This is Optimal Finance Daily. Retirement is a verb by Kathy Robinson of Athenawellness.com.

Have you ever had one of those days when seemingly disparate thought streams keep swirling around in your head?

Like you, I've been trying to make sense of national and world affairs, feeling the unending waves of change

and tragedy. It can take a mighty dose of courage some days just to keep an open heart,

stay compassionate and empathetic, and not allow the sheer volume and breath of current events

to anesthetize. Also occupying my mind these days is the unfolding of a new horizon

of my work, which is focused on helping professionals who are contemplating leaving corporate life,

and those who have recently retired find meaning and purpose in this current stage of life.

To distract myself from all this mental

busyness, I listened to a favorite podcast while running errands early one morning. A guest was

recounting a story of a decision a man made more than five decades prior to volunteer one hour

of his time each week for a cause that deeply affected him. Through that one

hour of pro bono legal work, the guest's father was able to provide an upbringing for his children

that he would not have been able to if it weren't for that lawyer's donated time. And one of those children,

the man who was telling the story, dedicated his life to

public service and currently serves as a U.S. Senator. That's when all of my mental chatter converged,

and I realized that retirement is a verb. While researching retirement trends, I found quite a few references to retirement regret, leading

to a wave of 55 to 64-year-olds returning to the workforce because they missed the work, daily

structure, and social interaction. Without it, many found themselves bored, unfulfilled,

and inactive as the world around them

continued to move forward. Quite frequently, this disengagement led to a negative impact on

mental and physical health. Many people plan for their financial future, but few plan for

...