Retire Smart, Retire Happy: Finding Your True Path in Life by Nancy K. Schlossberg

From the Publisher

Most of us look forward to our retirement from full-time work, eagerly anticipating more free time and opportunities to play. But the reality of retirement can be very different. Relationships with family and friends may change and unexpected challenges may present themselves, leading us to wonder who we really are and what we can reasonably expect to accomplish in the remaining years of our lives. Retire Smart, Retire Happy is one of the first books to provide guidance on the psychological and emotional adjustments we make in retirement. Nancy K. Schlossberg, a counseling psychologist, provides tips on coping with its ups and downs and reassures us that retirement can be one of the most fulfilling times of one's life. Readers are introduced to different ways retirees restructure their lives, characterized as Continuers, Adventurers, Searchers, Retreaters, and Easy Gliders. Armed with this knowledge, the author shows how understanding our retirement "type" can help us put our strengths and resources to work. Each of the seven chapters contains dozens of examples of situations experienced by actual retirees and includes short self-assessment quizzes.sThis thought-provoking book is a must-read for recent retirees and those about to retire.

Library Journal

Books on retirement flood the market, but few cover that major transitional phase as succinctly and concisely as this one by Schlossberg (counseling psychology, emerita, Univ. of Maryland, College Park). To find out what components of thinking and acting enable people to experience an enjoyable retirement, she interviewed 100 men and women from different socioeconomic backgrounds. While Schlossberg touches on areas like financial preparation, she unveils some of the more hidden psychological concerns: the feeling that one matters, for example, and the absence of "social capital," the structured companionship found in the workplace. She also delves into areas like changing relationships between spouses: the reality of spending 24 hours together and the readiness of the husband to wind down at home or the wife to take off in a career. Changing relationships with adult children if caretaking is involved is also discussed. Geared toward those anticipating retirement who want to take stock of their psychological resources as well as struggling retirees, this resource offers concrete suggestions and steps that can be applied immediately. Highly recommended for all public libraries.-Deborah Bigelow, Leonia P.L., NJ Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents