Retirement has lost its meaning.

When Social Security began in the U.S. in 1935, a man’s life expectancy was 61. So, the benefits were set to start at age 62. Today, life expectancy has increased by roughly two decades. 

What am I going to do with an extra two decades? At some point, pickleball and bridge don’t make for a full life and we start singing, “What’s it all about, Alfie?”

That was me after my last retirement. 

(I’ve retired three times; from acting at thirty, designing theme park attractions at fifty, and ghostwriting at sixty-five.)

Less than a year into my last retirement, I felt restless and adrift, wondering, “Is there life beyond my bucket list?”

In conversations with other retired professionals, I discovered common themes….decline and loss stood out prominently. 

Upon retirement, we lose our colleagues, career, and even our sense of identity—often tied to our profession.

A couple years (or months) into retirement, the future can loom like endless losses. We lose our physical abilities and brain cells with surprisingly increasing speed. 

The longer we are blessed to live, the more friends and loved ones we lose. Many of us have drifted from civic groups and even our communities of faith that once gave us a sense of meaning and belonging. 

That’s a lot of loss. 

Can you relate with this post-career juggernaut of loss and decline? Well, you’re not alone. Experts coin terms like “restless retiree” to address an epidemic of loneliness, depression, and self-destructive behaviors common among retired men.

What are we to do with this “third act” of life? We don’t necessarily want another career, but many feel we have much more to offer.

While tribal peoples value their seniors as “elder sages,” our culture doesn’t generally see seniors in a positive light. We’re often thought of as “out to pasture,” “over the hill,” and an increasing “burden on society.”