NRMLA 2015 takes place in the City by the Bay November 16-18, so it’s only natural that this year’s theme is The Golden Gate to Retirement: Reverse Mortgage and Funding Longevity. You can get a leg up before you fly out by reviewing relevant blog posts. (Additional tip: don’t refer to San Francisco as “Frisco”. The locals will wince.)

Following are our top 2015 articles focused on longevity, the new retirement, and how reverse mortgage fits into the planning picture:

• The New Retirement/Part 1: Now What? A Resource Guide: Books and sites that address what recent retirees or those almost ready to retire need to know to plan for their next life stage.
• The New Retirement/Part 2: One Partner Retires, the Other Doesn’t: How to determine whether and when retirement makes sense for you, emotionally, mentally, financially, and socially.
• On the Other Foot: Are you working past your competency?
• Live Long and Prosper: How Will We Fill the Bonus Years? Living well in terms of purpose and prosperity in later life.
• How to Invent Retirement: Older adults who came into their own in a highly creative, lucrative way well into their senior years.
• End-of-Life Planning: Few want to think about it or discuss it, but this is an important component of preparing for longevity.
• The Hero’s Journey for the Third Act: Transforming Our “Story” of Aging: A personal growth perspective to help seniors ask the deeper questions about what constitutes a meaningful life and retirement.
• Retired — Or Retooled? A wonderful story about a financial coach in her mid-70s whose business is thriving along with its founder.

Now prepare to maximize your convention experience with these refresher tips:

• Pack it in! Just as the AmEx commercial says: “Don’t leave home without it!” In this case, that means your business cards, smartphone, and other devices (it’s good to have back-up), chargers for said devices, notepad, pens, company premiums such as fridge magnets, and whatever else you might need when meeting potential new business associates or referral partners.
• Know your goals. Aside from soaking in the beauty of the Bay Area, what do you hope to achieve by participating in NRMLA 2015? Do your primary goals involve:

• Business building?
• Connecting with specific people?
• Problem solving?
• Attending certain sessions?

With a plan in place, you can…

• Plan to network. Conventions aren’t about collecting contacts, but making meaningful connections. It’s better to meet with fewer people and establish beneficial beginnings than to head home with a bundle of business cards and no clear sense of who these people are. With this objective in mind, schedule time to meet several potentially viable connections — and remember that networking works both ways.
• Don’t overdo. To be at your best, take good care of yourself while traveling and participating at NRMLA. Get adequate sleep, rest during the day if you need to, and be smart about what you eat and drink. Deportment can speak louder than anything you say.
• Join the active table. When you sit down to dine, choose a table where people you want to connect with are sitting, or invite others to join you. A casual atmosphere can be one of the best places to create or further a new connection.

And if you’ve never been to SF before: ride a cable car up one of its legendary vertiginous hills!

For more reverse mortgage information, tools and technology visit ReverseFocus.com today.