Retiring right requires a smart strategy. And if you didn't get started early in your retirement planning, the second best time to start is now. Rick Atkinson, Founder & President of RA Retirement Advisors in Toronto, shares his insights and advice. ___________________________ It's Back to School time. Here's your reading list to peruse: Best Books on Retirement ___________________________ Bio Rick Atkinson is Founder & President of RA Retirement Advisors specializing in retirement planning. For over 15 years, Rick has been helping people live their ideal retirement. As a human resources management specialist with over 30 years’ experience in industry and government service, Rick honed his understanding of what is required to lead a satisfying life after work. He then transferred this to writing and speaking about retirement planning and facilitating workshops and coaching. He is the author of five books including Don’t Just Retire – Live It, Love It! and Strategies for Retiring Right! Rick has written lead stories for well-known journals, as well as stories for various daily Canadian newspapers, and has appeared on Canadian radio and TV. Rick is an acclaimed speaker on holistic retirement planning appearing at groups from 10 to 300. He has spoken at conferences and service groups across Canada, and facilitates workshops and webinars for companies, cities, government agencies and religious organizations and service clubs. Rick has an MBA from York University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia. He is also a CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional); CMC (Certified Management Consultant); Advanced Level, Ontario Society of Training & Development. Recently made a Fellow of Distinguished Financial Services (FDFS) for his service as an influential thought leader. As a point of pride and growth, for 10 years, Rick travelled extensively to Canada’s Arctic as a CESO (Canadian Executive Service Organization) volunteer advisor to mentor Inuit supervisors and managers, and to impart his human resources knowledge and insights. Rick’s volunteering was part of the Government of Nunavut’s Initiative Program. ___________________________ For More on Rick Atkinson Books Website ___________________________ Podcast Episodes You May Like Design Your Life and Get Unstuck – Dave Evans Retire Happy – Dr. Catherine Sanderson Why Retirement is About Much More Than Money – Ted Kaufman & Bruce Hiland Ready to ROAR? – Michael Clinton ____________________________ Wise Quotes On Deciding When to Retire "So I think this whole piece of work stress for some, but for some others, what I found is that they have a feeling of unfulfillness -  that work is holding them back, that they've got things that they want to pursue, a passion project. They want to start a business,. They want to do extensive traveling. But there are others that, and I've had this myself, people saying, Why aren't you retired? You're X years old. Why are you still working? I met a couple and the wife had said to the husband, I didn't sign up for this. He just told me he's not going to retire. I thought we would have time together. There's another situation that says, is this the right time? I've met many people who have sat down with their financial advisor and the financial advisor had said, You know what, you got enough money to keep you going well into your 90s. And they walk out of the office and say, Hey, maybe that's it." On Mistakes to Avoid in Planning for Retirement "Oh,