Retirement
“In the United States today, retirement is the last of the major active phases in life, and perhaps the most mystifying for those who have yet to reach it.”
The idea of retirement as the withdrawal from long-term, full-time work with the guarantee of ongoing income from a pension is applicable to only a dwindling few these days. For people who have not had the opportunity for uninterrupted, profitable careers, the idea of retirement as a sharp transition is irrelevant. Many people will have phased retirements in which they continue to work in one form or another, only gradually moving into full retirement.
Whatever your retirement path, the later part of your life is certainly a time to consider your options and be sure your choices met your values and interests and fits the realities of your situation.
In LifeLaunch: A Passionate Guide to the Rest of Your Life, from The Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara, Frederic Hudson describes the shift today from thinking about retirement to thinking about renewal. Retirement no longer means that you disengage from work or life but that you begin again, with all the old options—work, intimacy, family, leisure, travel, leadership roles—as well as an increased drive toward living life to its fullest on a day-to-day basis.
What are your hopes? What would having it all mean to you? What would it look like to do what you want to do and become who you want to be? Now is the time to find the answers that are right for you.
Page author: Jan Hively
This section includes the following pages:
- Essay: The New Retirement - Leider, author of Claiming Your Place at the Fire, The Power of Purpose, and Repacking Your Bags, says that we should redefine retirement as a time for personal reinvention.
- Essay: Strengths for a Successful Retirement - Vern Drilling shares the strengths that you need to feel a sense of success in your life.
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