John Trauth is a management consultant in San Francisco specializing in financial and strategic planning. After receiving his MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth, he began his career in Boston working in the management services division of the firm now called Deloitte. He moved to San Francisco to join a large general management consulting firm and continued consulting in the private, public and non-profit sectors. In the course of his career, he set up 29 companies for various clients, developing their business and strategic plans and putting them on course for success. After an intense career, he decided to retire early, and he and his wife Astrid moved to France for a year. When he returned, he was uncertain what to do next. Working with psychotherapist Alan Bernstein, he learned more about himself, his interests, working style and motivational needs. Being a strategic planner, he was able to take this information and develop his own personal strategic plan, keeping those things in his personal and work life that gave him satisfaction and eliminating those that caused him stress. It worked out very well, and Alan suggested that he and John write a book about it. That was the origin of “Your Retirement, Your Way.”