Retirement By Design

Design a Retirement That Energizes You

Retirement isn't an ending—it's a transition into your most self-directed chapter. This work helps you clarify what matters now and how you want to contribute going forward. We offer retirement coaching, small-group cohort learning, and interactive workshops to support you at every stage of this transition.

Purpose

Beyond Leisure

Identity

Redefining Self

Legacy

Lasting Impact

Balance

Life Integration

The Challenge of Retirement

After decades of professional achievement, many leaders face unexpected questions

Loss of Identity and Role

Leadership roles often define identity, relevance, and daily structure. Retirement can feel like a sudden loss of purpose.

Redefining Purpose and Contribution

High-achieving leaders still want to matter, but no longer want the grind of full-time leadership.

Shifting Relationships and Boundaries

Professional networks change quickly after retirement, and long-standing relationships must be renegotiated.

Navigating the Emotional Transition

Retirement brings mixed emotions—relief, pride, grief, anxiety, and uncertainty—often underestimated by successful leaders.

Retirement Coaching Helps You Answer These Questions

Through thoughtful reflection, strategic planning, and ongoing support, we help you design a retirement that goes beyond rest and leisure—one that reflects your values, energizes you, and creates lasting meaning.

Understanding the Process

Retirement Coaching

Retirement coaching helps people intentionally design the next phase of their life—not just stop working.

Elderly couple reviewing life insurance policy documents, planning their future finances together on the sofa

It's for individuals who are approaching retirement or already retired and asking:

  • Who am I when my work role changes?
  • How do I want to spend my time and energy?
  • What gives this next chapter meaning and structure?

A retirement coach provides a structured, reflective space to think through these questions and turn insight into action.

What Happens in Retirement Coaching

In retirement coaching, you:

  • Clarify what matters most now (values, purpose, identity)
  • Redefine how you want to contribute—professionally or personally
  • Explore new rhythms for work, learning, service, and leisure
  • Design experiments for this next phase, rather than trying to "get it right" all at once
  • Build confidence navigating the emotional and identity shifts that come with leaving full-time work

It's practical, forward-looking, and grounded in your real life—not theory.

What Retirement Coaching Is Not

  • Financial planning (though it complements it)
  • Therapy
  • Career coaching in disguise

It focuses on how you want to live, not just what you want to earn or achieve.

Who It's For

Retirement coaching is especially helpful for:

  • Professionals leaving long, identity-defining careers
  • Leaders who want a purposeful "third act"
  • People who feel successful on paper but uncertain about what's next
  • Retirees who want more than "staying busy"

Bottom Line

Retirement coaching treats retirement as a life transition worth designing, not a finish line.

What We Focus On

Core areas that shape a fulfilling retirement experience

New Identity

Clarifying values, strengths, and identity beyond title—helping leaders intentionally redefine who they are in this next chapter.

Meaning & Purpose

Designing meaningful avenues for contribution—through mentoring, board work, volunteering, creative pursuits, learning, or work-optional engagement.

Building Community

Supporting leaders in reshaping relationships, building new communities, and establishing healthy boundaries that fit their evolving priorities.

Navigating Complex Emotions

Creating space for reflection, normalization, and forward momentum so leaders move through transition with confidence and emotional steadiness.

Businesswoman presenting marketing data and analysis to colleagues during a meeting in a modern office, fostering teamwork and collaboration

3-6

Month Engagements

60-90

Min Duration

How Retirement Coaching Works

Our retirement coaching engagements are designed to help you explore, plan, and create a retirement that reflects your aspirations and values.

1

Assess Readiness and Mindset

We begin by exploring attitudes toward retirement, current preparation, and assumptions about identity, purpose, and lifestyle in the next chapter.

2

Design the Retirement Transition Plan

Together, we create a personalized transition plan that integrates purpose, contribution, lifestyle, learning, and pacing—aligned with what matters most to you.

3

Engage Key Stakeholders

We identify and involve important stakeholders—such as partners, family members, boards, or organizational leaders—to ensure alignment, clarity, and support.

4

Implement and Experiment

Coaching focuses on putting the plan into action through intentional experimentation, habit formation, and real-world testing of new roles and rhythms.

5

Reflect and Adapt

We regularly reflect on what's working, adjust the plan as needed, and refine direction to ensure the transition remains purposeful, energized, and sustainable.

Retirement Coaching In Action

Real examples of how retirement coaching creates meaningful transitions

Community & Connection

Former Nonprofit Director

Challenge

A former nonprofit director felt uncertain about her retirement and concerned about losing a sense of community and connection.

Approach

Coaching began with an assessment to clarify what felt clear and where greater definition was needed.

Outcome

Through the engagement, she developed a personal retirement vision, identified ways to strengthen and expand her support network, and created a list of interests and activities to explore as she transitioned out of her role.

Purpose & Direction

Former Communications Professional

Challenge

A former communications professional felt overwhelmed by retirement and uncertain about how to establish purpose after full-time work. Key questions included where to live, how to contribute through volunteering or mentoring, and how to approach retirement with a more positive mindset.

Approach

Coaching included an assessment to identify strengths and areas of uncertainty, followed by focused work on defining meaning and direction in his third act.

Outcome

As a result, he pursued mentoring opportunities, made intentional decisions to declutter and improve his home, and identified ways to build community and travel with others.

Client details have been modified to protect confidentiality while accurately representing coaching outcomes.

Cohort Learning

Retirement Cohort Learning

Navigate the transition to retirement alongside others who understand the unique challenges of letting go of leadership identity

Key Elements of Retirement Cohort Learning

Identity Exploration

Discover who you are beyond your career and professional title

Shared Experience

Connect with peers navigating similar life transitions and emotional challenges

Life Design

Create a vision for your next chapter with purpose, meaning, and fulfillment

Practical Planning

Address the real logistics—finances, relationships, health, and daily structure

Lasting Community

Build friendships with people who become support and accountability partners for life

Retirement Cohort Learning brings together a small group of people—typically 6 to 10—who are approaching, entering, or navigating the early stages of retirement. Together, you'll explore the emotional, psychological, and practical aspects of this major life transition.

Unlike financial planning seminars, retirement cohort learning focuses on the human side of retirement: Who am I without my title? How do I find purpose and structure? What does a fulfilling "next chapter" look like for me? These questions are best explored in community with others who truly understand.

Facilitated by Dr. Kevin Nourse, each session blends structured reflection, peer coaching, and evidence-based frameworks designed specifically for life transitions. You'll leave each session with new insights, practical tools, and the encouragement of fellow travelers.

The cohort explores topics such as: engaging a significant other in retirement planning, housing and lifestyle decisions, meaningful volunteer or service roles, daily structure, and building a strong support network.

The result? A retirement that feels intentional, connected, and deeply meaningful—not just an ending, but a powerful new beginning.

"Retirement isn't just about leaving work—it's about discovering a new way of living. That journey is richer, and less lonely, when you travel it with others."

— Dr. Kevin Nourse

Why Join a Learning Cohort?

Experience the power of learning alongside peers who understand your challenges

Shared Wisdom

Learn from the diverse experiences and perspectives of fellow leaders facing similar challenges. Collective wisdom accelerates individual growth.

Peer Accountability

Stay committed to your development goals with the support and encouragement of peers who hold you accountable between sessions.

Practical Tools

Apply evidence-based leadership frameworks and tools that you can immediately use in your role to improve effectiveness.

Lasting Connections

Build meaningful professional relationships with leaders who become trusted advisors and supporters long after the cohort ends.

Group Learning Experience

Flourishing in Retirement Workshops

A structured group workshop series designed to help you intentionally plan and navigate your retirement transition with confidence and purpose.

Flourishing in Retirement Workshop

What Are Flourishing in Retirement Workshops?

Flourishing in Retirement Workshops are designed for people who don't want to merely stop working—they want to thrive in their next chapter. Grounded in research on human flourishing, the workshops draw on the PERMA framework, which shows that lasting well-being is built through five critical factors: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Achievement. Through guided reflection, practical tools, and rich peer dialogue, participants explore how each of these elements can be intentionally designed into retirement. The result is a clearer, more energized vision for a Third Act that is not only fulfilling, but deeply aligned with who they are now and who they want to become.

6-8

Participants per workshop

4-6

Sessions over several weeks

Workshop Topics

Positive Emotions

Cultivating joy, gratitude, and optimism to enhance day-to-day satisfaction and emotional well-being in retirement.

Engagement

Being deeply involved in activities that absorb your attention and play to your strengths, creating a sense of flow and vitality.

Relationships

Building and sustaining meaningful connections that provide support, belonging, and shared purpose beyond the workplace.

Meaning

Connecting your time and energy to what matters most, including values, contribution, and legacy.

Achievement

Setting and pursuing personally meaningful goals that foster growth, accomplishment, and a sense of progress in your Third Act.

Why Join a Workshop?

Learn from Peers

Share experiences and insights with others navigating similar transitions.

Structured Approach

Follow a proven framework that covers all essential aspects of retirement planning.

Expert Facilitation

Guided by an experienced retirement coach with decades of leadership experience.

Accountability & Support

Stay motivated and accountable with regular sessions and group support.

Interested in Upcoming Workshops?

Workshop dates are announced periodically. Contact us to learn about upcoming sessions or to discuss bringing a workshop to your organization.

Get Workshop Information

Relevant Blogs for Retirement Coaching

Explore articles and insights to help you navigate your retirement transition

Useful Resources for Retirement By Design

Tools, guides, and resources to support your retirement journey

Community Connections

Organizations and networks that foster connection and engagement during retirement.

Tools & Assessments

Financial calculators and planning resources to help you assess your retirement readiness and budget effectively.

Transition Guides

Step-by-step guides to navigate the emotional and practical aspects of retirement transitions.

Work & Vocation

Resources for those considering part-time work, encore careers, volunteering, or other meaningful ways to stay engaged.

Recent Retirement Research

Latest studies and findings on retirement trends, well-being, and best practices for thriving in later life.

Need Personalized Guidance?

Get customized resources and support tailored to your unique retirement situation.

Schedule a Consultation

Ready to Design Your Third Act?

Retirement is an opportunity to live with intention, purpose, and joy. Let's create a plan that reflects who you are and what matters most to you.

Confidential & Supportive
Specialized Expertise
No Commitment Required