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Why the Hell Don’t We Have Retirement Rituals? (And How to Build Your Own)
Many cultures mark the biggest moments in life with rituals
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Life Rituals
Turn thirteen? Mazel tov — here’s a Torah reading, a DJ your parents can’t afford, and a the lyrics to few hip-hop songs that your grandparents… well, had not be exposed to.
Sweet fifteen? Here’s your quinceañera dress and a reminder that you’re now a responsible adult (sort of).
Getting married? There’s a ceremony, cake-smashing, that awkward best man speech, and groomsman/bridesmaid hookups that no one expected. Those two? Really?
Even death gets a ritual. Sometimes somber, sometimes a jazz-filled, bourbon-soaked send-off. But hopefully something meaningful.
These transitions are often celebrated, mourned, endured, or ritualized with fire, blood, booze, or a speech from a half-drunk uncle. Retirement, oddly, is not one of them — yet.
Yet Retirement?
The moment we pivot from “earning and saving” to finally enjoying all that carefully hoarded cash? The instant we shift from working stiff to “CEO of my own damn schedule”? All we get is a Costco sheet cake and…
