The Retirement Journey Series
Retirement isn't one moment. It's a process that unfolds in stages, each with its own challenges, discoveries, and growth.
The Retirement Journey Series is designed to walk with you through every phase of that journey: from the shock of the initial transition through building a meaningful life, discovering genuine purpose, mastering the long-term realities, and finally cultivating lasting happiness and emotional fulfillment.
Each book stands alone and can be read when you need it most. But together, they create a complete roadmap for moving from stabilization to active engagement, long-term mastery, and deep emotional well-being.
Book 1
What You'll Find Inside:
The assessments and frameworks to understand your actual retirement readiness across all five pillars: Financial, Identity, Social, Purpose, and Relationship. Real, day-by-day guidance for the first three months of retirement. Honest conversations about the panic, anxiety, loss of structure, and identity questions that nobody prepares you for. Research-backed explanations for why even financially secure people fall apart in early retirement. Tools and exercises to help you understand where you're vulnerable and how to prepare before the transition hits.
Key Themes:
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The Five Pillars of Retirement Readiness
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Why Financial Planning Isn't Enough
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The Identity Crisis When Your Job Becomes Your Self
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Creating Sustainable Routines (Not Rigid Schedules)
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Understanding The First 90 Days As Stabilization, Not Reinvention
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Building Your Support System Early
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Financial Anxiety vs. Financial Security
Who Should Read This:
Anyone approaching retirement or already struggling in the first three months. People who feel emotionally unprepared despite being financially ready. High achievers and professionals whose identity has been tied to their career. Anyone who needs permission to stabilize before trying to thrive.
Begin Here
Purchase & Read Now
Ready to Begin Your Transition?
The first 90 days of retirement are the most critical. This guide gives you day-by-day frameworks, assessments, and practical templates to navigate them with clarity instead of chaos. Get your copy today and start reading immediately.
The book is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other major retailers globally. Choose your preferred format and begin your transition now.
Book 2
THE MESSY MIDDLE
(MONTHS 3-24)
This is the book you read when the panic has quieted,
but something still feels missing.
It's about the stretch that follows the transition—the messy middle,
when you're getting through the days, staying busy, and checking
things off your list, yet the purpose you expected still hasn't arrived.
What You'll Find Inside:
Frameworks for naming what's actually going on when retirement still feels flat months or years in. Practical tools for quieting the money anxiety that resurfaces even when the numbers say you're fine. Guidance for finding structure without a job title, and for getting unstuck from the "someday" projects you keep putting off. Honest insight for readers who are years in and still asking why this feeling hasn't passed, along with a dedicated section for spouses and family members who want to understand and support a partner or parent moving through this stage.
Key Themes:
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Naming the Flat, Restless Feeling That Follows the Initial Shock
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Why Money Worries Resurface Even When the Numbers Say You're Fine
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Finding Structure Without a Job Title
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Getting Unstuck From "Someday" Projects
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Rebuilding an Identity That Actually Fits
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Repairing Relationships That Have Shifted
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Supporting a Spouse or Parent Through the Messy Middle
Who Should Read This:
Anyone who's six months to two years into retirement and still waiting for the purpose to arrive. Retirees who've been retired for years and are still asking what retirement is supposed to feel like. Spouses, partners, and adult children who want to understand what a loved one is going through and how to support them without taking over.
Continue Here
Purchase & Read Now
Ready for the Next Stage?
The middle stretch of retirement is where most people get stuck without realizing why. This guide gives you the frameworks, tools, and honest insight to move from getting through the days to building a life you're excited to wake up to. Get your copy today and start reading immediately.
The book is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other major retailers globally. Choose your preferred format and begin the next stage now.
Look Inside
Look Inside - Books 1 & 2
Before you commit to either book, see for yourself what readers are experiencing. Download the free first chapters of The Hidden Side of Retirement and The Messy Middle of Retirement, and explore the assessments, frameworks, and tools Cheryl uses to help you understand where you are in your retirement journey. Simply submit the request below, and we'll send both chapters straight to your inbox.
The Series Continues
Books 3 - 4
The Complete Journey
The Retirement Journey Series is a multi-book roadmap that walks with you through every stage of retirement, one phase at a time.
The Journey Ahead (launching throughout 2026)
Books 3 - 4
The Retirement Journey Continues
As the series develops, future books will explore the longer arcs of retirement—from sustained long-term living to discovering lasting purpose and fulfillment. Each book stands alone, yet together they form a complete guide through every stage of the retirement transition and beyond.
All grounded in the same honest, practical approach that defines Cheryl's work.
Launching Throughout 2026
Launching Throughout 2026
All books in the series follow the same framework that makes The Hidden Side of Retirement effective:
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Research-Backed Insights on Retirement Psychology and Transition
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Real Stories From People Navigating The Same Challenges
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Practical Tools, Templates, and Exercises You Can Use Immediately
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The 5 Pillars of Retirement Readiness Are Applied at Each Life Stage
Rather than rushing through reinvention or promising a perfect retirement, the series walks alongside you as retirement actually unfolds—one phase at a time.
Be the first to know when each book launches.
Please Share Your Thoughts
If The Hidden Side of Retirement has helped you navigate this transition, whether it's given you language for what you're feeling, practical tools you're using, or simply the comfort of knowing you're not alone, your voice matters.
Honest reader reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and other retail sites are how people discover books that might change their journey... Your review doesn't need to be long or polished. Just authentic. Real readers helping real people find guidance for one of life's biggest transitions.