Surveys of recently retired people show that 30 to 50 percent have difficulties in the transition to retirement. Many simply don't like it. Others aren't good at it. Most are uncomfortable with at least one or more aspects of it.

So then, is retirement a science or an art? My sense is that it is definitely an art, and an individually defined art at that. What one decides to do with all the "free" time, what projects or retirement obligations one takes on, and how one feels about oneself in these day-to-day activities are all subjective areas. There is no science to it. The stuff involved her is simply too personal.

I guess that it is strange that I became so fascinated with the subject of retirement before I was very close to actually doing it, but I did. My father never did retire. He actively worked until his death at 82. And it wasn't that he was perceived by anyone as having done the wrong thing. Retirement simply was not for him. He thrived on work all his life; his goal was not to stop; and, fortunately for him, he wasn't forced nor told to stop.

But my father was part of a generation that didn't have models of retirement, didn't have a lifetime of life insurance ads touting the dream of retirement and making it look like the goal of working, not the enemy. No, retirement is a thing of the late 20th century for the most part, and it is just beginning to pick up steam.

The real bulk of retirees, of course, are coming in the 60 million or so baby boomers who are now working. Surveys show that most of these think that they will retire before 65, with the desire to retire earlier if feasible. With them leading the charge, one could estimate 3-5 million Americans retiring per year from now on. And it is those who are now riding on their final waves to retirement who may perfect the model and that "art" of retirement.

So what makes for a successful, fulfilling, enjoyable retirement?

Continue on to - Perfecting the "Art of Retirement" Part 2