The Retiring Mind: How to Make the Psychological Transition to Retirement

Retiring Mind #1

by Robert P. Delamontagne

After settling into retirement, have you found yourself asking, Is that all there is? Even though retirement is one of life's most psychologically stressful milestones, retirement advice usually focuses on finances, rather than feelings. In The Retiring Mind, Robert P. Delamontagne leads prospective and recent retirees on a journey of psychological, emotional, and spiritual growth to help them cope with the challenges of this difficult transition.Delamontagne walks readers through a series of self-analytical processes designed to identify their personality types, and offers suggestions, tailored to each type, on how to resolve adjustment problems. Instead of racing out to buy a beach house or a Porsche, readers will learn the necessary steps to successfully transition into retirement and finally live the good life.

Genres: Nonfiction

158 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Kasey Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I very much appreciated the personality type specific advice this book provides to help readers consider the inner aspects of shifting from a career of full time work to their next phase in life. The book is based on the Enneagram personality model which I personally have found to be a bit different from other personality type assessment approaches and so it took some time for me to align my Myers-Briggs "INTJ" type with the Enneagram types in the book. However once I did this the type Five "Solitary Mystic" description and associated case story (and advice) was truly helpful (and in some ways "eerily" specific). The later portion of the book lays out additional inner guidelines which provide meaningful and helpful guidance for all types.

[Mary Ann Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just ok

Started out strong but fades by chapter 5
No real talk aways after that,,kept thinking it would get better
NOT

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is more than the money when planning to retire. There is what are you going to do? Where and how do you want to live? Life is better when you are prepared.

[Tamera Mcmahon · Rating 3 out of 5]

After having daughter-in-laws tell you how much their parents are looking forward to retirement it’s refreshing to hear the author say, “when I was in the midst of my somewhat painful retirement transition…I felt lost and lacked direction.”
HA, I’m not the only one!!!
“Happiness in your life means being real, authentic and connected to divine ground. It requires removing all that is not genuine to reveal all that is beautiful and pristine. Divine ground is your base camp, a place where you are nurtured and gain strength. It is connected to an inexhaustible energy source that transcends the world as we know it.”

“Your most important responsibility after liberating yourself from the daily grind is to experience happiness and fulfillment, not distress and emotional turmoil.”


“The quality and texture of our lives are greatly determined by the challenges that occupy our minds and confiscate our thinking.”
“Retirement often causes major emotional upheaval on the same scale as the death of a loved one, loss of a job, or a financial crisis caused by bad investment…resulting in excessively controlling or hypercritical behavior.”
In retirement - You wake up one day and you don’t feel happy. You left one life behind but don’t have a new life to live. The self worth of high achievers is diminished, because it is personally threatening to be idle for any length of time.

Getting to a fulfilling retirement is built on an individual’s makeup. Enneagram Types (personality types) knowledge might enable one to find a retirement that results in increased joy and satisfaction.

[Karla Kitalong · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend who retires this year recommended this book, so I got it from Kindle Unlimited. It fits into my research about aging, but it's more spiritual than the books I usually read. I took the quiz to see what my enneagram type is. I think I know, but I still have to fill out the answer grid to be sure. He is mainly writing for people who struggle with the transition to retirement, and that is not me. I am glad I didn't pay for the book, and I am glad it was such a fast read--I read it in one day. As with everything I read, I found a nugget or two of insight, but I wouldn't call it life-changing.

[Jays]

Lyle - e type 3 the star
Jane e type 9 the harmonizer