EP# 177-Transforming Aging: Curtis Estes on Community and Wellness
Jun 30, 2024Season 1Episode 177
"Cabo" Jim Schaller
Have you ever wondered what it truly means to live not just longer, but better? In this illuminating episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast Estero, we sit down with Curtis Estes, the mastermind behind the Anti-Retirement Club. Curtis takes us through his remarkable journey that started at a longevity conference, where he experienced three transformative epiphanies: the critical role of health, the power of community, and the necessity of financial preparedness as we age. These revelations became the cornerstone of the Anti-Retirement Club, a dynamic community dedicated to redefining aging and promoting a proactive approach to a vibrant life.
Curtis's insights offer a refreshing perspective on the distinction between lifespan and healthspan, empowering us to enjoy extended periods of vitality and joy. We explore how advancements in health and technology, including the impact of artificial intelligence, are setting the stage for a future where we can maintain our health well into our later years. As a pillar of his community, Curtis's contributions underscore the importance of strong social bonds in living a fulfilling life. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that not only redefines aging but also invites you to engage actively with your community and nominate your favorite local businesses for future episodes.
Have you ever wondered what it truly means to live not just longer, but better? In this illuminating episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast Estero, we sit down with Curtis Estes, the mastermind behind the Anti-Retirement Club. Curtis takes us through his remarkable journey that started at a longevity conference, where he experienced three transformative epiphanies: the critical role of health, the power of community, and the necessity of financial preparedness as we age. These revelations became the cornerstone of the Anti-Retirement Club, a dynamic community dedicated to redefining aging and promoting a proactive approach to a vibrant life.
Curtis's insights offer a refreshing perspective on the distinction between lifespan and healthspan, empowering us to enjoy extended periods of vitality and joy. We explore how advancements in health and technology, including the impact of artificial intelligence, are setting the stage for a future where we can maintain our health well into our later years. As a pillar of his community, Curtis's contributions underscore the importance of strong social bonds in living a fulfilling life. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that not only redefines aging but also invites you to engage actively with your community and nominate your favorite local businesses for future episodes.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Cabo Jim.
Speaker 2:
Schaller. Welcome Good Neighbors to episode number 177 of the Good Neighbor Podcast Estero. Today we have Good Neighbor Curtis Estes from the Anti-Retirement Club Welcome.
Speaker 3:
Thank you.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, pleasure to get to know people here in the community and what they do. So let's jump right in. And why don't you share a little bit about what you do?
Speaker 3:
So the Anti-Retirement Club was started after attending a longevity conference last year with some of the top MDs, phds and longevity tech CEOs in the country, and they basically said if we can just live 10 more years, so many of the things that can kill us today are going to be pretty much figured out. And so it just made me realize that we all have a possibility of potentially living much longer than we ever imagined, and the consensus among this group is that we need to plan on the possibility, no matter what age you think you might be able to live, the possibility of an additional vibrant, healthy, impactful 30 years. And when I thought about holy smokes, I might not live to 75 or 85, but 5 or 115. Right, realize that there's some pretty serious ramifications to that, and I walked away from the conference with three epiphanies, and the first epiphany was nobody wants to be really really old and sick, and so it's incumbent upon us to take advantage of all these longevity strategies that are becoming available to us. The second epiphany was nobody wants to be really really old and lonely, and I thought of my own mother-in-law, who's 90, lives in the same house she's lived in for 60 years. All of her family has moved away, many of her friends have passed away, and she's desperately lonely and refuses to move. And it made me realize that it's so important that even now, we're very intentional about creating a community of people that we'd love to spend all these extra years with. And so I thought what were the mindsets of the people who I'd love to learn with and grow with and make the world a better place together with? And so we created this list of mindsets and I started sharing it with friends, and they were really excited about it.
Speaker 3:
So we started doing these longevity events and everyone was oversubscribed and I realized, gosh, I think we've got something here and we should put something together around it. So we wanted to come up with a good name. And so I thought, historically, who was very intentional about creating community for the long journey? And I thought about Noah and his ark. It was very special, right, yeah, we brought on the boat with him. And I thought, well, we're not probably going to create a physical arc, but maybe we could create a virtual arc. And so that's how we came up with our own ARC, the Anti-Retirement Club.
Speaker 3:
And then the third epiphany was you don't want to be really, really old and sick. You don't want to be really really old and lonely, but neither do you want to be really really old and broke, and so we've identified some really incredible strategies to help folks on that front, and so what's happened over the course of the past year is we now have over 200 members in our anti-retirement club. It's absolutely free, but we do a ton of events regularly, a lot of Zooms bringing in MDs, phds and longevity tech CEOs just to help people learn more and build that community. So we're excited to share that with as many friends as we can.
Speaker 2:
I love it. I love it. So we understood how you got involved with this. What is your background?
Speaker 3:
I've actually been in the financial planning world for 33 years, but about 23 years ago I realized my passion was meeting, befriending and connecting people. For 33 years, but about 23 years ago I realized my passion was meeting, befriending and connecting people for mutual benefit. So since then that's been the primary focus of our journey and it's worked out pretty well.
Speaker 2:
I love it. I love it. So, along our journey, we've all had some type of challenge or maybe obstacle that we've confronted. Is there something along your journey that's happened?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, actually, when I was 11 years old, on Christmas Day, our house burned to the ground Wow, everything, and my parents didn't have any fire insurance, and so we moved into a trailer house and got our clothes from the Salvation Army and our blankets and towels from Friends at Church, and so it just made me realize how important this planning is, and that's what got me in this direction 33 years ago, but now even with a greater sense of mission and purpose to help people live as young as possible, as long as possible.
Speaker 2:
And we love that. We all want to do that as young as possible, as long as possible, yeah, and we love that. We all want to do that. So are there any myths or maybe misconceptions surrounding what you do that we could clear up for our listeners?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I think what surprised me is how long people already are expected to live. If someone's 65 today, their life expectancy is 85 years old. And I think the challenge is, you know, our brains think linearly and we just think, well gosh, my parents lived this long, my parents lived this long. I'll probably just live a little bit longer. But we're actually living a lot longer the more we take care of ourselves. And if someone's 65 and has some financial means, the life expectancy is an 85. It's actually 94. Wow. So if we're adding a potential 30 years to 94, there's going to be a lot of us that might be making it into our 120s. So that's a big misconception that we need to get clear on.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely, and talk about the misconceptions. But do you see things trending? Obviously, things are changing from when we grew up, but what do you see trending nowadays?
Speaker 3:
Well, the biggest impact that we're seeing is from artificial intelligence and just the ability to sort through all of the medical research that's happening. I was with a doctor last week and they said that in their discipline alone, there are over 1,000 new research papers every year, and so there's no way any individual can stay on top of all the latest advances. And so, with artificial intelligence being able to sort through that important information and apply it to diagnostics and solutions, it's really, really exciting and going to help all of us live a lot longer.
Speaker 2:
I love it. See, it could be used for good, absolutely.
Speaker 3:
That's my hope.
Speaker 2:
That's it so, southwest Florida, are you from down here originally?
Speaker 3:
You know I'm actually from Kansas. I grew up on a farm.
Speaker 2:
Wow, what brought you down here? You know, I'm actually from Kansas.
Speaker 3:
I grew up on a farm. Wow, what brought you down here? You know what One summer out here is, all it takes, all right, I'm with you.
Speaker 2:
I'm from the Midwest myself and, yeah, I blame my parents for not being born down here, but I got here as quickly as I could. So, Obviously, you probably don't have a lot of free time with everything that you're doing, but what do you enjoy doing outside when you do have free time?
Speaker 3:
You know what? I've got three teenagers and so I have a lot of fun with them, and getting to the beach on the weekends is one of my favorite activities with those kiddos, so I'm grateful for every opportunity we have.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely Any favorite beaches down here. Well, we don't want to tell everybody, right.
Speaker 3:
You know what, if it's got sand and warm water, I'm good.
Speaker 2:
There we go, there we go. So is there one thing you wish our listeners knew about the Anti-Retirement Club that maybe they're not aware of?
Speaker 3:
You know, I just I would love to welcome everybody to join. It's literally free. Our whole mission is just to educate folks as much as possible, and so I'd be happy to share information about how to learn more and join our Zooms. They occur with some regularity, and the resources that we're bringing are just providing incredible insights in how we can live younger longer, and a lot of the strategies are really simple and basic things, so they're easy ways to really add quality of life today and for many years to come.
Speaker 2:
I love it. So, how would our listeners go about contacting you if they wanted to learn a little bit more or join?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, we have a link. It's just curtisestesbiz C-U-R-T-I-S-E-S-T-E-S dot B-I-Z, and if you share your information we'll push you on the longevity Zoom invite list, and I also have had the good fortune of getting a few books out there, so I'd be happy to share any of my books if that would be of interest as well.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely, absolutely. The more we share with the community, the more we become educated and more we come together. That's what it's all about. Amen Any last words for our listeners.
Speaker 3:
I just want to encourage everybody to take their health seriously. Obviously, we want to live as long as possible, but I think we're in a new generation where it's not just about lifespan but healthspan, and we're all going to have opportunities to have a lot more fun with our kids and grandkids for generations to come, and I want that to be something that we all get to enjoy.
Speaker 2:
I love it. I love it. Curtis, thank you for being such a good neighbor. It's been a pleasure getting to know you and I hope to see you all in the community soon.
Speaker 3:
It will be my pleasure, thank you.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Estero. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPestero. com. That's GNPestero. com, or call 239-296-2621.