In this episode, I'm talking with Pauline Zielonka, founder of Retirement Life Plan, about what people actually experience when they step away from full-time work. Pauline has spent years researching the non-financial side of retirement, and what she's found is both surprising and deeply reassuring.

We talk about why the fear of boredom is so much more common than actual boredom, how retirement can expand (not erase) your sense of self, and why generic retirement advice often misses the mark. Pauline also shares insights from her research on what helps people adjust ~ and what makes the transition harder than it needs to be.

This conversation isn't just for people approaching retirement. It's for anyone who's ever wondered: What do I want the next chapter of my life to feel like? Whether retirement is two years away or twenty, this episode will help you start thinking about it differently.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why roughly 1 in 3 people struggle with retirement (and what the other two-thirds are doing differently)
• The gap between fear and reality when it comes to boredom and loss of identity
• How retirement can reveal parts of yourself that were buried under decades of career focus
• The importance of self-reflection over cookie-cutter advice
• Why flexibility matters more than having everything planned out
• How values shift as we move through life transitions
• What retirement coaches do (and how they work alongside financial planners)

Connect with Pauline

Website: https://www.retirementlifeplan.com/

Book: Retirement Life Plan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/retirement-life-plan/posts/?feedView=all