Colorado is the third fastest-aging state in the country, where life expectancy is 80.4 years and going up. Across most of the nation, people are living longer than ever before—on average an additional 20+ years. But are these 20 years spent in good health? Are people thriving as they age? More than 11,000 individuals retire each day, but are they ready for it?

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Retirement and our later years can be a great phase of life, but its quality largely depends on how we prepare for it—emotionally, mentally, and financially. For many, retirement offers the freedom to explore new hobbies, travel, spend more time with family, or pursue passions that have yet been undiscovered or put on hold due to work commitments. It can also bring relief from job-related stress and the pressures of daily work life. However, retirement can also present challenges. Without a structured schedule or sense of purpose, some people experience feelings of boredom, isolation, or loss of identity, all of which can turn into depression.

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Barbara Kreisman, PhD, and her husband Scott McLagan have learned how to navigate this transition and are now helping others prepare and adapt to a new routine brought about by retirement and aging in general.

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As principals of Purposeful-Aging.org, their mission is to work with individuals or groups to address such topics as how to live a healthy lifestyle; engage in community service; create new relationships while cultivating old ones; discover purpose; and answer questions about caregiving, downsizing, whether to relocate, and even end-of-life.

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Barbara and Scott have experienced two major transitions in their lifetimes to date—first, when they chose to leave their corporate jobs in their early 50s to assume roles as Professors at the University of Denver, and most recently, in their 70s, as they’ve been teaching and coaching to help others gain a better perspective of aging purposefully.

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Scott was a former executive with Emerson Electric and has functional experience in general management, strategic planning, marketing, and global business. He served as a professor in the University of Denver Daniels College of Business Executive MBA Program, where he taught executive leadership and international business for more than 18 years. He has degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Finance. He was recently appointed to the Governor’s Commission on Community Service.

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Barbara’s early career was as an organizational development leader in the high-tech arena—including Dell Technologies and other large companies. She earned a PhD at the University of Texas Austin at age 52, after which she became Associate Dean of the Daniels College of Business.

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Barbara currently serves on the Colorado Commission on Aging and coordinates a Wise Women’s forum via the Institute for Healthy Aging at the University of Denver, where she and Scott are both Board Members and Emeritus Professors. Barbara is a member of the International Women’s Leadership Forum of Colorado and is a certified caregiver (Hospice) with her two Golden Retrievers.

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In 2023, Barbara and Scott accepted Fellowships at the University of Chicago to participate in a year-long Leadership and Society Initiative (LSI) designed for individuals over the age of 50 who want to contribute to society through meaningful work. Their combined project was on aging. They are also part-time instructors for the Modern Elder Academy (MEA) and co-facilitate the Reframing Retirement online course.

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In January, they will launch a new program consisting of workshops and courses at the University of Denver entitled “Retirement Reimagined,” co-hosted by the Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging and the University College Enrichment Program.