New Book Encourages Thinking About Life After The Retirement Honeymoon
By John Ostapkovich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Planning for retirement isn't all about the Benjamins. A trio of authors make that argument in a new book, and one of them found out the hard way.
Louis Primavera, co-author of The Retirement Maze, says it's in a class by itself.
"If you walk into a bookstore and pick up books about retirement, they're mostly about finances. Finances gives you the permission to retire, so you know you have the money to make it through. We realized there were a number of issues that had to be addressed: managing your expectations, deciding you are."
The thinking and research that led to this book were sparked by another of the co-authors who made a mint and retired at age 51, only to find himself directionless with nothing to do. Eventually, he settled on writing about getting retirement correct.
The authors look at another big life-change by analogy. When on the hunt for a college, the money is certainly important, but a good fit also takes into account academics, sports, campus, student body, location and on and on. So does retirement. Primavera says too many people have the wrong idea.
"They're looking for a long vacation. That's kind of the honeymoon period and once that sort of wears off people become lost and disenchanted. Then they start to restructure themselves. We found that after ten years only about 6 out of 10 are fully adjusted."
