“The years roll round and the last will comes; when I would rather have it said, ‘He lived usefully,’ than, ‘He died rich.'”
– Benjamin Franklin (quoted in The Maxims of Wall Street, Page 203)
As you approach retirement (or soon after you retire), it’s vital that you have one or more goals in life. For some, it’s relaxing and playing golf every day, traveling, and spending time with friends and family. For others, it’s engaging in volunteer work, getting involved in charities, teaching and consulting, or going on a mission.
Others learn a new profession or avocation and never stop working.
I thought about all these alternatives today, October 19, since it’s my birthday. I’m known as the “crash baby,” as I sent out a special alert to my subscribers six weeks before the stock market crash on October 19, 1987.
My 40th birthday was quite memorable. My wife, Jo Ann, organized a dinner with friends. Oxford Club Chief Investment Strategist Alexander Green was there, and he could tell you about it. Most of my friends were anxious about the market and their investments on that Black Monday and left early.
Decades later, I continue to enjoy an active life – writing my investment newsletter, teaching college students, speaking at and attending conferences (I probably hold the Guinness World Record for attending conferences!), volunteering at charitable events, traveling with my wife and family to distant lands (I’ve been to 50 states and 81 countries), playing sports and games (golf, basketball, chess, card games, etc.), reading books and magazine articles, constantly learning by watching cable TV and YouTube, writing articles for The Wall Street Journal and other publications, meeting up with friends and strangers, corresponding with hundreds of individuals on the internet and via other forms of communication, attending church and church activities, and getting together with neighbors and family members.
I never say I’m busy, but I am active!
My Secret Revealed!
And yet, until now, I haven’t shared my favorite “secret” thing to do. It’s similar to an author friend’s goal of playing every major golf course in America.
My goal is to give a lecture at every major college and university in the United States. It’s a tall order, but I’ve enjoyed the challenge immensely.
Why is it so enjoyable? Because it’s an opportunity and a thrill to go to a new city and state, visit a beautiful campus, meet new faces, be challenged by very intelligent people (faculty, administrators, and students), and learn new things. It is a pleasure to be hosted, tour the campus, go out to lunch and dinner, make a presentation before a dozen or a couple hundred people, and sometimes have one’s expenses covered along with an honorarium.
Dr. Skousen giving a lecture at Chapman University
My Lecture Topics
I speak on a variety of topics for students and adults. Here are just a few:
- What’s better than democratic socialism? (This lecture attracts a lot of college students.)
- What drives the economy: consumer spending, business investment, or government stimulus?
- Why are some countries rich and others poor? (Also, why is North America rich and Latin America poor?)
- Who’s winning the battle of ideas: Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes, or Karl Marx?
For professional economists, my topic is usually “GO beyond GDP: Introducing gross output, the new ‘top line’ in national income accounting, and why it matters.”
Another is “Say’s Law vs. Keynes’ Law: Which makes more sense?”
For investment clubs, topics include…
- The efficient market theory and behavioral finance: Can you beat the market?
- Investing in one lesson
- The tortoise vs. the hare: Buy and hold vs. short-term trading.
A few years ago, I thought it would be a treat to give a lecture at my father’s alma mater, San Bernardino Junior College (now San Bernardino Valley College). My father, Roy Skousen, was the student body president in the early 1940s. I contacted the chairman of the economics department, and he was delighted with my request. I spent a day on campus and gave a couple of classroom lectures, and the hosts couldn’t have been more welcoming.
I’ve given lectures now at over 140 colleges and universities throughout the United States and the world, including famous universities like Harvard and Stanford, but also smaller colleges, like Wabash College (where Milton Friedman gave his lectures that were made into his classic work Capitalism and Freedom) and California Baptist University.
Dr. Skousen visiting Wabash College
Can I achieve my ultimate goal? It’s unlikely, given that there are thousands of colleges and universities in the U.S. alone! But it’s given me a great deal of pleasure in my sunset years.
An Invitation
If you have a connection with a college or university that I haven’t visited and would like me to give a lecture there, please contact me at mskousen@chapman.edu, and I’ll try to work it in. I’d love to do it and be your guest for a day.
I should add that, from time to time, I also appear and give talks in full costume as Benjamin Franklin. If you are interested in having me make an appearance as ol’ Ben, the grandfather of our nation, let me know. It would please my (and his) vanity!
Dr. Skousen (aka Ben Franklin) and his wife, Jo Ann, with author and podcaster Tom Woods and his wife, Jenna, at their home in Florida
Remember, retirement isn’t the finish line; it’s the start of a new chapter. Your goal doesn’t have to be lecturing at every college in America. What matters is that it keeps you curious, engaged, and connected to others.
As Ben Franklin reminds us, the aim isn’t to die rich, but to live usefully – a goal worth pursuing at any age.