By Richard Quinn of QuinnsCommentary and guest author of HumbleDollar

IF THERE WAS ANYONE who should have been emotionally unprepared to retire, it was me. In the years immediately before, I was at the top of my career. I’d been promoted to vice president. I had virtual total control over my job. I was recognized by nearly every employee because of my extensive employee benefits communications and the fact that I’d negotiated benefits for decades. I was among the few who routinely met with the company’s chairman. In short, I enjoyed my job, typically working from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

But when the chairman retired, the overall corporate environment changed. I knew it was time to go. A good pension, 401(k) and Social Security took care of financial security.

The thing is, I never gave a moment’s thought to what I’d do with my time after I retired. That was a bit ironic, given that I conducted retirement planning sessions for employees and admonished them to think about their life after work.

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