Transitioning towards retirement can be a surprisingly difficult process. It can be inspiring and exhilarating to imagine all of the possibilities that life offers to you, but it can be strange and disconcerting to take on a new life and new activities. The author breaks it down into the following steps:

1. Pre-retirement - This is the stage where people disengage from work, and they are looking ahead into the future.

2. Honeymoon - People relish the freedom that their new life provides them with.

3. Disenchantment - Sometimes, retirees get depressed that they have lost their professional identities and contact with former colleagues.

4. Reorientation - This is the stage in which people choose activities to engage in. It could be things that the person did not have time for during their working lives, lost childhood interests, and perhaps things that they have always wanted to do but never had the chance to.

5. Stability - This is where retirees find enjoyment and fulfillment. They find activities that they love to engage in.

It is important to discuss retirement plans with your life partner (if you have one) to ensure that you both on the same wavelength.

In terms of finances, you can claim Social Security on your own account or on your spouse's account. You should check to see which option is more lucrative for you. If you wait until age 70, your monthly checks will be higher. 

Retirement savings plans include traditional and Roth individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and employer-sponsored 401Ks for corporations and 403bs for nonprofit organizations. When you retire, you can withdraw 4% per year to last a lifetime. You can never be sure just how long your lifespan will be, but this is a basic plan. 

If you have life insurance and you no longer need it (you have no dependents), you can cash it in or leave it for your heirs (assuming that it is not term insurance, which expires after a certain date).

You have to take charge of your life and make your own decisions about end-of-life care so that your children or loved ones do not have to. 

 How To Make Your Money Last: The Indispensable Retirement Guide by Jane Bryant Quinn, 2016

There is not a section in this book about wills; it might have been helpful to have one.

• Jane Bryant Quinn's web site
• Books on retirement