Divas That Care Network

Closing The Year With Confidence

• Divas That Care Network • Season 15 • Episode 63

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Come and listen to our Host, Candace Gish, as she chats with today's guest, Marcia Mantell, for our “End of Year, Beginning of Me” Podcast Series.
A powerfully themed mini-series helping women close the year with clarity and step into the next one with grounded self-love and vision.

For over 30 years, Marcia Mantell has helped the country's foremost financial services firms and advisors increase their knowledge of complex retirement concepts and regulations. She has a remarkable ability to translate those concepts into everyday language that educates and motivates real people to take the right steps to achieve the retirement they desire. Marcia has been named an IA25 Honoree by ThinkAdvisor—one of the “advisors, experts and leaders in financial services who are pushing the industry forward.” 

As founder of Mantell Retirement Consulting, Inc. (est. 2005) she regularly partners with financial institutions and advisors to help support their customers across the retirement spectrum—from accumulation to the transition into retirement, and then to organizing and managing income to last a lifetime. She brings an impressive amount of retirement, Social Security, and Medicare knowledge to the financial industry and directly to future retirees through their employers or in partnership with financial advisors.  

Known for “translating” technical economic and investment jargon, Social Security and Medicare rules, and complex retirement topics into language that consumers can understand, Marcia has developed innovative retirement income planning workshops for advisors, and comprehensive retirement education programs for plan participants and consumers at all levels of wealth. She is a highly sought-after speaker bringing her signature enthusiasm and energy to conferences, webinars, live webcasts, and podcasts. 

While at Fidelity Investments (1992−2005), she was Vice President of Retirement Products and Marketing, responsible for developing IRA and Small Business programs for consumers. She also served as Fidelity’s retirement spokesperson to the media in national and regional consumer and advisor publications. 

She’s the author of four must-read books for everyone who wants to retire. Her lively how-to discussion guide and workbook, Cookin’ Up Your Retirement Plan, was featured in the Wall Street Journal article, 

“5 Books to Help You Build a Bigger Nest Egg” (July 2025). Her other titles include What’s the Deal with Retirement Planning for Women, Creating Your Medicare Recipe, and her latest book, Social Security: Lightly Toasted, Not Burnt.

Marcia’s long-running blog, BoomerRetirementBriefs.com, showcases a light-hearted, but thought-provoking look at how Baby Boomers are reshaping and reinventing retirement. Plus, you’ll find in-depth updates on the current state of affairs in Social Security and Medicare.

We explore how to end the year with clarity and step into 2026 with a practical retirement plan, more honest money talks, and a sense of purpose that lasts. Marcia Mantel shares clear steps for Social Security timing, Medicare basics, and designing a 30-year retirement you’ll actually enjoy.

• reframing retirement beyond age 65 into a 30-year design
• why waiting to claim social security can boost lifetime income
• breaking the silence around money so women lead their planning
• simple steps to build financial autonomy and credit history
• books and worksheets that turn ideas into action
• practical year-end planning using quarters, calendars and checklists
• how to craft purpose, work and community into later life
• resources to learn medicare, estate basics and risk planning

For more Divas That Care Network Episodes visit www.divasthatcare.com

SPEAKER_00:

It's Divas That Care Radio. Stories, strategies, and ideas to inspire positive change. Welcome to Divas That Care, a network of women committed to making our world a better place for everyone. This is a global movement for women, by women engaged in a collaborative effort to create a better world for future generations. To find out more about the movement, visit divas that care.com after the show. Right now, though, stay tuned for another jolt of inspiration.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, hello everyone, and welcome back to the Divas at Care. My name is Candice Gish. If this is your very first time tuning into the Divas at Care, a huge welcome. It's the end of the year. So much is happening with everybody, and we so appreciate you checking us out. And for all of our returning listeners, Divas, you know, everybody out there, you know, thank you so much for an amazing 2025. This is going to be my last podcast of 2025, and I am so excited about the new year coming up. There's so many great things happening, but we have to end it. So this year we are ending our podcasting series, and it's going to be called End of Year, Beginning of Me. Um, this podcast series is a powerfully themed mini-series helping women close the year with clarity and step into the next one with grounded self-love and vision. And oh my God, you guys, we're gonna have a great last show this year. I have an amazing guest coming on, and she's really gonna inspire each and every one of you to end the year off right. So today's guest is Marcia Mentel. Marcia, welcome to the Divas That Care.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, thank you so much, Candace. I am thrilled to be here and really honored to be your last guest of the year.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my gosh. I'm so happy that you're my last guest. You know, we had the opportunity to chat a little bit here before the podcast started. And I am so excited because you really have the energy. And before we kind of dive into some of my questions, would you mind introducing yourself to our listeners?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, I'd be happy to. Thank you. Um, let's do the brief version, shall we? Um, I am a baby boomer, a proud baby boomer who has uh been on a journey, you know, not one that you could have written down 40 years ago to say, oh, this is what I'm going to do. But I have had this amazing life. I married my college sweetheart. We've got two daughters who we adore, grown and flown, um, and they are on their own making a difference in the world. Um, I worked for a long time in corporate America. I'm based in Massachusetts. And when my kids were hitting ninth grade and fifth grade, corporate America didn't work for working moms. So I had a decision to make, and the one I made was to quit. So I quit my job in 2005 and started my own consulting business in the retirement world, which is not a sort of typical like go to college and become a retirement guru, right? So I started my own business, just celebrated 20 years. I've written four books. I've been blogging for 15, 16 years, and all the while supporting my kids and my community, and you know, sometimes hanging on by a thread, and other times really feeling very accomplished. So I'm looking forward to the next part of the journey. It's all a discovery.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my gosh, I love it. Why did you decide to get into this type of a field?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, if only it were a decision, Candace. Funny story. Um I back in the 1980s when uh us women, you know, young women had the opportunity to go to college, which was not such a known thing like it is today. There was not half of the population of girls going to college. But I my parents felt very strongly about higher education. I got to go to the University of Rochester in very cold and snowy upstate New York. And I studied science. I came out and I didn't know what I was going to do. So, you know, you got a job. And if you didn't like that job, you found another job. And if you didn't like that one, well, you opened the paper and looked in the newspaper for ads and you got your resume and you got another job. And that's what we did back then. Unless you knew you were going to be a lawyer or going to be a doctor, you just got a job. You know, you had to pay the rent, you had to put food on the table. And so I job hopped for quite a few years and then landed by one of the jobs in direct mail marketing, which then led me when we moved to Boston, um, led me to a direct mail marketing company that then led me miraculously into Fidelity Investments, huge investment management firm for retail customers and employers and advisors. And I landed in 1992 in the retirement business ad agency unit, supporting retirement. And I loved it. So it wasn't by design, and I that's one of the things I want to make sure is people are you know ending this year and maybe thinking about their next year. If you're not really enthusiastic about 2026 and it's sort of drudgery, like, oh God, I gotta, you know, go back to that job. Well, I can't exactly say to all women, well, quit your job. And no, don't do that. Have a plan, though, to find something different. You just never know what's going to be behind that door. And for me, I could never have planned to become a retirement expert, but I went through enough doors, landed in this spot, and now, 32 years later, I'm one of the experts in the US on really exciting topics like how to make the transition into retirement. You know, what are you going to do with all that time? And do you have enough money? Social Security, which is our um pension, the social insurance pension program in the States, and Medicare, which is our health insurance for those 65 and older. It was not on my dance card, you know, when I was eight or nine, thinking about being a ballerina or a music teacher. It was just the journey.

SPEAKER_01:

Do a lot of people struggle with this. You know, I know a lot of individuals that are retiring. When was it the right time for them to start preparing? Is it too late?

SPEAKER_02:

I'm a big believer in it's never too late. It just might not be what you thought it was going to be. So the best time to get started saving and preparing for retirement is in your 20s. If you're not in your 20s anymore, as those of us in our 60s are not, um, then today is the best day. And you really have to take the bull by the horns in the case of retirement and preparing for retirement. If you didn't have the opportunity, and many, many women do not, you know, we are just really trying to make uh the best of our situation and and do the best for our kids. Um, as we talked, Candace, we women, we are always at the bottom of the priority pole. You know, so we don't always have the time, the energy, the inclination to figure out the financial side of the world and to make it really work for us in our young years. So, okay. You can't look back, you can't fix the past. You can just acknowledge it and embrace the future. So it's not too late, but you might have to work in retirement. But what do you want to do? You know, and how can you in our in the case in the states, it's really important to think carefully about when to claim Social Security because we have this sliding scale. I'm not sure how familiar all the listeners are. You can claim as early as 62 to get this benefit or as late as 70. And the longer you wait, the more you get, and it's a lot more. You get up to 30% more monthly income by waiting until 70 than if you claim at 67, which is what we call the full retirement age.

SPEAKER_01:

Because I don't think a lot of our listeners would understand that because you think, oh, well, you get to a certain age, you're supposed to retire.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Why are they still saying that? It's like, oh no, I have to hit this age and I have to be done. But they're not financially ready to be done. So how does that work? That is a really great question.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, I would say the main reason, and still locked into sort of like all of Americans' heads, their mind space, is age 65. Oh, if I can just make it to 65, you know, I'm getting out of the rat race. And that's great if you've got millions of dollars saved, maybe that works for you. Most of us, you know, don't have that. So the reason for 65 is that was by law the mandatory retirement age for decades, um, starting back in the 1930s and 1920s and 30s and 40s. So, you know, you you worked really hard. They were manufacturing jobs, they were industrial jobs, they were very physical jobs. If you made it to 65, frankly, you were just plain lucky. Um, but then you could retire, and the life expectancy back then was, you know, maybe to 68 or 70. So then the over the last 50, 60 years, we have this amazing confluence of advancements. Uh, the modern miracles of medicine, you know, helping all of us stay healthier and live longer, uh, better jobs, a lot more service jobs that aren't quite as demanding. And I call them sit on your behind jobs, you know, our desk jobs, a lot more of those that women have taken, you know, becoming programmers, computer programmers, and writers, and all kinds of great jobs that don't make us have to be so physical. But we also have to prepare then for what has become longevity. And women have the really good odds of living well into their 90s. If you're healthy at 65, don't quit your job just yet. First of all, the laws have all changed. There is no mandatory retirement anymore. The claiming for Social Security got moved out to 67. So that's really like the earliest you should claim. And then we're gonna live a really long time. And if you're alive, you'll be spending money.

SPEAKER_01:

So let's make the best of it. It's kind of a scary thought, isn't it? If a person is living a lot longer, where is this money coming from?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So how does a person like you, because obviously you're helping them through retirement, you're financially planning with them. How do you have that conversation with individuals saying, you know what, this is the money you have right now. This has got to last you potentially for a long period of time.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Uh it's a 30-year retirement. And I will tell you, that is the still 30 years into this game, that is still the most shocking data point for audiences if I'm doing a live event or when I do a lot of webinars as well. And sure enough, people will, you know, come talk to me in the chat or come off of the off mute and say things like, you can't be serious about living into your 90s. Like, are you kidding? But then you turn it back on them. And the way it really works is, well, who's the oldest person you know? And by far and away, it's someone's mother or grandmother. And so, well, how long did grandma live? Oh, till 97. Oh, don't then the light just goes on for them. It's like, oh my gosh, my grandma lived till 97. Or my dad, uh, interesting, my husband's parents just passed in the last year. My mom-in-law was 100 and a half, my father-in-law died at 102. That's longevity. That becomes very tactical and visual for people. And they go, Oh, I never thought it would be me, but it could be. So let's plan. That's how I approach it. To make it, you have to make it fun too. Yeah. Like, what will you look like at a hundred? You know, have you thought about that? Um, will you still be coloring your hair? Maybe.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and I love those conversations because I think it's really important. You know, I come from the generation X, and it's that conversation that a lot of people don't have. And you always wonder, are you preparing? And you know, do you talk to your friends about that? Do you talk to people around you? Because it's it's one of those touchy subjects that finances is not something, it's almost like a taboo thing. And I feel bad because, you know, within families, within friendships, you know, it's not, it's not something people want to address.

SPEAKER_02:

It is not. And I instead of the word finances, because that for lots of women especially conjures up Wall Street or you know, high investment level and such. So I go with money, and I have this phrase that I use. I'm just gonna read to you, which I didn't know I'd need today. But um, you know, women love to talk, right? This is we're we're the family historians. We pass down the culture, we pass down the history, the values. Um, so we will talk about just about anything. So we talk about marriages and motherhood, Merlots and Martinis, mammograms and menopause. But when it comes to money, man, are we quiet? Like, what's with that? We're talking about our most personal um health and kids and situations and our marriages, but we can't talk about money, not how much do you make or how much credit card debt do you have, but just talking about money as a concept and and where will it come from when you're retired? And do you really think your husband his job is to provide for you? Well, why did we, you know, put that on the men? So, yeah, it is very much a taboo subject, not just in the states and in Canada. I mean, I find it really all over that if it if you're in a patriarchal society and culture, women don't talk about money. And yes, it comes from laws for thousands of years kept women very much at an arm's length. We couldn't have money, we couldn't inherit money or property. But all that has changed and we are moving pretty quickly. I I give women, you know, lots of credit for whatever you've been able to cobble together in terms of your own money and your own accounts, but we will still have a long way to go. And even simple things, Candace, like um, do you have a credit card in your own name? Now, for my boomer generation, most of us women got married really early. I got married at 21. And when Dan and I were first starting out, we didn't, we maybe had five bucks between the two of us, you know. We did not have anything. So when we got our first credit card, it was a joint credit card for Dan and Marsha Mantel. And we each had a credit card in our wallet, but I don't own that card, it turns out. I didn't own that credit score, that credit history. It's like, what's with that? I'm the one paying all the bills, by the way. So we have to be just a little more savvy in how complex the financial world is, but it can be pretty simple too. Get your own credit card and your own name. We can all do that.

SPEAKER_01:

That is awesome. I think that's great. And, you know, I do hope that the younger generations, it's going to be a lot easier with them. You know, I've had different as I could say on our show over the years, and one of their things is that they really wanted to get into schools. They really wanted to be able to help school students, college students with this process to feel comfortable with decision making, just being comfortable with the idea and moving forward.

SPEAKER_02:

And I I do too. And I feel like we're doing us older women are doing a pretty good job of starting those conversations. Where our parents, not so much, but we're I wrote an article a couple of years ago and asked a bunch of other boomer women who have millennial children. Um, it was for Women's History Month, International Women's Day in March every year. And I asked a handful of women, are you talking about money to your daughters? And what pearls of wisdom I called it, what pearls of wisdom are you sharing with them? And it was fascinating what these moms were talking about money and different parts of the financial system to their kids. But one mom came back to me and said, Well, you know, Marsha, I also talked to my son. It's like, oops, okay. So it's not only mother to daughter, but I love that moms with boys are also talking to their sons.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, I just I thought it was wonderful.

SPEAKER_01:

I think it's amazing. I love conversations. I love stories. I love people that are willing to use their voices for change. I just want to talk more about your books and how your books could, you know, so assist some of our listeners today.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, thank you so much for that opportunity. Yeah, I'll I'll tell you the first book I wrote um probably in 2017 is called What's the Deal with Retirement Planning for Women? And I wrote this book really specifically to address what we've been talking about, that women don't always have the code of how to talk about money, and they feel badly about it. So then they never do anything about it. And frankly, we're too busy to worry about it a lot of times. So the way I position this book is it's 13 questions every woman should answer for herself. So it's things like, you know, what are you going to do with all of your time? Or how much money do you really need? Or could I really live to 100? You know, and then it gives them a lot of good information in each of those chapters. And one of the areas I explored pretty significantly in there was how women are super good at budgeting and cash flow and paying for the groceries and all these things we do, but we never give ourselves credit for doing these financial tasks. And we feel like we can't go beyond that a lot of times. So I'm hoping that book helps women really. This is an all-around the world kind of book. Any woman could read this one and I think get some good information anywhere from your 40s to your 60s is the great age range for that. Then I wrote two other books. Um, one just came out uh the December, yeah, this month. It's a new Social Security book. Um, our social security program here in the States is a little wobbly, as I call it. So that one's called Social Security Lightly Toasted, Not Burnt. And the Medicare book, which is sort of the companion piece, these two programs go together. The Medicare book is called Creating Your Medicare Recipe. Those two are specifically for these US federal programs, but they're out there. But the other book that's really pretty fun and again works for almost everyone and anywhere in the world. It's called Cooking Up Your Retirement Plan. So not only do we Struggle to talk about money as women. But in most countries, you know, people say you've got to get ready to retire, you know, like get on it, right? But we never tell you how. We just tell you you're supposed to do it, and miraculously you're supposed to figure it out. So I had this idea to create a cookbook, and it is literally called Cooking Up Your Retirement Plan. And it's laid out kind of like a cookbook. And there are six sections. There's a discussion guide, and then there's worksheets that correspond to the topics about what to do with your time, the risks you might face living for a 30-year period after you stop working. Um, and then different financial pieces, including estate planning. Like you need to plan for when you're not here. So that's a fun book. It is a workbook. It's not you don't sit down, you know, with a cup of coffee and a nice roaring fire. Um, but that one's a good conversation starter, and it helps you figure out how to get started on this retirement journey. So those are my four books.

SPEAKER_01:

Where can the person go get those books?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, on uh all the big sellers, uh the Amazon.com, they're out there, Barnes and Noble. Um, and there's some other more independent sellers. But um, if you just Google my name or and put it in Amazon or Barnes Noble, the four books will come up.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my gosh, that's awesome! And I was actually gonna ask you, what is your social media so our listeners can go and check that out?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I have LinkedIn, which I love. So you can find me on LinkedIn just on my name, Marsha Mantel. And then my blog is the I think that's the best place to go for getting fun information about what boomers have been doing, what a lot of the boomer women, how they're creating and reinventing retirement. So that's boomer retirementbriefs.com. Um, a lot of free worksheets out there, I gr really fun ideas. And I find some of these women incredibly inspiring who are working, though usually not always paid work after their late 60s, and they are just moving and shaking in the world and really making a difference to the younger gens. So I love following them or highlighting them in the blog. I think you'll like some of those articles as well.

SPEAKER_01:

That's perfect because I know a lot of our listeners love to read because they're always commenting on things. So that is perfect. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, you're very welcome.

SPEAKER_01:

What other tips, tools, things could you leave our listeners today and help them move into 2026?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I love this time of year, Candace. I mean, not only do I love the holidays and I live in what used to be snow country. I love a few snowflakes, you know, around the holiday time, and to bring in the new year. So spend as much time with your family as you can and your close friends. It's really a special time, but it's also about thinking about what the new year will bring and how can you make it better, different, more adventurous, less adventurous, whatever you want to do. So for me, I work on um, I'm very still uh paper and colored markers kind of gal. I think the best invention ever was the big calendars that you could color code each of your kids' stuff on the on the days they're doing things. So I still use calendars and flip charts and colored markers, and I lay out not in great detail, like, oh, on January 27th, I'm going to be here, do this. It's an opportunity to take a step back and say, what do I want the new year to bring? So on my business side, I come into my office in Plymouth, Massachusetts. I've got flip charts on the wall, and I start to sort of doodle. You know, I throw out some ideas. I need to revise a book or do I want to write a new book? Do I want to do an audio book? You know, things that I've never done before. Um, do I need to get some new clients? Do I need to, oh Lord, organize this place? It's a mess. So, you know, anything that will make you feel accomplished. And then I start to break things into the quarters. I like to work on the business front, Q1, two, three, and four, so that I've got a structure and put a few achievable goals in the structure for the business. At home, I came across this planner, this paper planner, a couple of years ago. I think it's called Commit 30. And it is a calendar book. You know, each week is laid out on paper, but a whole lot of space to write goals, keep your lists so you don't have 99 post-it notes all over your desk. But importantly, it has stickers. And honest to gosh, Candace, I can't believe I fell for the stickers. I'm not three, but I absolutely love seeing my non-work accomplishments laid out every week in a book where I can put stickers. And it's not you can do stars and hearts, but it's more, it's just fun. If I'm going to the grocery store, there's a little grocery cart, for example. You know, like, oh yeah, I did go to the grocery store and I planned meals for the week and I cooked. So it's about giving women in my particular view. My sister loves the same planner. We both use it. Um, it's about giving us some credit about all the stuff we do. And I've just never seen it so visual before. And I'm just a huge fan. So you don't have to get this particular planner. You can use whatever calendar you have, just buy some stickers on Etsy. And uh, you know, you'll have just a grand time, I think, looking at all the things that you've done over the year when you all of a sudden get to next December. So those are a few tips and ways to ease into the new year looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my gosh, I absolutely love that. I'm I'm such a planner person too. It's funny that you were talking about stickers and post-it notes and stuff. I actually had designed a podcasting journal where people would listen to podcasts and then be able to write their favorite things in it because all I would do is I would have the opportunity to listen to amazing women like yourself, and I would have post-it notes all around my office because I wanted to remember that thing so that I could share it with others. And now I just write it in my journal because I'm like, oh, what was that? And then I write it down, and it was just one of those things because you never know what somebody's gonna advise they're gonna give you, and and you want to keep that knowledge. So I love that you I'm all about paper too. You know, we have we're living an era of digital everything, but I still like things where I it's tangible and I can feel it and touch it and just do all that. So that is wonderful advice. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Oh my gosh. Marsha, I've had such an amazing time with you. I just appreciate you being my last guest of 2025. It's been such a pleasure. And I hope that you come on our podcast again next year.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you so much. I wish you and your family the happiest of holidays and all the listeners, happy new year.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much. And for all of our listeners, I will be posting all of Marsha's information on our social media so that you can go and just click on it and be able to follow her. So thank you all for checking out our end of year beginning of me podcast series. We hope that you enjoyed all of our amazing guests through this series and then through actually through all of our other series, because there's just been so much going on this year. And we hope that you've been sharing it with all your friends and family because it that's what it's all about is that you don't know who it's going to to assist with their journey. So again, all of my amazing guests out there. I'm just so grateful for them. So I thank them all. I thank uh Marcia for today, and uh please remember to always do something kind, everyone. End this year out with kindness, uh, and um I know next year is going to be amazing. So take care, everyone, and we will talk to you soon.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for listening. This show was brought to you by Divas That Care. Connect with us on Facebook, on Instagram, and of course on divas that care.com, where you can subscribe to our newsletter so you don't miss a thing.