Jeanne Thompson spent 25+ years in financial services — including senior executive roles at Fidelity Investments — working with Fortune 100 Employers to improve 401(k) plan design. She led teams that pioneered research that shaped how we think about retirement readiness — including the acclaimed 401(k) Millionaires research, the 10X Retirement Savings Rule of Thumb, and the Financial Wellness Score — and built programs used by the nation's largest employers.
Then, at 54, she retired. And discovered that 25+ years of retirement expertise hadn't prepared her for the emotional and psychological reality of retiring.
The first two years were harder than she expected. The structure was gone. Her identity was shaken. Many of the "work" friends she thought she had turned out to be colleagues. And despite having a financially secure future, she found herself questioning everything.