I was catching up with my friend Dave the other night. He’s been retired for about three years, a little ahead of many of our friends who are just starting to think about their own timelines.

Later he sent me something that’s taken shape for him over these first few years — a Retirement Hierarchy of Needs. He’s realized that stepping away reveals a sequence of priorities people tend to work through:

Financial: Making sure you’re prepared with sufficient financial resources, you’re emotionally ready to draw on those, and comfortable living in that new reality. Physical: Taking a more intentional, sustainable approach to exercise and health. Social: Re‑learning how to make friends again — whether that’s a pickleball league or a whiskey‑tasting club. Intellectual: Keeping your mind engaged through learning, exploration, or deep dives into new topics. Cultural: Finally having time for museums, shows, travel, and everything that used to get squeezed out. Creative: Rediscovering writing, art, music, or whatever’s been sitting dormant.

One line in his note stuck with me: “Several of these needs are satisfied by working; others have been latent or put off due to too little time.”

That’s the realization that full-time work provides more than an income and benefits. It gives you financial stability, a built‑in social circle, daily intellectual challenges, and a predictable routine — while potentially pushing social and creative pursuits into the “later” bucket.

When you go from working full time to being 100% done overnight, that entire structure disappears. Suddenly, you’re responsible for rebuilding your social, intellectual, and physical routines while figuring out what to do with those long‑delayed travel dreams and creative impulses. It’s a lot to reconstruct.

This is why phased retirement makes so much sense — advisory work, board roles, part‑time consulting. Scaling back your hours gives you a runway. You regain 10–20 hours a week, enough space to experiment with cultural, social and creative pursuits while still having one foot in the professional world. You adjust financially in real time, and you build new routines gradually instead of abruptly.

If you’re starting to think about your own timeline, look at Dave’s list. Which of those needs are currently met only by your job — and what are you putting in place to replace them before you fully step away?