"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." (Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet)

A few weeks ago my wife and I stopped by McDonald's on our return from the beach (senior coffee, only 35 cents in Loris, SC). A help-wanted ad on our serving tray caught my attention: "Seniors: Think rehirement, not retirement. Meet new friends of all ages. Flexible scheduling lets you work the amount of hours you want. You can have fun and still earn a little extra." While a job under the Golden Arches isn't my vision of the Golden Years, the ad illustrates the growing recognition that retirement needs extend beyond the financial.

In Search of a Name
The McDonald's ad also exemplifies the current fashion of renaming retirement. In addition to "rehirement," more recent candidates include "rewirement" (courtesy of authors Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners, featured in the May 2005 of Rule Your Retirement), "reFirement" (trademarked by the ReFirement Group), "empowerment" (a favorite of gerontologist Ken Dychtwald, author of The Power Years, who was interviewed in the September 2005 issue), and "engagement" (recommended by Fool co-founders Tom and David Gardner in their book Money After 40).

Why all the word-play? One reason is that the modern retirement landscape is changing. The trend toward early retirement is reversing, and the line between employment and retirement is growing less distinct. The urge to rename retirement suggests a genuine need for a richer vocabulary to discuss this evolving stage in our life cycle. Another reason for the new names is our natural instinct to "make a virtue of necessity" (to borrow a phrase coined by Chaucer over 600 years ago). The new language puts a positive spin on the fact that so many aging boomers don't have the financial means to forego compensation and retire in the traditional sense. So instead we rewire, refire, and rehire.

The Emotional Stages of Retirement
A recent study funded by Ameriprise Financial with help from Ken Dychtwald surveyed 2000 people between the ages of 40 and 75, examining their "attitudes, worries, behaviors, ambitions, and needs." The study, entitled The New Retirement Mindscape, showed that people migrate through five distinct stages of retirement, beginning up to 15 years before retirement.

The Emotional Stages of Retirement

Imagination (15-6 years before retirement) covers the initial and growing focus on retirement planning.

Anticipation (up to 5 years before retirement) includes increasing excitement and last-minute anxieties and doubts.

Liberation (Retirement Day and the year following), the "honeymoon" phase of retirement, is characterized by its brevity.

Reorientation (2-15 years after retirement), occurs after some degree of let-down, when people adjust their priorities, activities, relationships, and lives.

Reconciliation (16 or more years after retirement), is a phase of relative contentment, hopefulness, and acceptance.

Source: Ameriprise Financial, "The New Retirement Mindscape"

The traditional concept of retirement spotlights the years following departure from employment -- the Reorientation stage. The Mindscape study identified four distinct Reorientation profiles:

1. "Empowered Reinventors" (the 19% who sought adventure and new challenges);
   
   
2. "Carefree Contents" (the 19% who prized increased leisure and relaxation);
   
   
3. "Uncertain Searchers" (the 22% who remained puzzled over their goals); and
   
   
4. "Worried Strugglers" (the 40% most likely to be worried, bored, and experience emptiness).

The study found two areas in which people said they underestimated their preparation activities: ensuring good health habits (diet, exercise, quit smoking, etc.) and spending more time with family. One unexpected finding was the high level of concern about educating their children about money. One the whole, aging adults worried more about their children's financial skills than their own retirement needs.

Health care topped the list of the most challenging aspects of retirement, while loss of workplace social connections was the most unexpected. Interestingly enough, the most common response for the best thing about retirement was having more control over your time, which was mentioned twice as often as the opportunity to relax. Apparently the McDonald's ad team really understands their "rehirement" target audience, hence the promise of fun, friends, and a flexible schedule.

The Bottom Line
Planning a dream retirement involves more than finances. In addition to completing the How-To Guide in the Tools section of RYR, here are some important To-Dos:

• Take the Top 30 Drivers quiz to understand what makes you tick so you can choose the right activities for personal fulfillment.
  
  
• Pay attention to your health now. Good health will increase your retirement quality of life and help control skyrocketing medical costs.
  
  
• Nurture relationships within the family. In the broader sense, your most important asset is not your 401(k) or IRA; it's your spouse or significant other.
  
  
• Extend your social connections beyond the workplace by cultivating friendships with others who share your interests and aspirations.
  
  
• Educate your children about finances and the "time value of money" while they're young enough for it to make a difference. Don't be the only Fool in the family!

A condensed version of this article appeared in the May 2006 Motley Fool Rule Your Retirement newsletter.