Retirement Doesn't Have to be Perfect

For decades, retirement has been sold as a carefully engineered destination: the right savings number, the right home, the right health plan, the right hobbies, the right sense of purpose—all aligned at precisely the right moment. For many people in or approaching retirement, this pursuit of “getting it right” can become a source of anxiety rather than comfort. The truth is simpler and more liberating: retirement does not need to be perfect to be good. The important thing is that you learn to REWIRE! yourself periodically to adjustment to changing circumstances.

Life before retirement was never perfect either. Careers unfolded unevenly, plans changed, unexpected expenses appeared, and personal priorities evolved. Yet meaning and satisfaction were found not because everything went according to plan, but because you and those around you adapted. Retirement is no different. Expecting a flawless transition ignores the reality that change, uncertainty, and adjustment are permanent features of life, not problems to be eliminated.

Trying to perfect retirement often leads to paralysis. Some people delay retirement because their finances are “almost” ready. Others retire but remain uneasy, constantly recalculating, second-guessing, or comparing themselves to friends who appear to have done it better. This mindset turns retirement into a performance rather than a lived experience. When perfection becomes the goal, contentment is always just out of reach.

Retirement like many of life's transitions is best understood as a phase that changes frequently. It is not a finished product. Health will change. Interests will shift. Energy will rise and fall. Some days will feel deeply fulfilled; others will feel quiet, dull, or uncertain. That variability is not failure—it is normal. Allowing room for imperfection makes it easier to respond to these changes with curiosity rather than fear or frustration.

There is also a hidden cost to perfectionism: it crowds out joy. When people are focused on optimizing every decision—where to live, how to spend time, how much to spend—they often miss the simple pleasures that make retirement meaningful. A morning walk, an unhurried conversation, volunteering occasionally rather than perfectly, or discovering that doing less can feel like more. Our readers often report that once they got over feeling that they had to make things perfect everyday, they felt better and more in charge of themselves.

Letting go of perfection does not mean being careless or unprepared. It means accepting that no spreadsheet, plan, or vision board can fully anticipate real life. Retirement works best when it is flexible, forgiving, and open to revision just like everything else in life.

In the end, a “successful” retirement is not one that looks ideal from the outside. It is one that feels manageable, human, and alive from the inside—imperfections included.