Creating My Legacy Through Giving

This year I hit the big “7-0” in October and will be officially entering the “grey zone”. For the record my hair is already there.  

I spent a lot of time pondering on what I could do to make this year special which led me to thinking about legacy and generativity.  

I realized that beyond my family, my books and what I do with them are my legacy. They are what will survive me and if I can come up with a good way of getting them into the hands of retirees, they will potentially help many people live better lives.  

This thought makes me very happy, but the challenge is how to actually make this happen.  

I know I can’t do it alone because I’ve tried and failed.  

When you self-publish, you are solely responsible for all the marketing. Marketing takes a lot of time and effort and after having spent my entire career in sales I just don’t want to do this anymore.    

So to get the books into the hands of as many retirees as possible I need some help, and if you are up for it, this is how you can participate and contribute to the cause.  

Step 1    

If you have read either “Victory Lap Retirement” or “Retirement Heaven or Hell” my ask is for you to post a review on Amazon or alternatively you can just post a rating on the book. Please note, I’m not asking for a favorable review to be shared, just an honest one.  

Now for the exciting part. Once a book has achieved 1,000 Amazon ratings, similar to what we did for Longevity Lifestyle by Design, it will be made available for free to download.  

Being able to give our books away for free makes me really happy.   

Step 2       

For people who haven’t read Victory Lap Retirement or Retirement Heaven or Hell   

If you haven’t read either book but are willing to write a review, just email me at [email protected]. Tell me which book you would like to review, and I will send you an electronic copy. The rest is up to you.    

In hindsight, I should have sent out advance review copies to some readers before the books were released. This apparently is what publishers do but unfortunately I didn’t know this. Like I said, I’m still learning.   

Why the push for reviews? 

There are a couple of reasons.  

The first one is that writing for me is very hard and it takes a great deal of effort and time to finish a book. I’m not a natural born writer like some people. I’m more of a plodder.   

I can’t tell you the number of times I felt like quitting while working on a book - believe me it’s not easy. The time spent alone for months away in writing gets to me sometimes. But the one thing that keeps me from quitting is reading the reviews posted by readers. They are the fuel that adds to my fire and the purpose behind my writing. I take pride in knowing that our books helped someone and that gives me the strength to carry on and get another book done.    

Another benefit I gain from reading reviews, both the good and the bad, is that I learn from them. Reading reviews gives me some great feedback and motivates me to work on making our books better and ensure that we are covering the important retirement issues.  

My promise to you is to keep doing that. 

Following is a brief overview of both books. For more info you can check them out on Amazon.    

Victory Lap Retirement  

by Mike Drak, Jonathan Chevreau and Rob Morrison 

Our editor called this a retirement book about not retiring and that is exactly what it is. In it we introduce a new model of retirement based on a combination of work and play. The book will also teach you about retirement shock and how it can be avoided.  

If you find yourself stuck late career in a job you no longer enjoy you need to read this book. 

Retirement Heaven or Hell 

By Mike Drak, Susan Williams and Rob Morrison 

I love the title of this book because I ended up visiting both places during my own retirement journey. Thankfully I’m in Retirement Heaven now but it took some work to get there.   

In the book we introduce the nine principles for an exceptional retirement. At the end of each chapter, you will find numerous questions that when answered will help you create a meaningful and fulfilling retirement lifestyle that will work for you.   

I’m lucky that I don’t write retirement books for a living because if I did, I would have starved a long time ago. Publishing a book is expensive, not only in your own time and effort but also for any additional support you may need (like an animator or editor).  

Truth is it’s hard to make money writing books today - most writers including myself don’t. We consider ourselves lucky if we make enough to cover the cost of publishing, printing and distribution.   

But I’m fortunate. I have the time both the time and financial situation to be able to do this.  

So, you are probably wondering why I continue to struggle writing new books, and the answer is that I have always had a strong need to help people. I guess you could say what I’m doing is a love thing my way of passing my retirement knowledge on to people who will struggle with retirement transition just like I did.   

Any money generated through books sales will be used to cover the costs of publishing new books and once a book reaches 1,000 reviews it will be given away for free just like the other ones. At that point book sales will dry up. While the odd person might want to purchase a hard copy most people will choose to download the book for free. 

Moving forward, my plan is to write some more retirement books focusing on a special interest of mine - late bloomers. I love the concept of late bloomers, which are people who instead of retiring in the traditional sense continue on to accomplish some amazing things with their lives after leaving their primary career behind. I’m a late bloomer and there is no reason why you can’t become one too. 

One last thing 

We spend a lot of time writing about money and retirement but very little about people who will be retiring with little in the way of retirement savings and there are a lot of them.   

Where are they going to go for guidance?   

That has always bothered me and it’s another reason we feel good about giving away the books for free. Retirees that can’t afford the cost of a book can download it and hopefully benefit from it.   

In summary   

My wife still thinks giving away the books for free is a crazy thing to do. She knows how much hard work went into writing them but I’m sure one day she will realize that giving them away for free was one of the most meaningful and rewarding things I’ve ever done.  

I consider myself lucky to be able to be in a position to be able to do that.   

To me this is what legacy and generativity are all about – finding joy through helping others any way you can.    

About the Author

Mike Drak is the Author of the best-selling book Victory Lap Retirement, Retirement Heaven or Hell - Which Will You Choose and Longevity Lifestyle by Design. Along with being an Author, Mike is also an award winning blogger, retirement coach and public speaker and has made appearances on BNN, CBC Radio and iHeart radio. He is a thirty-eight year veteran of the financial services industry and lives with his wife Melina in Toronto, Canada. You can contact Mike through LinkedIn.