Author: Kim Potgieter

“I was delighted to be invited to share the platform with CEO of The Refirement Network, Lynda Smith, at the Congress,” says Kim Potgieter, Certified Financial Planner and Director at Chartered Wealth Solutions.  “I am grateful for every opportunity to share the message that we share with our clients during our Life Planning Meetings: retirement does not have to signal an end; it can be the beginning of a whole new life, if you are prepared to shift your perspective – retiring to something rather than from it.” Of course, living a full life in retirement has much to do with...

At his recent Chartered presentation, Dr Wayne Derman made reference to the Blue Zones.  These are geographical areas in the world where people have been found to live longer – and better! These five areas are:  Sardinia, Italy; the islands of Okinawa, Japan; Loma LInda, California; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; Icaria, Greece. More significant than where they are, is what the residents of these regions have in common, factors that contribute to longevity and quality of life. These factors include: human interactions – putting family above other concernsa...

This year started with great excitement at Chartered Wealth and for me personally.  The launch of my book is a dream come true.  After attending the Walt Disney leadership course, I took the words of this remarkable leader and visionary literally:  All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. I am the first to acknowledge that I am certainly not a traditional author. Following some years conducting Life Planning meetings, however, there was something at my core that demanded that this book be written. Despite this compulsion, Retiremeant took more than...

Prior to tearing my hamstring, leg raises hardly broke a sweat on my brow; I was a committed and regular participant at the gym.  Now, as part of my rehabilitation, I have to be equally committed – but now it is to attending biokineticist sessions every week.  Yes, there is physical exertion, but it is nothing compared to the mental discipline I need to re-engage my body in healing and normal activity.  I am being challenged all the time.  Basic exercises require all my effort. What has been the lesson for me?  To be humble, and place myself in other’s...

Sometimes we have a plan in mind, but life has a different path for us to follow.  This truth was vividly illustrated through my recent experience. I have a party trick I have done for years: the splits. This tendency stems from a childhood memory: I was six, and my then ballet teacher politely suggested I do Scottish dancing instead of ballet (I was not even dainty as a child). So, at 46, I still do the splits … perhaps hoping that things have changed! At this year’s company Christmas party, themed ‘Broadway’, two colleagues and...

Relationships are very important to me. It is important to start by looking at your relationship with yourself. Do you like yourself? I have a good relationship with myself and am aware that people sometimes find me over-confident, often a result of me getting overly excited about something. Next one needs to look at is your relationship with your spouse. I am fortunate to have a husband who challenges me, which is vital when you are as strong-willed as I am. My husband’s love language is time together which can, in this busy life, become an issue. I have three children aged 22, 13 and 9...

“Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways”  Stephen Vincent Benèt. A few weekends ago my young daughter Gabi begged me to jump on the trampoline with her at the Vaal Dam.  Well, I’m sure it had been about 30 years since last I jumped on a trampoline and the experience had me in stitches.  And the more I laughed the more Gabi begged me to jump.  Remember, when you’re jumping up and down, so too is every part of your body.  But once you get past that uncomfortable sensation, it’s actually a...

After further discussion his face lit up when he told me how he loved to teach and really wanted to be able to pass on basic life skills to youths who hadn’t had the same opportunities in life he had had.  But where and how would this happen?  I encouraged him to actively participate in making his passion a reality and to start the journey, and I assured him that the opportunity would present itself. The theme of passing on knowledge comes up in so many of the life planning meetings I have with retired people.  What I have found is that at this stage in life, when people stop...

I am ashamed to confess that when my mother wanted to teach me as a child, I resisted her suggestion … the outcome of this is that I had to admit to my own daughter I do not have the skill. With both Gabi’s grannies having passed away, we no longer have the privilege of knitting tutors in the family! Never daunted, I set about finding a solution … and came across a lovely woman who this holiday has taught Gabi how to knit and embroider. Gabi is now graciously teaching me to knit. My husband loves woodwork and a while ago set up a workshop at home. I watch him share his love of wood with the...