Retirement isn’t about how much time you have; it’s about how much time you feel. In this episode, I dive into one of the most misunderstood aspects of life after work: time perception. From brain science to everyday challenges, I uncover why retirement can sometimes feel like a blur and how you can make the most of your time, stretch it, and truly enrich it.

• Why your brain experiences time differently once work ends

• The science of time compression (and why some days vanish while others feel full)

• How “Memory Dividends” can transform your retirement years

• The three biggest retirement time traps, and how to avoid them

• Why time isn’t linear but psychological, and how that changes everything

• How to redefine what “a good use of time” really means in retirement

👉 Design your Ideal Day

• Grab a notepad (or open Notes on your phone)

• Write out your perfect Tuesday in retirement: when you wake, who you’re with, what you do, what you eat, where you are

• Then bring one small part of that ideal day into your life this week

• Dr. David Eagleman – Neuroscientist and author on time perception

• Bill Perkins, Die With Zero – Explore the idea of “Memory Dividends”

• Previous episodes of Humans vs Retirement on purpose, identity, and designing life after work

Stay tuned for Episode 5: The Skill No One Taught You — Spending Money.

I’ll explore why retirees struggle to permit themselves to spend, how scarcity creeps in even when you have “enough,” and what it takes to break free and truly enjoy your wealth.

Most people retire with a solid income plan but no plan for a life they actually want to live. In this episode, I discuss the five human pillars that make retirement feel meaningful, not just financially viable: Purpose, Identity, Relationships, Structure, and Well-being. Expect punchy stories, research-backed insights, and practical prompts to start building a life worth funding.

• Why money ≠ meaning in retirement, and how outcomes beat incomes.

• The Five Pillars framework (Purpose, Identity, Relationships, Structure, Well-being) and how each one stabilises your next chapter.

• The hidden risk of identity loss after the job title disappears, and two better questions to ask yourself now.

• Why too much unstructured time can feel like freedom that turns to fog, and simple ways to add rhythm without losing flexibility.

• The science bits (in plain English):

  • Only 27% of retirees report feeling very fulfilled day-to-day (Stanford Center on Longevity).

  • A strong sense of purpose links to a 15% lower risk of death (JAMA Psychiatry).

  • The Harvard Adult Development Study shows close relationships are the biggest predictor of long-term happiness.

  • 1 in 4 experience mild to moderate depression post-retirement—often due to lost meaning, routine, and social contact (NHS).

Score yourself 1–10 on each pillar: Purpose, Identity, Relationships, Structure, Well-being.
Pick the lowest score and do one tiny action this week to move it up by one point (e.g., book coffee with a friend, start a 15-minute morning walk, schedule a creative hour, message someone to mentor). Small moves → big momentum.

Mentioned research (as cited in the episode):

• Stanford Center on Longevity — fulfilment in retirement

• JAMA Psychiatry (2020) — purpose & mortality risk

• Harvard Study of Adult Development — relationships & happiness

• NHS guidance/statistics — mental health in later life

• Want more? Connect with me on LinkedIn and share your Challenge of the Week answers.

• Buy my book The Retirement You Didn't See Coming

• Book a time for us to chat about your retirement plans

“The Skill No One Taught You: Spending Money.” We’ll get into guilt, scarcity, freedom, joy, and why many retirees have more than enough yet still struggle to spend with confidence.

In this episode of The Humans vs. Retirement Podcast, I delve into one of the most disorienting aspects of life after work: identity.

For decades, we’ve answered the question “Who are you?” with a job title. Director. Manager. Teacher. Lawyer. And then retirement hits — and suddenly, the title is gone. What’s left is often a quiet identity crisis no one warned us about.

This episode, The Past Built You. Your Future Needs You explores why losing a role feels like losing yourself and how to begin rebuilding an identity that’s deeper, freer, and far more authentic than anything you had before.

• Why so many retirees experience role-based identity collapse.

• The hidden danger of achievement addiction, and why productivity isn’t the same as value.

• How identity is not fixed, but a story you tell yourself (and why that’s good news).

• Three powerful shifts to rebuild identity in retirement:

  1. From Role → Values

  2. From Productivity → Contribution

  3. From Legacy → Aliveness

• Why staying stuck in nostalgia is one of the biggest risks in retirement.

• How to introduce yourself without your past job title — and why this simple exercise is so transformative.

👉 Introduce yourself without using your past job title.

Try it out loud. Then create an “I am” list:

• I am someone who makes people laugh.

• I am someone who listens deeply.

• I am someone who’s figuring it out, and that’s okay.

This is how identity is rebuilt: one sentence at a time.

📖 Dr. Bruce Feiler — Life Is in the Transitions (on identity as fluid, not fixed).

📚 Research: Journal of Gerontological Psychology (2021) — 50% of retirees feel identity loss within the first 12 months.

👉 Share your “I am” list with me on LinkedIn or in your journal, whichever feels right.

👉 Want more? Connect with me on LinkedIn and share your Challenge of the Week answers.

👉 Buy my book The Retirement You Didn't See Coming

👉 Book a time for us to chat about your retirement plans

Up next: The Five Pillars of Retirement Well-Being (That No One Told You About) — unpacking purpose, identity, relationships, structure, and well-being, and why most people accidentally neglect all five after they retire.