You’ve probably heard a number of good reasons to continue working longer than you may have to. The most prominent are financial. For example, qualifying for higher Social Security benefits. Every year you delay claiming your benefits from age 62 to 70, your monthly check can increase by about 8%. By continuing to work past what’s commonly regarded as retirement age, you can also maintain the continuity of your peak earning years’ income. And of course, by delaying retirement you delay withdrawing from your retirement savings, [...]

We’re used to assessing our wellbeing through metrics. Newborns are immediately given a numbered assessment for things like skin tone, breathing, and reflexes. School children regularly take standardized tests to determine their grade level in reading and math. High schoolers focus on their GPA and SAT scores. And as adults our routine check-ups involve tests with dozens of data points—our health by the numbers. In each case the metric comes with the question: How does this compare with others? We want to know that our kids [...]

  When most people think about retirement, they tend to think of it in terms of numbers. “How much money do I need to retire?” “How are my investments doing?” “Are all of my income sources going to cover my expenses?” “Will I run out of money?” And yes, the tangible details are important (it’s the cornerstone of everything I do!) but we can not afford to ignore the intangible. That’s how to make sure that you are happy when you finally stop working. After all, happy [...]