Vanessa Branchi
Summary.
For anyone who has established a meaningful professional identity over a decades-long career, retirement represents a huge—and potentially wrenching—transition. While some people navigate it well, many struggle. Consider, for example, the contrasting experiences of Irene and Lawrence, two knowledge workers at different companies, whom we interviewed as they prepared for and embarked on their postcareer lives. (Both names are pseudonyms.) The lessons that emerged from their stories, and from those of the many other people we studied, can help ease this major life change.