Retirement is Just One Transition

A great deal of attention is paid to the transition into retirement. It’s a recognized milestone, cheered by friends and family and often described with starry phrases like the golden years, a time filled with promise and visions of freedom.

There are countless books, articles, and podcast episodes devoted to the topic. From time to time I come across educational resources worth sharing, and one that stood out to me for its simplicity is the Retirement Transition Workbook, which you can download here.

Initially, I thought about sharing it mainly with people nearing retirement. A trusted colleague and I were discussing it, however, and she pointed out something interesting: the workbook is really a great guide for almost anyone.

That observation expanded how I thought about the guide.

It really is never too early to think about retirement. After all, we spend more than a decade preparing for our working lives through school and training. It’s entirely possible that we will spend just as many years, perhaps more, in retirement. Doesn’t that deserve some thought and preparation as well?

But the workbook invites an even broader application.

Glance through the questions and prompts and you may notice something. If we took the word “Retirement” out of the title and just called it “Transition Planning,” the guide could easily be adapted to navigating almost any sort of transition. We are always in transition, whether we realize it or not. Careers evolve. Families grow and change. Interests deepen or shift in new directions.

To live our best lives, it helps to think about how our values, wellbeing, and finances support each other and change over time. After all, isn’t that what money is for—to enhance the flow of life?