So, you’ve done your retirement financial planning and you’ve even figured out where it makes the most sense to live during those “golden years.” As you contemplate getting the gold watch and walking out of the workplace, have you also given thought as to what you’re actually going to do, on a day-to-day basis? As a recent Business Insider article points out, “if you don’t prepare beyond your health and wealth, you’re likely to encounter trouble.” That means you need to figure out a way to plan your enviable free time in a way that “fills the void.” Harvard Professor Teresa Amabile recently surveyed 120 people at or near retirement- her conclusions? Maintaining a feeling that you’re constantly on vacation “doesn’t make you feel like you’re truly living your life.” So put down your travel brochures and find out more here.

Writing in a recent article in The New York Times, retirement expert Kerry Hannon echoed this sentiment and remarked on the benefits of being in a workplace that you lose once you retire: the structure, self-esteem, community, and camaraderie that disappear once you leave your professional life. So if you’re searching for the retirement reason to get up in the morning, throw off the bed covers and read more here. 

But there is help out there for those who are floundering. A recent Forbes article by retirement coach Robert Laura cautions that this aspect of retiring is rarely addressed. Noting that retirement is “the 10th most stressful life event” you’ll experience (death of a spouse is #1), Laura suggests that retaining the services of a retirement coach could be money well spent. So open your checkbook and click here. Or maybe, like The Accidental Icon blogger Lynn Slater found, you’ll have an epiphany and suddenly realize what you were meant to do once you leave your professional life. Click here to read her personal reflection on how she figured out what’s next for her as she navigates her “What Now” journey.