Retirement Is the Wrong Goal—What to Aim for Instead

We’ve been told a story about retirement for so long, we often forget it is just a story.

Retirement is sold to us as the ultimate reward. The finish line. The light at the end of the tunnel. But what if it’s a mirage?

What if retirement—at least the version we’ve been sold—is one of the most dangerous myths of modern life?

🪤 The Three Lies of Retirement

Lie #1: Unlimited leisure is the dream.
Watch what happens after the third week of a long holiday. You start to get itchy. You open your laptop. You wonder what’s next. Leisure is lovely—in doses. But as a lifestyle, it flattens us.

Lie #2: Retirement is achievable.
You just have to save for 40 years, get lucky with your health, avoid any life curveballs, and hope the economy plays nice. And even if you pull it off—what then?

Lie #3: Work is the enemy.
We’ve been conditioned to think work is the villain. But the problem isn’t work. It’s working in ways that drain your soul, rob your time, and don’t reflect who you’ve become.

🔄 What if we flipped the script?

What if retirement wasn’t an end, but a transition?
What if the second half of life wasn’t about slowing down—but realigning?
Not working less, but working differently.
With more agency, more choice, more space to do what matters.

This is where semi-retirement and reinvented work come in.

🔧 Reinvention, Not Resignation

I speak to people in their 50s and 60s who don’t want to stop contributing. They just want to stop playing the old game. They want to work in ways that feel meaningful, manageable, and more aligned with their values today—not who they were at 28.

Sometimes that looks like:

Shifting to part-time or seasonal work
Starting a second career or small business
Doing freelance work or consulting
Volunteering, mentoring, or teaching
Building a portfolio life that mixes income, service, and creativity

It’s less about quitting, and more about curating. Designing. Experimenting.
Not a cliff edge, but a new path.

🎯 How to Prepare for Your Second Half

The truth is, “retirement” is no longer a single decision. It’s a process. A series of small pivots that lead you toward a different kind of working life. And that process isn’t just financial—it’s emotional, relational, creative.

Here’s a starting point:

Express – What do you really want less of? And more of?
Explore – What skills, projects, or paths feel energizing (even a little)?
Act – What’s one small experiment you could try in the next 30 days?

🚪Exit the Retirement Myth

You don’t need to escape work.
You need to escape the kind of work that doesn’t fit anymore.

And maybe—just maybe—what comes next could be your most rewarding season yet.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Roger Whitney:

“Retirement isn’t about stopping work. It’s about having the freedom to only do work that matters.”