Nine tips to a happier retirement
Planning for retirement means more than saving enough money. It means thinking through your income, your health, your relationships, and your sense of purpose. All of these shape how retirement actually feels. The earlier you start thinking holistically about what you want, the better positioned you are to get there. Here are nine tips worth considering as you build your retirement plan.
Tip #1: Find purpose
A sense of purpose, accomplishment, and personal growth ranks central to a meaningful life.¹ This doesn’t disappear when you leave the workforce. Retirement often brings more free time than you have had in decades, and without a plan for how to use it, that freedom can feel disorienting. Planning for purpose alongside your finances can reduce anxiety about the transition and help retirement feel like something you are moving toward.
Tip #2: Plan for Income
One of the biggest concerns heading into retirement is whether your income will last. It helps to know what your guaranteed sources actually will be. There are three financial vehicles that provide guaranteed income for life: pensions, Social Security, and annuities. Taking stock of which ones apply to you, and any gaps between them and your expected expenses, is a practical first step toward a plan that holds up over time.
Tip #3: Account for health
A retirement plan that only accounts for finances is only half a plan. Regular checkups and staying current on preventive care are straightforward starting points. Beyond that, physical activity has documented long-term benefits, including improvements to memory and cognitive function which directly affect your quality of life in retirement.² ³
Tip #4: Stay positive
Retirement rarely goes exactly as mapped out. An early exit from work, a health setback, or a shift in family circumstances can all change the plan. Research supports that high optimism can help support healthy aging and is associated with a lower incidence of dementia.⁴ Prioritizing your mental health and finding connections can help you make the most out of retirement, no matter what it brings.
Tip #5: Find your community
Leaving work can mean leaving a built-in social structure. One practical way to rebuild that structure is through volunteering. In addition to the benefit of helping others, volunteering provides documented physical and mental health benefits. Research shows it can reduce the risk of depression among early retirees.⁵ Resources like VolunteerMatch and RSVP (a volunteer network for people over 55) can help you find opportunities in your area.
Tip #6: Keep learning
Retirement can be a chance for you to continue learning. Research shows that engaging in new learning, whether it's a language or a skill, can improve cognitive function and memory, while also improving quality of life.⁶ Your career may come to an end, but your capacity to grow doesn't have to.
Tip #7: Plan & prepare
More than four-in-ten U.S. adults under 65 (45%) aren’t confident they’ll have enough income and assets to last through their retirement years or say that they won’t be able to retire at all.⁷ The earlier you start planning, the fewer surprises you may face and the more options you might have. If you're not sure where to start, a financial professional can help you map out an income strategy tailored to your retirement timeline.
Tip #8: Define what matters to you
If you haven't written down what you want to do in retirement, now is the time. Whether the goals are big or small, specificity is the key. Identifying and defining your priorities can help translate thoughts into action, and further more help you secure the retirement income needed to fund your ambitions.
Tip #9: Stay flexible
Markets change, health needs evolve, and priorities often shift once retirement becomes reality. Rather than thinking of your retirement plan as something you create once and never revisit, treat it as a living document. Retirees who are confident about their retirement often point to planning and ongoing financial management as key reasons for that confidence.⁸ Checking in regularly on your finances, goals, and lifestyle can help ensure your retirement continues to reflect what matters most to you.
The content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute advice. For specific details on how this may apply to your personal situation, contact your personal financial advisor or insurance agent for more details. American Equity contracts are only sold through independent agents. Please contact your state insurance department to see if there is an independent insurance agent in your area appointed to sell American Equity annuity contracts.
American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company® does not offer legal, investment, or tax advice. Please consult a qualified professional.
- AARP, “Unlocking Purpose: Older Adults' Thoughts on The Importance of Meaningful Activities,” August 2025
- Mayo Clinic, “Healthy aging: Beyond 50,” April 2026
- CDC, “Physical Activity Benefits for Adults 65 or Older,” December 2025
- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, “The Bright Side of Life: Optimism and Risk of Dementia,” March 2026
- Social Science & Medicine, “Volunteering during early retirement reduces depression,” February 2025
- American Psychological Association, “How learning protects the aging brain,” April 2026
- Pew Research Center, “How Americans Are Thinking About Aging,” November 2025
- Employee Benefit Research Institute (2025) https://www.ebri.org/docs/default-source/rcs/2025-rcs/2025-rcs-release-report.pdf?sfvrsn=f5e3042f_3