ER Eddie
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
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Any favorite books that helped you prepare for or handle retirement -- from a non-financial perspective? So in other words, books talking about the challenges and opportunities of retirement, the anxieties, possible paths, psychological or interpersonal issues, issues of purpose, engagement, etc. Just wondering if I've missed a good read somewhere.
I've been preparing for years. Apparently I'm abnormal, since I read earlier that only about 1 in 10 people spend any time preparing for their retirement (beyond "do I have enough"), and of those 1 in 10, most spend the majority of their time thinking about the finances and little else.
Here are a few books that have helped me think things through:
How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free, Ernie Zelinsky (he's got another book on retirement, but it's pretty much a duplicate of this one)
My Time, by Abigail Trafford (not about retirement per se but about making the best of your second half)
Ready to Retire? by Lyndsay Green (not a great book, but still helpful in dismantling some of the fears and myths around retirement)
Work Less, Live More, by Bob Clyatt (mostly a financial book, but with some good chapters on the advantages of dialing back)
The Retirement Maze, by Rob Pascale and Louis Primavera. (This is actually one of the most pessimistic books on retirement I've ever read; it's a catalog of all the problems and struggles people have, and it paints a dark picture. But I am glad I read it, because I want the balance, rather than just the overly sunny, optimistic view of Zelinski for example; I want to know what can go wrong and how not to do retirement.)
Any that you would add?
p.s. There have been other books I've read that have also prepared me, such as the books on voluntary simplicity I read 25 years ago, or spiritual books that contrast the second half of life with the first, or books that shaped my individualism or self-direction (e.g., Emerson, 30 years ago), but I could spend all day listing those sorts of influences ... I'm thinking more narrowly here, of just retirement.
Of course, reading this forum has helped a lot, too.
I've been preparing for years. Apparently I'm abnormal, since I read earlier that only about 1 in 10 people spend any time preparing for their retirement (beyond "do I have enough"), and of those 1 in 10, most spend the majority of their time thinking about the finances and little else.
Here are a few books that have helped me think things through:
How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free, Ernie Zelinsky (he's got another book on retirement, but it's pretty much a duplicate of this one)
My Time, by Abigail Trafford (not about retirement per se but about making the best of your second half)
Ready to Retire? by Lyndsay Green (not a great book, but still helpful in dismantling some of the fears and myths around retirement)
Work Less, Live More, by Bob Clyatt (mostly a financial book, but with some good chapters on the advantages of dialing back)
The Retirement Maze, by Rob Pascale and Louis Primavera. (This is actually one of the most pessimistic books on retirement I've ever read; it's a catalog of all the problems and struggles people have, and it paints a dark picture. But I am glad I read it, because I want the balance, rather than just the overly sunny, optimistic view of Zelinski for example; I want to know what can go wrong and how not to do retirement.)
Any that you would add?
p.s. There have been other books I've read that have also prepared me, such as the books on voluntary simplicity I read 25 years ago, or spiritual books that contrast the second half of life with the first, or books that shaped my individualism or self-direction (e.g., Emerson, 30 years ago), but I could spend all day listing those sorts of influences ... I'm thinking more narrowly here, of just retirement.
Of course, reading this forum has helped a lot, too.
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