From networking meetings to high school reunions, I’ve been having conversations with people about their retirement years. Most often I’ve heard that they want to work “…a few more years and then be done.” But there’s no clear timeline and it seems as though they’re just kicking the decision-making down the road a ways.

My goal here is to explore planning for a staged retirement. Ratcheting down such a full commitment to work that we can both plan for AND experience the shift. Plan for it by setting goals, talking to others about their experience, and committing to timelines. Experience it by starting to explore other areas of interest that may have been dormant for some time. Are they really where you want to spend your time in retirement?

If you keep pushing off exploring other areas of interest, travel, learning, etc. you may someday find you have very little time left to embrace them.

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