Prepare Your Mind for Happy Retirement

Believe it or not, money can't buy happiness -- even in retirement. Getting the most out of this stage of life takes a little self-evaluation and planning.

Nancy K. Schlossberg is a professor emerita at the University of Maryland and a counseling psychologist specializing in midlife, aging and transitions.

She has found that while many people spend long periods of their lives planning their financial retirement, too few think about what they want to do with their lives after they retire.

Schlossberg encourages people to get their "psychological portfolios" in order by thinking about what they want to do with their day-to-day lives during retirement.

"It's just like graduating from high school or college," she says. "Some people know exactly what they want to do, but a larger percentage have no idea and struggle to figure it out."

QUESTION:
What do retirees need to do to transition from the work-a-day world?

ANSWER:
First of all, that is the question that led me to write the book "Retire Smart, Retire Happy."

So many retirees, including myself, spend a great deal of time with financial advisers or talk to people in the human resources department about what their pensions will be -- if there are pensions -- and what to do with their 401(k)s.

They figure out the money down to the penny: how much Social Security they will get, where their savings will come from. They gear up financially.

One man said to me, "I was all set financially. I knew exactly how much money I would be getting every month. But what I didn't think about in advance was my life. What do I do from the time I get up in the morning until I go to bed?"

Next: More to life than money >

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