The Unbearable Lightness of Being Retired

Abstract

In this qualitative study, I followed an approach to examine perceptions about retirement, using an interview guide informed by the life course perspective, among 26 men and women who had retired from positions as chief executive officers. Three key themes emerged: (1) the importance of productivity and networking as participants rose up the corporate ladder; (2) the sense of having a best before date and experiencing societal pressures to retire; and (3) struggles with feeling insignificant in retirement while desiring personal fulfillment through continued engagement in paid work. These findings shed light on the value of using a life course perspective to examine retirement as both a personal experience and as a social phenomenon. Findings also contribute to theoretical understandings of productive aging by illustrating how preconceptions about productivity contrast with ideations of a leisure-filled retirement in ways that can foreshorten the employment contributions of some individuals.