Four Fears That Get In The Way of Preparing for Life After Work

Many of us don’t spend much time thinking about the post-work period of life, and research by AARP suggests that we do little to prepare ourselves from an emotional standpoint.

To some extent, not wanting to think about the future may even be linked to our language. Yale economist Keith Chen has studied how a person’s language can subtly affect their propensity to save for the future. He found that speakers of languages that grammatically separate the present from the future (including US English) save less and retire with less wealth.

But no matter what language we speak, we must plan ahead, and that includes becoming mentally prepared to leave our full-time work. Here are four common fears that can cause us to avoid planning for our next chapter . . .

Fear of Discomfort

Have you ever avoided starting a project because you thought it might become messy, difficult, or just too complicated?  Similarly, we may avoid planning (consciously or unconsciously) because we assume it will be uncomfortable.

Planning has the potential to bring us face-to-face with unpleasant facts. For example, the business valuation you conduct might uncover that the business isn’t worth quite as much as you think. As uncomfortable as that information might be, learning about it sooner gives you the time to actually do something about it.

Fear of Facing Mortality

Planning for the future confronts us with the fact that the future is not unlimited. When we look down the road, we see that it eventually ends; thus, many of us prefer not to look in the first place. Well, I can tell you this: planning might not change certain outcomes in life, but it can make the journey a lot less rocky.

Fear of Conflict with Key People (spouse, business partner, children, etc.)

Planning doesn’t occur in a vacuum. We all have personal and professional relationships, and all those different stakeholders have opinions, needs, preferences, and priorities. Those who like to keep the peace may avoid planning because they fear it could stir up discord. That’s understandable, but how many times have you put off a potentially difficult conversation, only to kick yourself for not doing it sooner?  As noted psychologist, Dr. Robert Leahy points out, “sometimes the disagreement we envision in our head is worse than what actually occurs.”

Fear of Making a Mistake

What if I regret my decision to step down or sell my business? What if I make the wrong choice about downsizing and moving closer to my kids?  What if the part-time consulting I plan on doing doesn’t materialize? 

Preparing for retirement involves making important choices while contending with the unknown. That’s a tall order, and with everything on your plate right now the last thing you need are more uncertainties and decisions to deal with. The irony of course is that although planning forces you to grapple with unknowns, done properly, it allows you manage and mitigate them. You may find it helpful to reflect on how you handled major decisions in the past, especially those you had to make  with incomplete information.

All these fears are perfectly normal, but the key is to use them constructively. These fears can be thought of as a signal that you need to do more thorough planning for your future. And remember, although “plan” might be a 4-letter word, “planning” is not.

© 2026   Larry Gard, Ph.D.  all rights reserved