Charlotte Foster
Retirement Life

Inside the world’s first midlife wisdom school

When retirement age hits, a whole new set of challenges are presented. 

From health insurance, funeral plans, superannuation and everything in between, the transition into retirement can be trickier than originally thought.

In order to help with this uncertain time, the world’s first midlife wisdom school, known as Modern Elder Academy (MEA) has been founded by CEO Chip Conley.

MEA offers courses, both on-line and in person that help people to navigate midlife transitions, find purpose and reframe their mindset on ageing.

MEA attracts people of all ages and stages, from midlife and beyond to help and reframe how individuals think about retirement. 

Writer Ang Galloway, who is part of the MEA team, said the program helped them restructure their thinking. 

“I want more from the second half of life than the societal script I inherited. I knew I wasn’t in the market for sensible, beige or elasticised anything and yet the image of ageing that society reflected back at me was at total odds with how I felt. 

“MEA helped me to reframe midlife from a crisis to a calling.

Founder Chip Conley said he was inspired to create MEA after writing his book titled Wisdom@Work: The Making of Modern Elder. 

“There’s a whole culture out there telling us that getting older means becoming less relevant. But MEA deems that wisdom and experience have never been more important in the workplace…or in the world.” 

He said, “At MEA we believe in making ageing aspirational. It’s about creating a life that is as deep and meaningful as it is long.”

MEA runs a series of online courses, including “Navigating Midlife Transitions”, “The Big Reset” and “Flourish in Midlife and Beyond”.

The courses have been a huge success online, with people from all over the globe saying how MEA’s message helped them redefine what retirement means for them.

Image credit: Shutterstock

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retirement life, midlife, Wisdom, school, MEA