Why My Future Purpose | Find Purpose & Reinvent After 50
For Adults 50+ · Find Purpose, Reinvent the Next Chapter

Why My Future Purpose Is Different From Ordinary Retirement

Most of later life gets framed around slowing down. We see it differently. Here is an honest, side by side look at what a purpose-driven community offers, so you can decide how you want this chapter to go.

See the Full Comparison

Retirement Was Never Supposed to Mean Stepping Back

Plenty of programs treat life after 50 as a slow wind-down, a calendar to fill, a decline to manage. My Future Purpose was built by two women who refused that story. We pair a real framework, the 7 Pathways to Purpose, with an active community of people figuring out what is next together. Purpose does not retire, and neither do you.

Head to head comparison

My Future Purpose vs. the Typical Retirement Approach

No names needed. The difference shows up in how this stage of life gets framed, what you actually do with it, and who is in it with you.

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What to Compare

Key factors to weigh

✦ Best Choice

My Future Purpose

Purpose-driven community for adults 50+

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Typical Retirement Approach

Conventional programs and advice

How This Stage of Life Is Framed
Later life is treated as a powerful, visible, meaningful stage rich with impact, creativity, and contribution.
Built around slowing down and stepping back, with decline as the default story.
Who Leads the Work
Co-founded and led by Vicki Thomas and Joyce Cohen, two women who built this in their own later chapters and live the mission daily.
Programming is often designed by people outside the age group it serves, working from assumptions rather than experience.
A Real Framework to Follow
The 7 Pathways to Purpose give you a structured way to find where your strengths, values, and interests meet what is next.
Vague encouragement to enjoy retirement, with no method for figuring out what actually fits you.
Community and Connection
An active community with twice monthly Pause for Purpose groups, monthly Meeting of the Minds, guest speakers, and members who get it.
Isolated resources or one-off seminars, with little ongoing connection between people.
Year-Round Engagement
Bi-weekly guest speakers, quarterly workshops, virtual retreats, and events that keep momentum going all year.
A single class or a pamphlet, and then you are on your own.
Personal Coaching
Confidential one on one coaching for career transition, leadership, and personal growth, from people with decades of experience.
Generic advice that is not tailored to your situation or to this stage of life.
Tools You Can Actually Use
Practical tools like the Pathways to Purpose workbook, the 48-card deck, and the obituary workshop turn reflection into action.
Inspiration without instruments. Plenty of you should, and very little here is how.
Accessibility
Virtual and on-site options, plus anchor programs open to everyone, so you can take part from wherever you are.
Location-bound programs that can be hard to reach or require travel.
Cost and Value
Membership is 99 dollars a year for a full calendar of community, workshops, tools, and events.
High-priced coaching packages or scattered costs that add up, with little community behind them.
The Goal
Turning purpose into action and passion into impact, contribution that is felt by you and the people around you.
Filling time. Activity for its own sake, without a deeper reason behind it.
Our signature framework

The 7 Pathways to Purpose

Purpose looks different for everyone, and it can change as life does. These seven pathways help you find where yours lives right now.

01

Advocacy

Channel your voice and experience into causes that need someone willing to speak up.

02

Good From Loss

Turn grief or hardship into something that helps others walking a similar road.

03

Entrepreneurship

Build the venture you never had time for, on your own terms and your own timeline.

04

Volunteering

Give your hours and skills where they make a visible, immediate difference.

05

Interests & Hobbies

Follow the curiosity you set aside, and let it grow into something that matters.

06

Purpose-Driven Organization

Bring your career experience to a mission you genuinely believe in.

07

Do What the Heck You Want

Permission, finally, to design this chapter entirely around you.

Program by program

What You Get as a Member

A closer look at the specific programs and tools we offer, against what a conventional retirement program provides.

Program or Tool
My Future Purpose
Typical Program
Pathways to Purpose Framework Workbook and 48-card deck to find your direction
Yes
No
I Wrote It My Way Obituary Workshop Two-part workshop on the legacy you mean to leave
Yes
No
One on One Coaching Confidential coaching for transition, leadership, and growth
Yes
Generic only
Mavericks Wanted Workshop Entrepreneurial workshop, moving from career to calling
Yes
No
Pause for Purpose Groups Twice monthly virtual discussion groups, open to all
Yes
Sometimes
Meeting of the Minds Monthly conversation on the social issues that matter
Yes
No
Bi-Weekly Guest Speakers Authors, experts, and voices worth hearing
Yes
Limited
Virtual Retreats & Quarterly Workshops Deeper sessions spread across the year
Yes
Sometimes
Year-Round Community Membership Belonging, not a one-off event, for 99 dollars a year
Yes
No
The people behind it

Two Women Who Turned Retirement Upside Down

After full careers and a lifetime of lessons, they saw one truth clearly: purpose is a gift meant to be shared.

VT

Vicki Thomas

Chief Purpose Officer

Author and speaker, and a former executive at ABC Television in New York and VP of Marketing at the Credit Union National Association. Vicki won the 100,000 dollar Encore.org Purpose Prize in 2013 for her work with Purple Heart Homes, and created PBS programs on aging and retirement. She has no plans to fully retire.

JC

Joyce Cohen

Chief Relationship Officer

Career development specialist and author, President of the Life Planning Network and chair of its national board. Joyce has facilitated workshops at more than 375 organizations worldwide, and designed the Boots to Backyards mentor program helping veterans find new purpose.

7
Pathways to Purpose
375+
Organizations served
$100K
Purpose Prize awarded to Vicki
50+
The age this is built for
What members say

In Their Own Words

Reflections from people who showed up, joined in, and left inspired.

★★★★★
"My Future Purpose is my favorite go-to event of the week. What Champions you both are."
— Carol F.
★★★★★
"That was a truly inspiring and hopeful presentation. So glad I joined the meeting."
— Jacqueline K.
★★★★★
"A great message, and a real walk through the experience of Purpose identification. Very helpful to me professionally and personally."
— Paul M.
How to get connected

A Community You Can Join From Anywhere

My Future Purpose runs virtually and on-site, so distance is never the thing standing between you and your next chapter.

Reach the Co-Founders Directly

Have a question before you join? Vicki and Joyce are easy to reach, and happy to help you find the right starting point.

VT
Vicki Thomas
Chief Purpose Officer
203-984-2138  ·  vicki@myfuturepurpose.com
JC
Joyce Cohen
Chief Relationship Officer
203-339-2000  ·  joyce@myfuturepurpose.com
Membership
$99
per year, full community access
Become a Member

Purpose Doesn't Retire. Neither Do You.

If you are ready for a real framework, an active community, and the tools to turn this chapter into something that matters, My Future Purpose is where it begins.

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