Retirement just ain't what it used to be. Think about how we used to view retirement. The 65+ person says goodbye to the office and goes home to spend days resting, relaxing, or doing busy work. That's the OLD RETIREMENT. Today people are living longer and living healthier, the NEW RETIREMENT. Believe it or not, retirement may become the longest stage of life.

• Today the average age of retirement is 57.
• 10 thousand people a day are retiring in the United States. (One month of 10,000 people a day would amount to 300,000 people, the size of a pretty big city!

What will all those people be doing after retirement? Retirement options today are numerous. After all, we are younger and healthier.

• What do you want to do?
  Pursue a hobby?
  Start a new business?
  Get a completely different job?
  Be involved in volunteer activities?
  Care for family members?
• When will you retire? 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, Never?
• How will you retire?
  Just quit?
  Get laid off?
  Have health issues making retirement necessary?
  Carefully plan the way and the day?

Most of us, if we're planning for retirement at all, think in terms of what we'll need financially. Now money is extremely important, bu did you know that there are at least 14 other areas that need to be consciously considered in order to create a really successful retirement lifestyle? Let me mention just a few of them.

• Attitude toward retirement
• Support system
• Family needs
• Leisure time
• Personal identity
• Projected Life satisfaction
• Life meaning

Often we aren't aware of where we are with these areas. There is a Retirement Success Profile that is used to identify where you are in each of the 15 areas and where you want to be in these areas when you retire. This gives you a picture of the areas you may want to focus on to provide you with the successful retirement you want. To find out more about the Retirement Success Profile go to www.theretirementsuccesscoach.com.

Retirement does not happen in a single day--the day you stop going to work--so planning is essential. A 2006 study "The New Retirement Mindscape"* delineates and describes 5 phases of retirement:

1. Imagination (15-6 years before retirement)
2. Anticipation (up to 5 years before retirement)
3. Liberation (retirement day and the year following)
4. Reorientation (2-5 years after retirement)
5. Reconciliation (16 or more years after retirement)

Now the question is, what phase are you in, and what do you need to do next to make your retirement the most fulfilling and meaningful phase of your life? The job of a retirement coach is to ask you the questions and give you the encouragement that result in your getting to that place--a place of renewal and fulfillment. (For more information about retirement coaching go to www.theretirementsuccesscoach.com.)

*"The New Retirement Mindscape," a groundbreaking, comprehensive study of the retirement journey by Ameriprise Financial in conjunction with Age Wave and Ken Dychwald, Ph.D. and Harris Interactive, Inc., January, 2006.

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