TESTIMONIALS

Testimonials

Stu,

I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for the incredible support and guidance you provided during my retirement transition. As someone who was initially hesitant and nervous about stepping away from the workforce, your expertise and compassionate approach made all the difference in helping me feel comfortable and confident in my decision. Your deep understanding of the retirement process, along with your ability to listen and offer insightful advice, helped me navigate the many questions and concerns that came up along the way. Whether it was strategizing about the pros and cons of retirement, exploring new hobbies and interests, or simply providing a sounding board to bounce ideas off of, you were always there to offer thoughtful and practical guidance. Thanks to your support, I now feel excited and optimistic about this next chapter of my life. Your coaching has truly been invaluable, and I can't thank you enough for all that you've done to help me feel prepared and confident for retirement. You have helped me go from Panic to Excitement!

With heartfelt thanks,

Mike, CEO and Founder of a firm specializing in legal and financial staffing services.

June 21, 2021

To whom it may concern:

My name is Les Schlaegel. I have been the Associate VP for Benefits at Stanford University for 15 years. I am writing today to provide a letter of recommendation for Stuart Silverman, Founder and Director of Next Stage Roadmaps, LLC. I was responsible for the procurement of the Next Stage Roadmaps offering at Stanford University and have served as the program sponsor at Stanford since 2016. During this time, I have been more than satisfied with this program and the retirement advisory services of Mr. Silverman.

As part of his offerings, Mr. Silverman has gone to great lengths to ensure that his Next Stage Roadmaps provides a credible, thoughtful and comprehensive review of most matters pertaining to a successful, fulfilling and joyful next stage of one’s life – retirement.Through a carful vetting process, Mr. Silverman has brought into his presentations very knowledgeable and thoughtful advisors on issues ranging from the adequacy of retirement income to ensuring the adequacy of retirement health care. Additionally, he has provided a 360 degree perspective on retirement, including a retirement self-assessment framework, valuable insight about how to pursue and find fun and enjoyable lifestyle activities, how to pursue an Encore Career if so desired, and how to build a customized roadmap for moving forward.

I am not the only person pleased with the Next Stage Roadmaps offering. After each course model, participants are surveyed as to their satisfaction with the session. Never has the participants’ scores been lower than 4 out of five stars. In addition, participants have shared their comments about how beneficial the materials, exercises (homework) and presenters have been in preparing them for retirement.

Considering all of this, it is without hesitation and complete confidence that I recommend Mr. Silverman for both his retirement advisory services and his Next Stage Roadmaps offerings.

Sincerely

Les Schlaegel, MSCHP

Associate VP for Benefits at Stanford University

We were fortunate to come across Stu's website and sign up for individual consulting with him. My wife is preparing to retire soon and I am working full time and not quite yet ready to retire. Even though we are at slightly different stages, our work with Stu was exceedingly helpful. His program touches on every aspect that one should consider when preparing for a successful retirement, including many aspects that are easily overlooked but extremely important. Stu was great about customizing the program to our specific needs and was generous with his time to ensure that we both were able to fully explore our retirement plans and priorities. I would strongly recommend that anyone with any concerns about their ability to retire successfully seriously consider working with Stu...it could save many missteps and unnecessary angst later.

Still working so prefer to remain anonymous for now (both of us are in medical research)

I feel much more confident and prepared for my upcoming retirement after working with Stu. His approach is comprehensive, and his exercises really helped me understand what's important to me about my work life and how I could go about replacing those elements in retirement. Stu is patient and encouraging and met me where I was at, not pushing me to go faster or feel differently than I was feeling. Rather than dreading retirement (I love my job!), I feel optimistic about exploring this next stage of life, and believe I've gained some useful tools to help me navigate it.

Allison Davis

Associate Director, MBA Admissions, Stanford Graduate School of Business

I met Stu through the Stanford community and having him as my retirement coach has made a world of difference in my outlook and approach towards retirement and midlife. Through his customized program of exercises and self reflection activities, I am approaching the inevitable transitions in work and in life with greater confidence and a clearer framework. Stu is engaging, sincere, easy to talk to, and deeply knowledgeable about the subject matter. I would recommend Stu's retirement coaching program to anybody who is serious about moving into the next stage with a sense of purpose and meaning.

Anonymous,

Stanford University Alumni and Retired Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy

Upon facing the possibility of retirement, instead of the expected feeling of elation and excitement, I found myself questioning what I was going to do, who I would be, and how I would feel. Searching for answers, I found Next Stage Roadmaps, and through that started meeting with Stu. Stu gave me the tools and framework to work through my questions and challenges, and also served as a guide and mentor to the next phase of my life. He created customized exercises and homework, which helped me to identify what was truly important to me, and to see the possibilities ahead of me in retirement. I would highly recommend Stu to anyone who is wanting to ensure a smooth transition into the next phase of their life.

Anonymous Senior Manager at a High-Tech Corporation, and Soon to be Retired."

I retired at the age of 52 and realized in a matter of months I was truly un-prepared for all the non-financial aspects of "retirement". I reached out to Stu and he customized a one-on-one Zoom course for me based on my needs. I enjoyed the structural part of the coaching, including the assessments, the reading, and the short homework assignments. Additionally, Stu was extremely perceptive and we spent plenty of time focusing on specific topics that were important to me or issues I was having difficulty navigating. Stu's coaching helped me re-shape my mindset, provided clarity on how to choose my encore career, and take advantage of my newfound free time. I also was able to improve how I felt day to day and started to investigate new interests & hobbies. I had an excellent experience with Stu as my coach and highly recommend Stu to those transitioning to their next stage of life.

Steve Raizes

SF Bay Area, Retired Business Executive and Entrepreneur

I am Herb Deitz and I spent 25 years owning my own recruiting business in Silicon Valley. I retired from that venture about a year ago, and surprisingly faced several challenges with retirement. While I managed to put aside financial resources that would be sufficient, I was sorely lacking in dealing with other areas that retirement brings to the forefront. The ability to have external friends and hobbies out of the work sector was sorely lacking. The loss of routine and identity also were major challenges for me going forward. I decided to take Stuart Silverman’s course for Boomers “Retirement and Your Next Stage of Life” and it has really assisted me greatly in adjusting to the retirement transition phase of my life. Stuart is a wealth of knowledge concerning ALL of the aspects one faces in retirement. He supplements that wisdom with backup documentation of superb articles, resources recommendations, as well as very well versed individuals who have been through the challenging experience of transition into retirement. I found the course to be extremely helpful, very pragmatic, and a great support tool for me to continue my transition. I would highly recommend Stuart Silverman and his class Retirement and Your Next Stage of Life as an excellent resource to help individuals either planning their retirement, or that have retired and feel they need additional resources to help with their transition.

Herb Deitz, Retired Business Executive

Before attending Stuart Silverman’s course on retirement and next stage of life, I agonized over whether I should retire. I had many fears since I had never been without a job or paycheck since my teens. My friend happened to have a flyer about Stuart’s course and I signed up immediately. In class, I met others with the same concerns which felt strangely comforting.

In four sessions I gained enough perspective to make my decision. Through a combination of Stuart’s lecture, personal experiences of those already transitioned, nutrition and wellness experts and financial group representatives I became more confident about my financial and personal health. I learned there is no magic age to dictate retirement. It is a personal and conscious decision that works for you. I learned retirement should be viewed as an opportunity and not to be feared. Stuart is a great listener, open, friendly and responsive to what you may want to learn in addition to his curriculum. I highly recommend this class.

PG. Registered Nurse at Stanford, still working and requests to remain anonymous

I got to know Stuart as part of the course that I deliver at Stanford Continuing Studies. I got excited about his vision and commitment to help boomers and all adults transition successfully into retirement and their next stage. I ended up inviting him to be one of the guest speakers in my subsequent courses. In addition, the past year, I had the opportunity to co-teach a workshop with Stuart at Avenidas as well as be one of his advisors as he executes his mission. From a content perspective, Stuart provides attendees valuable information and roadmaps and increases their confidence as they approach their career and life transition. As a speaker, he engages the audience with a unique blend of humor and structured approach. I would highly recommend Stuart's courses to adults contemplating retirement and their next phase. I would also recommend Stuart as a speaker and teacher to organizations who are looking to offer courses that help their employees, members and clients navigate their transition.

Agnes Le

Executive Coach, Stanford Instructor and Facilitator

Co-founder of Global Leaders Lab, Stanford MBA

I am still working full time, and was skeptical that a program like the Next Stage Roadmaps course would be relevant to me. To my surprise, I learned something every session and realized that many things, such as health, goals, financial planning and stretching one’s daily routine, apply now, not just when I retire. Listening to other’s experiences gave me much to both think about and look forward to as well. I particularly appreciated the concept that retirement is an opportunity to rewrite the next phase of one’s life…which could be quite long. I highly recommend Stuart Silverman’s program for evolving seniors.

Stanford Director (still working and prefers to remain anonymous)

I have known Stuart Silverman for about 20 years. I have been his customer in two startups, and always found him insightful, effective and in pursuit of excellence. I applaud his efforts in developing a much needed retirement course. I believe the course covers key topics important for the retirement community. I wish him tremendous success.

Raj Bhargava

2015 Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute Fellow

I am writing in reference to Stuart Silverman, Founder and Executive Director of Next Stage Roadmaps, and his course, Retirement and Your Next Stage of Life. I have had the opportunity to work with Mr. Silverman over the past nine months in offering his retirement course at Avenidas. He also spoke on retirement issues at our Boomer University conference last spring.

Mr. Silverman’s course has been very successful at Avenidas. The class has filled to over 75% of capacity each time it has been offered. In post-class surveys, attendees have rated both the course and Mr. Silverman as an instructor as “excellent.” The attendees enroll in the course because they have concerns, anxiety, or lack of information, and are looking for guidance and advice to help them move into retirement and their next stage of life. The course covers four areas: lifestyle, encore work and activities, health and wellness, and finances. The objective is to provide attendees with skills, information, and a roadmap to help make their transition smooth and successful. Attendees finish the course feeling better prepared and excited about their retirement.

Mr. Silverman is sincere and dedicated to helping boomers and adults transition into retirement. He created this course and is very open to feedback in order to make it better each time it is offered. He is attentive to details, has a great sense of humor, and is willing to try and experiment with new ideas. He is a good listener and Avenidas staff enjoy working with him.

I enthusiastically recommend Mr. Silverman and his course for any organization wanting to help their members or customers smoothly and successfully transition into retirement and their next stage of life.

Sincerely,

Tracy C. McCloud

Center Director

Avenidas

Palo Alto, Ca

I would like to give a hearty recommendation to the Next Stage Roadmaps series of sessions to help plan and make a successful transition into retirement. These sessions were developed and led by Stuart Silverman who is a Certified Retirement Coach. The first session dealt with lifestyle issues in our Next Stage. The second session covered readiness for encore careers, volunteering, continuing the current career, and working part time or not at all. In this second session, we heard from a speaker who told us about his decision to retire at an early age and then become the CEO of another company at the age of 67. The third session focused on Health and Wellness since baby boomers have hopefully 15 – 20 years of good years left.

Money and finances were discussed at the final session. Since only 19% of the population of the country has set up planning for retirement, no one wants to run out of money because of longevity. I found all the sessions combined gave me the time and ideas to help me plan the next 1-2 years as I make the transition to retirement. As an added bonus I was able to have my Life Options Personality Profile scored and it revealed areas that needed extra attention. Overall, it was an excellent course for all those who are making the transition now or in the future into retirement.

Allan Bernstein, MD

I receive so many brochures and emails on the different areas of retirement planning that it is often overwhelming. Thank you, Stuart, for your research, planning and implementation of Next Stage Roadmaps! This is a “one-stop shop” for information on all aspects of transitioning into the next phase of life after leaving full-time work. Before taking the program, I hadn’t given much thought to my next stage. At the beginning of the program, I felt that I was “entering the unknown.” However, at its conclusion, I walked out with the resources and support to plan for my future. I highly recommend Next Stage Roadmaps for any boomer who is looking to the future.

Long Time Resident of Palo Alto (still working and wishes to remain anonymous)

I learned several quite invaluable lessons from taking this course. These lessons were not just "good ideas" that were quickly forgotten. They were small changes that brought about big results. The areas of finances and nutrition are two areas that seemed too big to tackle. Small concrete steps helped me greatly. I feel proud and more at ease now that I've done them. Go ahead, take the plunge and sign up!!

Retired (prefers to remain anonymous in Barron Park)

Recently I had the privilege of attending an overview course conducted by Stuart Silverman, Founder and Executive Director of Next Stage Roadmaps in Palo Alto California. While Stuart is a personal friend of mine for over 25 years, the courses were my first exposure to Stuart in a classroom setting. I have always known Stuart to be a fun and caring person with an enormous sense of engaging humor. In the classroom, Stuart was in his element conducting all four sessions with patience, wit and, of course, typical of his personality, a very interesting delivery of the subject matter at hand. His hard work in designing the course material included well-chosen experts and guest-speakers. Such speakers are indicative of how much thought, diligence and earnest detail went into each of his presentations.

In the series of four sessions I attended, I had a fun experience and yet came away with a wealth of serious and thought-provoking information. However, be prepared to interact, listen and don’t dodge homework! Next Stage Roadmaps is a fantastic opportunity brought about by a wonderful, highly credentialed, creative and motivated person. All the best Stuart and, thank you so much for wanting to help Boomers the best way you can.

Friend and Resident of Palo Alto (still working and prefers to remain anonymous)

A friend who attended Stuart Silverman’s workshop entitled Retirement and Your Next Stage of Life said I should go, that I’d get a lot out of it, and he was right! I was surprised and happy that I learned as much as I did. I had already worked out a budget and looked at calculators for retirement funds, but the one Stu recommended was excellent, and the way he took his time to explain it in class was helpful. I feel good about the finances, and my main concern was what I would do with my time, how to find new interests and pursue old favorites. There were suggestions and two guest speakers who shed a lot of light on this subject. Stu had valuable information about health and it was useful to hear from the other students, too. It’s great to be in a room with others who are thinking about retirement along with those who have already retired and have experiences they shared. I’m recommending this class to my friends!

Marcia Stein, Semi-retired HR Professional

I had been thinking about retiring for a while when I saw the ad for Stuart Silverman's class on the board at the Mountain View Public Library. I was first attracted to the content of his course because he was going to talk about the emotional experience of leaving your job and moving on to the unknown (in my case). I was not prepared for the emotional wrench I felt when thinking about leaving my job which I love and leaving people I love to work for and with. Stuart addressed this issue in the first session! I was very encouraged to find there were others who had "taken the plunge" and came out successfully, (even happily!) on the other side. Stuart's classes were never dull or boring! He used a variety of ways to teach us: talks by successful retirees, experts in their field (like financial planners and health trainers), videos, hand-outs, Q/A sessions, small group discussions. One of my favorite things that he did was provide us with hand-outs that replicated the screens on his videos. There were lines next to each screen where students could take notes. I found this very helpful. The class that I found most valuable personally was the class about finances.

I had never considered making a budget, believe it or not! I "ball=parked" it when it came to determining if I'd have enough to retire! The finance class helped me to see how to determine your financial needs for the future. I really needed this information! All in all, I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who is thinking of retiring or even has retired. Stuart presents a wealth of information, you meet some great people, you come away with confidence to move forward, and you gain knowledge on things you may not even have considered before! I am so glad I saw that ad on the Mountain View Library board. I feel a lot more prepared to face the future because of what I learned in Stuart's classes!

Anonymous, Staff Member, Palo Alto Unified School District

A friend invited me to the Next Stage retirement workshops just as I was becoming anxious about planning my retirement and picking a date. We covered a lot of ground in the four classes. Initially, I was mostly focused on financial planning, but we discussed many other important aspects of retirement including time management, volunteering/second careers, new pursuits, community, health, emotional adjustments, and others. Stu made it clear that there are many pathways to follow and not just one way to enter into and thrive in retirement. We did exercises to help discover our own preferences and understand the relationships between different parts of our future lives. I particularly enjoyed working with a different partner each week on short homework assignments. That is when I had longer conversations and shared ideas with classmates, one who had recently retired and another who is working under the same government pension plan as me, so we swapped tips. Being in the class with other people, and hearing real stories from Stu and the guest speakers made me feel less lonely about my future and realize that there are so many people getting ready to retire. I was motivated to create a detailed financial spreadsheet after some additional reading from resources provided in the class. I decided I was willing to delay the date of my retirement by six months in order to have more security in the future. Since the class, my financial planner has checked my revised retirement projections and said, "You are good to go." I still get anxious sometimes about the big changes coming, but then I go back to my retirement spreadsheet and lists I made in the class and relax. Maybe even get excited. I did not realize that this process was going to be so emotional, but the topics we discussed in class have given me confidence. I am looking forward to having more time to hike and write in about one year! I continue to read more information and make plans from links Stu provided us and now instead of waking up at night worried and uncertain and feeling restless at work, it is like I am planning a really big trip, my own huge adventure.

C. Roessler, Biologist