to decide, on paper, who I was going to be when things got hard. I want that for you, too. So I created the ReWirement Manifesto: a simple template for anyone navigating a new chapter, a big transition, or simply a Tuesday that did not go as planned. It is not a bucket list. It is not a vision board. It is a set of honest commitments you make to yourself, in your own words, that you can return to when your inner courtroom calls you to order. Download your free ReWirement Manifesto template here. Fill it in. Keep it somewhere you can find it. And the next time you are staring at a wall of 1960s panelling, wondering if you are in over your head, remember: the grace to fail is not a consolation prize. It is the whole point. Don’t Retire…Re-Wire! Sue My Book is Now Available for Pre-Order I hope you will consider pre-ordering a copy of Your Retirement Reset for you, a friend or loved one. It's available September 8, 2026 published by ECW Press - You can now order at Indigo or Amazon. And if you love supporting Canadian booksellers, please also check with your local independent bookstore. Most can easily order it for you.

Pause for Water. Stay for the Ads. FIFA's $500 Million Timeout

FIFA's decision to introduce mandatory hydration breaks in every match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is drawing attention far beyond player welfare circles. The new rule requires a three-minute stoppage in each half of all 104 tournament matches, creating more than 10 hours of additional broadcast inventory that did not exist in previous World Cups. Analysts estimate the added commercial value could approach $500 million, making the breaks one of the most significant business stories of the tournament. While FIFA has emphasized player health and safety amid concerns about summer temperatures across North America, broadcasters and advertisers have quickly recognized the value of guaranteed in-game breaks. Networks are now able to sell premium advertising inventory during some of the most highly watched sporting events on the planet, creating opportunities that resemble the commercial structure of American sports broadcasts. Tim Derdenger is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. An expert in sports markets, his research is centered around celebrity endorsements and how to optimize their impact on product sales. View his profile The move has generated debate among fans and observers, with some questioning whether commercial considerations played a role in expanding hydration breaks to every match regardless of venue or weather conditions. Critics argue the stoppages alter the traditional flow of soccer, while supporters point to growing concerns about extreme heat and player safety. For brands, however, the development represents a rare opportunity. Unlike traditional halftime advertising, hydration breaks occur while viewers remain actively engaged in the match, creating premium moments for sponsors seeking global reach and attention. The breaks also open new possibilities for branded content, integrated sponsorship activations, and enhanced fan engagement strategies during live play. Looking to know more? We can help. Tim Derdenger is an expert in sports marketing, sponsorship strategy, media rights, and the business of major sporting events. He can discuss: • How hydration breaks create new revenue opportunities for broadcasters and sponsors • The growing commercialization of global sports properties • Whether fans will accept more advertising during live sporting events • How brands can maximize engagement during high-profile World Cup broadcasts • What this development signals about the future of sports media rights and sponsorship Looking for expert insight on the business side of the 2026 FIFA World Cup? Connect with Tim Derdenger today to discuss how FIFA's hydration breaks could reshape sports marketing, sponsorship activation, and broadcast economics for years to come.

Announcing Major AIQ Enhancements to Improve Inquiry Quality, Relevance and Routing

ExpertFile is announcing major enhancements to AIQ Intelligent Inquiry Qualification, our AI-powered inquiry management feature that helps organizations evaluate, prioritize and route inbound requests from journalists, event organizers, prospective customers, donors, prospective students, research partners, policymakers and other key audiences. These enhancements significantly expand AIQ well beyond its original quarantine capabilities, helping organizations do more than filter unwanted messages. We've designed the new AIQ to provides a more intelligent way to understand the intent behind each inquiry, assess its relevance and ensure valuable opportunities are routed to the right person or team. “We are helping organizations better understand the intent behind each request, protect expert time and ensure valuable opportunities are recognized, prioritized and routed to the right people. Robert Carter - Co-Founder & VP Product Our experience has shown us that as organizations invest more in making their experts, research and knowledge more discoverable across websites, search engines and AI-driven channels, inbound inquiry volume continues to grow. That visibility creates real opportunity, but it also brings more noise from unwanted or unaligned inquiries. While some inquiries are highly valuable. Others are vague, promotional, misdirected, abusive or unrelated to the organization’s expertise. And too often, all of these messages arrive through the same expert-facing channels. We've learned that without a smarter intake layer, important opportunities can be delayed, misrouted or missed entirely. That is the problem these AIQ enhancements are designed to solve. A Shift from Strictly Quarantine to Quality AIQ was first developed to help organizations protect experts from unwanted, irrelevant or inappropriate inquiries. That remains important, and does a great job, but the challenge has grown. Today, organizations need more than a filter. They need a way to evaluate inquiry quality, understand intent and route legitimate opportunities with greater confidence. These latest AIQ enhancements move the feature from a quarantine-focused workflow to a more complete inquiry qualification system. AIQ now evaluates the full context of each inquiry, including the message content, tone, specificity, intent and alignment with accepted inquiry types. The goal is not simply to determine whether a message should be blocked. The goal is to understand whether it represents a legitimate opportunity and where it should go. For organizations that simply display and expert's email this is a level of judgment traditional email spam filters are not designed to provide. While Spam filters can help identify suspicious or malicious messages. They cannot reliably determine whether a journalist submitted through the wrong form, whether a donor inquiry should be routed to advancement, whether a prospective partner is describing a real opportunity, or whether a request aligns with the organization’s expertise and workflow. AIQ is designed for that more nuanced work. Here is a Breakdown of What’s New in AIQ Two significant enhancements are now part of the new AIQ workflow: Inquiry Relevance Evaluation assesses whether a message meets the professional standards of the organization’s inquiry workflow. It helps distinguish meaningful requests from those that are vague, promotional, abusive, unrelated or outside the scope of the organization’s expertise. Inquiry Type Evaluation reviews the actual content of the message, independent of the category selected by the sender. This is important because people often choose the wrong form option. A journalist may submit through a general inquiry form. A donor may select the wrong category. A prospective partner may describe an opportunity that should be routed somewhere else. AIQ helps recognize the true nature of the request so it can be reclassified and directed appropriately. Together, these enhancements help organizations identify valuable inquiries more accurately, reduce unnecessary manual triage and protect expert time. Why This Matters High-value inquiries often do not arrive perfectly packaged. A media opportunity may look like a general question. A speaking request may come through the wrong channel. A customer or partner inquiry may be sent to media relations when it is really a business development opportunity. When these requests are misdirected, they can sit in the wrong inbox, create extra work for staff or disappear entirely. AIQ helps close that gap. “AIQ is not just about blocking bad messages,” said Robert Carter, Co-Founder & VP Product at ExpertFile. “We are helping organizations better understand the intent behind each request, protect expert time and ensure valuable opportunities are recognized, prioritized and routed to the right people. A misdirected inquiry can represent a media opportunity, speaking engagement, partnership or business opportunity that an organization cannot afford to miss.” For communications, marketing, advancement, research, enrollment and administrative teams, this creates a smarter front door for inbound demand. Fully Deployed and Operating at Scale The latest AIQ enhancements are now fully deployed across the ExpertFile platform. They are not beta features or future roadmap items. AIQ is actively processing inquiries today and has achieved a 99.9% success rate in accurately evaluating and routing inbound requests. “We spent considerable time stress-testing this before full deployment,” said Dan Stanhope, Head of Software Development at ExpertFile. “The goal was never just to block bad messages — it was to make sure legitimate, high-value inquiries couldn’t slip through unrecognized. When you combine deep semantic analysis with a trained human review layer, you get a level of accuracy that no standalone spam filter can come close to matching.” Helping Organizations Capture More Value From Expert Discovery Expert discovery does not end when someone finds an expert profile, research page or Expert Center. The next step is making sure the right inquiry reaches the right person. That is where AIQ plays an important role. By expanding AIQ’s ability to qualify, classify and route inbound requests, ExpertFile helps organizations move from visibility to action. AIQ helps ensure that legitimate opportunities are recognized, prioritized and routed efficiently, while low-quality or irrelevant messages are filtered out of the process. For universities, healthcare systems, corporations and associations, this means less noise, better routing and more confidence that valuable opportunities are not being missed. The enhanced AIQ feature is available now as part of the ExpertFile platform. Read the full announcement here: https://exprt.co/AIQ Already a customer...talk to your dedicated Customer Success Team member who can tell you more about this great feature.  Looking to implement something like this for your organization.  Learn more about ExpertFile at expertfile.com/getstarted and request a demo or FREE trial.

World Cup 2026: Story Angles Beyond the Pitch

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be one of the biggest sports stories of the year, with matches taking place across Mexico, Canada and the United States. But the story will reach well beyond the field. As the tournament moves from city to city, it will bring host communities, public agencies, local businesses and civic leaders into the spotlight. That creates a wide range of story angles for journalists, from public health and safety, tourism and economic impact to sports technology, fan culture, athlete performance, national identity and the politics of international sport. Institutions using ExpertFile are helping media cover these broader World Cup stories through dedicated Topic Authority Hubs, Spotlight posts and expert profiles featuring trusted sources across health, business, technology, public policy, culture and sport. Featured World Cup Expert Hubs With the World Cup coming to the New York metro area, Hofstra University’s hub brings together experts on athlete health, recovery, injury prevention, mental performance, public health, tourism, local business impact and the cultural history of soccer. Explore Hofstra’s World Cup 2026 Hub. Source: Hofstra University The University of Delaware’s hub focuses on player safety, concussion research, sports analytics, tourism, youth development, fan behavior, shared experiences and the science behind elite competition. Explore the University of Delaware’s World Cup 2026 Hub. Source: University of Delaware Carnegie Mellon University’s hub looks at the tournament through the lenses of geopolitics, diplomacy, sports marketing, fan engagement, AI, robotics, biomechanics, human performance and emerging sports technologies. Explore Carnegie Mellon’s World Cup 2026 hub. Source: Carnegie Mellon University Story Angles As coverage plans take shape, these are some of the World Cup 2026 story angles journalists may want to explore. The Topic Authority Hubs featured above offer a helpful starting point, with Spotlight posts and expert profiles connected to many of these issues. Journalists can also search directly on expertfile.com to find additional academic experts who can bring depth, context and clarity to their coverage. The politics behind the tournament The World Cup is never just about sport. It can become a global stage for diplomacy, national pride, protest, soft power and political tension, with countries not only competing on the field but also presenting themselves to the world. For journalists, that creates timely story opportunities around national identity, international relations and the political flashpoints that often surface around major global sporting events. The next generation of fans A World Cup can shape how young people connect with sport, family, community and national identity. For many children and teenagers, this may be the first tournament they experience in a big way — at school, at home, in their community or through local soccer programs. The mental pressure of representing a country Few sporting events carry the emotional weight of the World Cup. Players are not just competing for clubs or contracts. They are carrying national expectations in front of a global audience, often under intense media and social media scrutiny. The science of movement under pressure World Cup matches are full of moments that happen almost too quickly to see: a sudden change of direction, a hard landing, a collision, a late tackle, a split-second decision to accelerate or pull back. Experts can help explain the biomechanics behind elite soccer movement, how the body absorbs stress during competition, and why injuries such as ACL tears and concussions remain such important issues at the highest level of the game. How technology is changing the game AI, sports analytics, wearables, robotics, motion tracking and virtual experiences are changing how soccer is played, trained, analyzed and watched. Some of this technology is visible to fans. Much of it is happening behind the scenes. The hidden science behind the tournament Some of the most important parts of the World Cup are easy to overlook. Playing surfaces, stadium preparation, natural grass requirements, turfgrass systems and venue logistics all play a role in the quality of the tournament. What host cities gain — and what they have to manage The World Cup can bring major attention to host cities, along with increased demand on hotels, restaurants, transportation systems, small businesses and public services. The story is not only how many people visit, but who benefits and what remains after the tournament moves on. Sports analytics in action Data is now part of how elite soccer is understood, taught and analyzed. From performance trends to real-time decision-making, analytics can help explain what is happening inside the game and how teams, coaches and analysts evaluate play at the highest level. Soccer as culture and identity For many fans, soccer is tied to family, community, immigration, history and belonging. The World Cup offers a chance to tell stories about fan culture, grassroots soccer, Latin American soccer history, gender and power in the sport, and why watching together can feel so meaningful. Public health and mass gatherings Millions of fans travelling across borders and gathering in stadiums, fan zones and public spaces create important public health questions. Cities need to think about disease surveillance, emergency preparedness, health system readiness and health equity — all while hosting one of the most visible events in the world. About ExpertFile ExpertFile helps organizations become the most trusted and visible source of expertise in an AI-driven world. The platform combines expert profiles, content publishing, inquiry management, analytics and media distribution into a single Visible Authority infrastructure - enabling universities, healthcare organizations, corporations and associations to improve how their expertise is discovered, cited and engaged across search engines, AI assistants and media channels. Built-in workflow orchestration, governance controls and compliance oversight help organizations reduce risk and achieve greater impact with existing resources. Trusted by leading institutions including Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and ChristianaCare, ExpertFile helps organizations unlock the full value of their expertise at scale. The ExpertFile Mobile App connects journalists, conference organizers, policymakers, researchers and industry partners with authoritative expertise across more than 50,000 topics.

Tight-Wad or Spend-Thrift?

My friend, Linda, retired at 66 after 35 years as a school principal. She had done everything right. Pension. Savings. No debt. A financial plan so airtight that her advisor framed it. On her first Monday of retirement, she drove to the grocery store, stood in front of the fancy olive oil, and put the $23 bottle back on the shelf. She grabbed the $10 one instead. That night, she called me, genuinely distressed. "Sue," she said, "I don't know how to spend the money." Linda is not alone. Her problem is not a math problem. It is a brain problem. Welcome to the neuroscience of aging and money, where biology is ageist, your prefrontal cortex is quietly retiring before you do, and the financial industry has somehow spent decades teaching you to save without ever explaining how to stop. What Is Actually Happening in That Brain of Yours As we age, the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain responsible for planning, decision-making, and impulse regulation, starts to lose its edge. Meanwhile, the amygdala, the emotional centre, gains more influence. The result? Decisions that feel more emotional, more risk-averse, and sometimes more impulsive, depending on which way your wiring maps. Research published by Agarwal, S., Driscoll, J. C., Gabaix, X., & Laibson, D. found that financial decision-making peaks around age 53 and then declines steadily. This is not because older adults are less intelligent, but because the cognitive systems that weigh risk and reward begin to operate differently. Biology is ageist, as evidenced by the fact that your brain begins to change its relationship with money before you have even figured out what to do with it. A recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that older adults are significantly more likely to make financial mistakes on both ends of the spectrum: excessive caution and excessive spending. The brain does not uniformly tighten the purse strings. It amplifies whatever pattern was already there. If you were a careful saver, you would become an Olympic penny-pincher. If you were a spender, you would become a one-person economic stimulus package. You become an exaggerated version of your younger self. Which is charming in theory and occasionally catastrophic in practice. Team Tight-Wad: All Chips, No Salsa You know the type. Actually, you might be the type. These are the people who still have their first chequebook, who compare per-unit prices for paper towels with the focus of a neurosurgeon, and who have not eaten at a restaurant without a coupon since the second Harper government. They are not cheap. They are terrified. As the prefrontal cortex loosens its grip on rational future planning, the fear of running out, what I call FORO (Fear of Running Out), takes the driver's seat. It whispers things like: what if the market crashes, what if I get sick, what if I live to 102 and run out of money at 99? And so the tight-wad doubles down. The $23 olive oil goes back on the shelf. The vacation gets postponed. The grandchildren's birthday gifts get slightly less grand. All chips, no salsa. You have built a pile of financial security and are sitting on it, stiff, virtuous, and mildly hungry, while the dip goes untouched. The tight-wad's greatest risk is not poverty. It is regret. Researchers at Cornell University found that people in the final chapters of their lives consistently reported regretting what they did not do far more than what they did. That trip not taken. That renovation not done. That bottle of good olive oil not purchased. FORO kept them safe and small, and the memory of that smallness stings. Team Spend-Thrift: All Salsa, No Chips On the other side of the spectrum, we have the spend-thrifts. As the emotional centres become more active and impulse regulation less reliable, some people lean into the "you only live once" philosophy. They book the trip to Portugal. They buy the golf club they do not need. They pick up the tab for dinner for eight people they met three hours ago. They are generous, spontaneous, and occasionally mystified by their bank statements. Research from Harvard Business School confirms that spending money on experiences and on others generates a meaningful boost in wellbeing. Spend-thrifts are onto something. The problem is sustainability. If the prefrontal cortex is not doing its job by asking "do we actually need this," the credit card bill arrives, and this is why we can't have nice things. Spend-thrifts also tend to underestimate longevity. A 65-year-old Canadian woman today can expect to live, on average, past 87. That is more than two decades of retirement to fund. All salsa, no chips is a delicious way to start a party and a terrible way to sustain it. The Gap Nobody Talks About: Permission to Spend Here is where I want to say something that gets almost no airtime in the financial services industry. We have an enormous education gap on this side of retirement. The entire financial industry, including the advisors, the institutions, the calculators, the seminars, and the books, has spent decades teaching people how to accumulate money. How to save. How to invest. How to sacrifice the latte. The message has been so relentless that it has rewired the way people feel about spending. And then retirement arrives. And nobody says: Okay, you can stop now. You can actually use this. This is what it was for. Switching from accumulation to decumulation requires real support, real education, and genuine permission. It is not a switch you flip. It is a gear shift that many people never make successfully. They arrive at retirement financially prepared but psychologically stuck. Honestly? The mother of all eye rolls is reserved for the financial institution that still calls it a savings account when you are 72. You are not saving anymore. You are managing a spending pool. Here is my modest proposal: once you turn 65, your savings account becomes your spending account. Not a radical rebranding. A psychological one. Words matter. Framing matters. Every time you log in and see the word "spending," your brain starts to normalize the idea that this money has a purpose, and that purpose is your life. Clients need financial therapists as much as they need financial planners. They need someone to look them in the eye and say: you earned this, you saved this, and spending it wisely and joyfully is not a failure of discipline. It is the entire point. Self-Awareness Is the Cheapest Investment You Will Ever Make Recognizing your pattern is step one. If you have not bought anything for yourself that was not on sale in the past calendar year, that is data. If you cannot remember the last time you checked your balance before a purchase, that is also data. Neither is a character flaw. Your brain is doing what it is supposed to do. Step two is to get the right support and give yourself explicit permission. A good retirement income specialist asks what you want your money to do for you now, not just how long it needs to last. A financial therapist helps you untangle your emotional history with money. At some point, you write it down: I am allowed to spend on things that bring me joy, keep me healthy, and connect me to the people I love. Post it somewhere you will see it when you are standing in front of the fancy olive oil. The Punchline Linda eventually bought the $23 olive oil. It took four months, a conversation with her advisor, and an honest chat with her daughter, who pointed out that Linda had about 90 jars of tomato sauce in her basement and no good reason to be rationing condiments. The brain changes that come with ageing are real. They are not personal failures. They are biology doing biology things, loudly and without your consent. But brains are also remarkably responsive to information, reframing, and the occasional kick in the pants from someone who loves you. You spent decades building financial security. The goal was never to die with the most money. It was a good life. All chips AND salsa. The full spread. The $23 olive oil on the good bread, with the people you love. Your spending account is waiting. Honestly, it has been waiting long enough. Because nobody wins a prize for being the richest person in the graveyard. Don’t Retire…Re-Wire! Sue My Book is Now Available for Pre-Order I hope you will consider pre-ordering a copy of Your Retirement Reset for you, a friend or loved one. It's available September 8, 2026 published by ECW Press - You can now order at Indigo or Amazon. And if you love supporting Canadian booksellers, please also check with your local independent bookstore. Most can easily order it for you.

The Business of Youth Soccer and Youth Sports Participation

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup less starting this week, the University of Delaware's John Allgood is available to discuss the business of soccer, youth sports participation and the tournament's impact on communities and the economy. A former United Soccer League top executive and instructor of sport management, Allgood has firsthand experience in both the business and development sides of the sport. Through his experience as a USL franchise owner, Allgood can discuss the World Cup’s economic impact and why the sport is a unifying force. He can discuss how the World Cup will boost participation and fan interest in soccer, especially among youth players. Allgood can address the tiered structure of soccer in the U.S., including the pay-to-play system in youth soccer that is different from development models in other countries. To arrange an interview with Allgood, send an email to MediaRelations@udel.edu.

Inside the Partnership Between Texas Christian University and Taylor Sheridan’s Four Sixes Ranch

A unique partnership between Texas Christian University and the legendary Four Sixes Ranch is giving students hands-on experience helping shape the future of one of the most recognizable brands in the American West. Recently featured at a major national rodeo event, the ranch’s newly designed retail booth, created by TCU faculty and students, blends heritage-inspired design with modern merchandising, reflecting the ranch’s growing national profile under the ownership of Taylor Sheridan and Nicole Sheridan. “We’re now written into the history of the Four Sixes Ranch.” The collaboration spans fashion merchandising, branding and business strategy, allowing students to contribute directly to product development, retail design and digital marketing initiatives. For students involved, the project offered a rare opportunity to see classroom ideas become real-world products tied to an internationally recognized Texas brand. Faculty members say the partnership reflects TCU’s focus on experiential learning while helping preserve and evolve an important piece of Texas cultural identity. Check out the video TCU and Four Sixes Ranch, and you can read more about this project in the full article below: Looking to connect with Chares Freeman, Kevin Smith, Nicole Bettinger or Rima Shrestha about this exciting project? Simply contact Holly Ellman, Associate Director of Communication, at h.ellman@tcu.edu today.

World Cup 2026: Former soccer executive analyzes tournament economics and youth soccer structure

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup days away, the University of Delaware's John Allgood is available to discuss the business of soccer, youth sports participation and the tournament's impact on communities and the economy. As a former United Soccer League (USL) top executive, Allgood brings firsthand experience and knowledge of the commercial operations and development sides of the sport. He also currently serves as an instructor of sport management at UD. Areas of expertise relevant to the World Cup include: • Economic impact: How the tournament will drive local revenue. • The business of soccer: Sports marketing and the commercialization of global sports entertainment. • U.S. youth soccer: The tiered structure of soccer in the U.S., including the pay-to-play system in youth soccer that is different from development models in other countries. • Participation and interest: How the World Cup will boost participation and fan interest in soccer, especially among youth players. • Soccer as a unifying force: The sports' social impact and how it brings people together. To reach Allgood directly and arrange an interview, click the "contact" button on his profile. Interested journalists can also send an email to mediarelations@udel.edu.

Tony Awards: CMU Experts Unpack Broadway’s Biggest Night

As Broadway prepares for the 2026 Tony Awards this Sunday, Carnegie Mellon University experts are available to help media explore the stories behind the stage, from the business of Broadway and the economics of major productions to costume design, theatre history and the behind-the-scenes teams that bring performances to life. CMU’s Tony Awards expert page brings together faculty and specialists who can provide timely commentary on the artistic, cultural and economic forces shaping Broadway’s biggest night. The Business of Broadway Production costs, commercial risk, tourism, jobs, touring productions and Broadway’s wider economic impact. Behind the Scenes The directors, designers, stage managers, technicians and production teams who turn a show into a fully realized theatrical experience. Costume in Theatre How costume design shapes character, period, mood and storytelling on stage. The History of Theatre and Broadway Broadway’s evolution, cultural influence and place within the broader history of theatre. Media can visit CMU’s Tony Awards page to explore available experts and connect directly with the right source for their story.

Georgia Southern selected as Census Bureau hub

Georgia Southern University’s Statistical Consulting Unit (SCU) in the College of Science and Mathematics has been selected as the Census Bureau Higher Education Consortium – Southern Hub. The partnership places the University as an access point between regional experts and the public to make the vast data of Census reports usable for research, business and individual discovery. SCU director Divine F. Wanduku, Ph.D., says that cooperation is the key element of the program. “We want to facilitate high-level access to this data and the tools to apply it,” noted Wanduku. “We are the liaison between other universities, the government and those who could use this information if they can learn how it works.” As a regional Census hub, Georgia Southern will host a series of webinars. Experts from Georgia Southern, partner universities and the Census Bureau will address specific methods to access and analyze otherwise overwhelming data. Wanduku says the partnership opens up development opportunities for everyone involved. “This will help students prepare for jobs in the federal government or anywhere that uses government data because they get to try it out themselves,” said Wanduku. “It also helps to show how faculty are able to impart knowledge of research and then make recommendations to the Census Bureau about what works. So the federal government helps higher education institutions provide access to the raw material and then we help the Census Bureau by making recommendations on where our research is going and what data is most useful.” Beyond the webinar series, Wanduku sees the partnership as a stepping stone to future collaborations. “This expands our network with everyone from other universities to contractors,” said Wanduku.”We get to meet each other and find out what we’re all working on separately and turn it into projects we can work on together.” Looking to know more about the Census Bureau Higher Education Consortium or Gerogia Southern University? Simply contact Georgia Southern's Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.