Author Archives: Bob Ritzema

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About Bob Ritzema

I am a fourth-generation American of Dutch ancestry and am trained as a clinical psychologist. In 2012, I retired from Methodist University in North Carolina to return to Michigan to help family, and, in 2023, I started again with a move to Milwaukee to be near my children. I maintain a part-time therapy practice. I can be reached at bobritzema@hotmail.com.

If We No Longer Retire, What Will We Do When We Get Old?

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

I’ve been writing about retirement and leisure.  First, I considered the fact that the majority of older workers don’t have the money to permit them to totally leave the workforce.  I then looked at the history of retirement, discovering that … Continue reading →

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Meeting Our Parents, Again

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Jan Wilberg, blogging at Red’s Wrap, wrote a beautiful post recently in which she imagines traveling back in time and meeting her parents before they became her parents. She then performs a sort of time travel by reflecting on a … Continue reading →

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The History of Retirement

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

In an earlier post, I discussed the failure of most workers in the US to save for retirement, with the result that many will continue working longer than the previous generation of older adults.  To put this change regarding the timing of … Continue reading →

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In the Middle of the Night…

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Brian Loging, blogging as “The Wannabe Saint,” wrote recently about waking up with Billy Joel’s song “In the Middle of the Night” running through his head. As he listened to and thought about the song throughout the day, he realized … Continue reading →

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Reinvention or Renewal

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

I read quite a few blog posts having to do with older adulthood.  Several months ago, I started noticing that, among posts giving advice about how to age successfully, one frequent theme was self-reinvention.  Such advice is often given to … Continue reading →

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Retirement Is Changing: Is That Good Or Bad?

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Most of us who have reached midlife but have not yet retired can’t count on an employer-provided pension plan to provide for us in retirement.  Social Security benefits by themselves provide only a bare-bones financial skeleton to support us, so … Continue reading →

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The Blessings of Old Age

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Sister Joan Chittister has  written recently about the blessings of aging.  There are losses that occur with aging, but there are also gains.  Our youth-oriented society focuses mostly on the losses; thankfully, writers like Sister Chittister and Bill Thomas remind … Continue reading →

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Spiritual and Emotional Maturity: Interview

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

I previously posted the first part of a conversation with Lisa C., a mental health professional who recently took a new position as a clinical services director at a psychiatric hospital.  The position was quite different from what she had been … Continue reading →

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How Well Do You Grant Your Parents Independence?

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

I found an interesting observation by Harvard professor James Wood in his recent  New Yorker article on memoirs written by the children of several mid-twentieth century writers.  Wood notes, “To bestow on one’s parents their independence is also to announce … Continue reading →

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Are Boomers Charitable?

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

We boomers are self-indulgent, egocentric, conceited, and . . . generous? A blog post on the AARP site reports a recent study found that, among four adult age groups, Boomers gave the largest total amount to charity.  Out of an … Continue reading →

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