Retired radiologist and Columbia professor Dr. Harry Agress Jr. reveals why financial planning alone won't prepare you for retirement—and how to rebuild identity, purpose, and joy in life's next chapter.
What happens to your sense of identity when a 36-year career ends overnight? Dr. Harry Agress Jr. didn't find the answers in any financial planning book—so he spent 11 years journaling, experimenting, and ultimately writing the guide he wished he'd had.
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In this episode:
• Why retirement is an emotional transition, not just a financial one—and how "enmeshment" with your career identity can derail it
• The four freedoms framework: releasing yourself from failure, expectations, others' opinions, and defining yourself by monetary compensation
• How the "experienced brain" connects decades of knowledge in surprising new directions—including a friend who became a pitching consultant for 20 MLB teams
• Practical first steps: the three lists, the work pro/con list, and why trying something—anything—matters more than being good at it
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Dr. Harry Agress Jr. is a retired radiologist and nuclear medicine specialist with 36 years at Hackensack University Medical Center, a clinical professor at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, an award-winning fine art photographer whose work is donated to hospitals nationwide, and the author of Next Best Years. He spent three years synthesizing a decade of journaling and 60 research references into the emotional and personal roadmap for retirement that the financial industry has long overlooked.
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Connect with Harry Agress Jr. MD:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-agress
Website: https://www.nextyearsbestyears.com
Photography: https://www.harryagressphotography.com
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