If you are approaching retirement, you might start wondering how you can feel more prepared to retire…
What steps you can take now that will help you to feel ready for retirement. And I’m not talking about the money here!
I’ve compiled a list of my top 10 helpful retirement book recommendations covering various topics that I believe will help prepare you for a purposeful retired life.
#1 Not Fade Away: How to Thrive in Retirement, by Celia Dodd
Retirement is about change, not age. Retirement is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be yourself and do what you want to do. It offers new possibilities for personal growth through learning, retraining, travelling and friendship.
But it is also one of the biggest transitions we face, and brings huge psychological and emotional challenges. It’s not surprising that many people struggle with the adjustment to a different pace of life.
Not Fade Away guides the reader through these challenges: dealing with the loss of status and routine, reinventing relationships, managing money, and above all, finding new meaning and purpose.
#2 How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free: Retirement Wisdom That You Won’t Get from Your Financial Advisor, by Ernie J Zelinski
How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free offers inspirational advice on how to enjoy life to its fullest. The key to achieving an active and satisfying retirement involves a great deal more than having adequate financial resources; it also encompasses all other aspects of life – interesting leisure activities, creative pursuits, physical well-being, mental well-being, and solid social support.
World-class author and innovator Ernie J. Zelinski guides you to: Gain courage to take early retirement; in fact, the earlier the better. Put money in proper perspective so that you don’t need a million dollars to retire. Generate purpose in your retirement life with meaningful creative pursuits. Follow your dreams instead of someone else’s. Take charge of your mental, physical, and spiritual health. Better envision your retirement goals including where you want to live. Above all, make your retirement years the best time of your life.
#3 101 Secrets for a Great Retirement, by Mary Helen and Shuford Smith
More than 5,000 people retire every day–yet there have been no retirement books that are both informative and motivational until now. 101 Secrets for a Great Retirement encourages and inspires retirees to simplify their lives and pursue their dreams. The authors cover all the essential topics, including health, social life, relationships, financial matters, legal issues, and more.
101 Secrets for a Great Retirement focuses on living a joyful, enriching retirement… not simply preparing your financial portfolio for retirement! This book doesn’t ignore the key financial parameters of living in retirement but fully recognizes that money is only one aspect of having a great retirement. And, perhaps, even illustrates to us that money doesn’t even comprise the most important aspect of having a great retirement.
#4 What’s Next?: How Professionals Are Refusing Retirement, by D. Roche-Tarry
Studies the steps taken by a group of professionals from the Boomer generation as they move from a linear career path into an uncharted stage somewhere between middle age and old age, a continued professional life and traditional retirement. What is next for those professionals who do not want to take a back seat at retirement age?
A great inspirational resource of real life stories of successful people who have been through a life and career transition. Great insights into their minds and hearts as they ask themselves the elusive question ‘What’s Next?’. I recommend it to anyone at the peak of their career or anyone considering a life and career change.
#5 The Artist’s Way for Retirement: It’s Never Too Late to Discover Creativity and Meaning, by Julia Cameron
Julia Cameron has inspired millions with her bestseller on creativity, The Artist’s Way. In The Artist’s Way for Retirement, she turns her eye to a segment of the population that, ironically, while they have more time to be creative, are often reluctant or intimidated by the creative process. Cameron shows readers that retirement can, in fact, be the most rich, fulfilling and creative time of our lives. When we retire, the newfound freedom can be quite exciting, but also daunting.
Julia guides readers through a 12-week course aimed at defining and creating the life you want to have. This book includes simple tools that will guide and inspire you to make the most of this time in your life, and includes exercises such as: Memoir writing – an opportunity to reflect on and honour past experiences. Morning Pages – a tool to empty your mind and get focus and clarity for the day at hand. Artist Dates – fun days out to discover new passions and interests, and to enjoy something new and different. Solo Walks – peaceful time alone to refresh the mind, relax the body and gain new energy and insights. This fun, gentle, step-by-step process will help you explore your dreams, wishes and desires – and help you quickly find that it’s never too late to discover creativity and meaning.
#6 You: Part Two: Thriving in the Second Half of Your Life, by Campbell Macpherson and Jane Macpherson
Those of us in midlife are facing a dilemma: We are going through a period of multiple life-altering changes all at the same time – at work, at home and within. Yet we are healthier and more vibrant than previous generations – and we are living longer. Much longer. We are 50 years young, not 50 years old.
But more importantly, we don’t know where or who to turn to for help. If the thought of consulting a ‘life coach’ makes you twitch involuntarily, but you want more than impenetrable financial advice from an IFA – this book is for you. Award-winning author Campbell Macpherson and yoga therapist co-author Jane Macpherson will help you embrace these changes and come out on top.
From dealing with seemingly ubiquitous ageism and starting your own business to building resilience, finding a financial adviser you can trust and learning from professional athletes who are forced to ‘retire’ in their early thirties, the Macphersons show that your ‘Part Two’ isn’t about retirement or ageing; it’s about change and how you turn it to your advantage. You: Part Two is the must-read guide to thriving in the second half of your life.
#7 Purposeful Retirement by Hyrum W Smith
Hyrum W. Smith, the author of Purposeful Retirement, is an award-winning author, distinguished speaker, and successful businessman. In this book, Hyrum combines wit and enthusiasm with compelling principles that inspire lasting personal change. He encourages you to discover your true passion and try new possibilities. Learn how you can move from your world of work, simplify life, and enter what can be the most satisfying phase of your life ─ a new world of purposeful retirement.
“This book is packed with wise advice for anyone staring down the barrel of retirement. I agree wholeheartedly with Hyrum Smith: you may be retired, but you can still live with meaning, purpose and energy.” ─Marshall Goldsmith, executive coach, business educator and New York Times-bestselling author, ranked the number one leadership thinker in the world by Thinkers50
#8 Retirement The Psychology of Reinvention: A Practical Guide to Planning and Enjoying the Retirement You’ve Earned, by Kenneth S. Shultz
Covering every stage of the retirement process, this comprehensive guide to a happy retirement is full of practical advice, grounded in psychological research. Infographics and self-analysis questions help to apply the insights you’ll gain to your own situation, providing a roadmap for managing change in the best way for you.
Retirement: The Psychology of Reinvention answers all your questions at every stage: making plans, transitioning to retirement, and settling in for the long-haul. Learn how to reinvent yourself and ensure you have a happy retirement.
#9 Leaving on Top: Graceful Exits for Leaders, by David Heenan
Leaving on Top: Graceful Exits for Leaders explores what it means to move on from a career with a class and a view for what’s next. While most graceful exiters pursue a variety of interests throughout their professional lifetime, others are content to reach the top and then cling to it. Through this research, David Heenan has found that most leaders can be categorized into four exiting types.
Heenan understands how to exit gracefully from his profession – he’s done it several times. In Leaving On Top, he pairs wisdom derived from his experience with dozens of high-profile exits, both graceful and untimely. Heenan’s examination includes ten exiting lessons from leaders of industry.
#10 The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to be Calm in a Busy World, by Haemin Sunim
The world moves fast, but that doesn’t mean we have to. In this timely guide to mindfulness, Haemin Sunim, a Buddhist monk born in Korea and educated in the United States, offers advice on everything from handling setbacks to dealing with rest and relationships, in a beautiful book combining his teachings with calming full-colour illustrations. Haemin Sunim’s simple messages speak directly to the anxieties that have become part of modern life and remind us of the strength and joy that come from slowing down.
Hugely popular in Korea, Haemin Sunim is a Zen meditation teacher whose teachings transcend religion, borders and ages. With insight and compassion drawn from a life full of change, the bestselling monk succeeds at encouraging all of us to notice that when you slow down, the world slows down with you.
All of these book recommendations provide helpful insight into retirement, from mindset changes to finding purpose in your retired life.
This whole next chapter of your life is filled with transitions, and these books can help guide you through the various stages of those changes. They can help you to live your very best life in retirement, no matter where you are right now.
Do you have any book recommendations on insightful or inspirational books that have guided you through a certain chapter in your life? Feel free to share them in the comments section.