One of the best ways to meet the challenges of retirement is to learn how others handle it. My colleague Nancy Collamer, career and retirement coach and author of Second-Act Careers, recently chatted with a group of retired United Way executives and summarized what she learned in an excellent article for NextAvenue.org. I highly recommend you read the complete article here:  https://www.nextavenue.org/retirement-lessons/ 

Nancy's six key takeaways from the article are listed below:

1. Embrace "productive" leisure activities.
2. Set goals.
3. Share your professional expertise (on a flexible basis).
4. Keep learning.
5. Cultivate your creativity.
6. Pass it down.

I'm always struck by the good advice retirees willingly share. They are the first to recognize that the road to retirement has twists, turns, and bumps along the way, but most of them are unfailingly confident of their ability to overcome the challenges of retirement. One thing I have noticed about the people who are most successful in retirement is that they always seem to have a positive attitude, whatever life throws their way. That is a good lesson for all of us!

Many Boomers don't have the luxury of retiring from their job. Others are forced out because of age discrimination. Still others decide that it really is time to retire.

There's a right way to retire from your job. In the best of all scenarios, leaving a job will be on your timeframe and will cause no ill will between you and your employer. A truly enlightened employer might even work with you on a phased retirement or a creative arrangement, such as rehiring you as a part-time contractor after you leave your full-time position.

Writing for The Balance, retirement book author and financial writer Melissa Phipps offers ten valuable tips for retiring from your job, among them, "Be sure you really want to retire," "Check out alternative careers," and "Consider phasing in retirement." Phipps points out that some early retirees make the decision to retire because they face an undesirable job situation. This may not be the best reason to retire; instead, you may want to try to work with your employer to improve your job or change it within the same organization. Or, if that doesn't work, maybe it's time to consider pursuing an alternative career instead of retiring.

Before you decide to retire, advises Phipps, make sure you are financially secure and that you have health insurance. It also makes sense to consult with a financial adviser. In addition, anticipate the fact that, even if you retire now, you may want to (or have to) return to the workforce. That means you should get references when you retire and be sure to leave your position on a positive note. Another interesting idea is to "test drive" retirement: If you have the type of job that allows you to take some time off, experiment with the kinds of things you would like to do in retirement and see if it's a lifestyle you would enjoy.

It sounds like a credible solution for older workers: Why not allow them to phase out of their jobs into retirement? The reality, of course, is it is easier said than done. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) reported on phased retirement programs and found that, while the number of older workers in the labor market has increased in the last decade, "most individuals ages 61 to 66 who were still working maintained a full-time work schedule." A quarter (25 percent) of them had planned to reduce their hours as they transitioned to retirement, but less than 15 percent actually reported being partly retired or gradually retiring from their career jobs.

According to a review by the GAO, "formal phased retirement programs are relatively uncommon." They appear to be more common among employers with larger technical and professional workforces. Industries with skilled workers or with labor shortages have a higher motivation to offer phased retirement to older workers because these employees are more difficult to replace.

In addition, formal phased retirement programs are challenging for companies to institute. One of the reasons for this is compliance with existing laws. The GAO reviewed a particular study that indicated 71 percent of large employers "agreed that regulatory complexities and ambiguities involving federal tax and age discrimination laws impact their ability to offer phased retirement programs." Still, the GAO found that those employers who did institute phased retirement programs found them beneficial because of factors such as worker retention, knowledge transfer, and workplace planning.

The sad truth is phased retirement is something of a national dilemma. Boomers want to, and in many cases, have to work. Those individuals who are in professional careers or are highly skilled at their jobs are valuable employees, but more and more companies seem to throw them onto a scrap heap and opt to replace them with younger, less expensive (but less knowledgeable) workers. Only when it directly benefits the company, or the company's senior management is enlightened enough to see the value, will that company consider implementing any kind of phased retirement. Obviously, laws and regulations that make phased retirement unattractive are not helping the situation.

There is no easy solution to the phased retirement dilemma. It is simply not a national trend or, it seems, a national priority. It may actually be up to you, the individual worker, to impress upon your employer the value of allowing you to phase into retirement.