Tip: Retirement can pay off in many ways

Will retirement be a trick or treat?

For many, the prospect of life after the paychecks stop is scary. But if done right, retirement can be a time of great contentment and personal growth.

"This could be the best chapter of your life," says Barbara Waxman, an executive and personal coach who advises clients on retirement issues. "The years we've added to our lives are really in the middle, not at the end."

Waxman says most new retirees and would-be retirees obsess too much about financial fears, many of which don't happen. She says it's better to think of retirement as a time of personal, not financial, enrichment. "It's about moving from a period of success to a period of significance," she says. "Much of it is about living a meaningful life, and that doesn't necessarily cost money."

Waxman advises retirees to create a budget that will include leisure extras, such as dining out and traveling. Most of all, a budget will ensure that retirees live within their means - as long as they stick to it. And if you need extra money, don't be ashamed of taking a job you might have thought was beneath you before you retired. "It's not about a career, it's just about the extra income," Waxman says.

A Great Neck resident before moving to the San Francisco Bay area 20 years ago, Waxman is also the editor of a new book, "How to Love Your Retirement." The book provides snippets of advice from scores of people on how they have coped and thrived in retirement.

Many in the book said the first year of retirement was the toughest. Some had become so used to the daily routine of having a job - and the perks that came with it - that they floundered until they found other interests. (Waxman is a big advocate of doing volunteer work to help fill a day with meaningful time.) Others said they treated the first year as an endless vacation and overspent on discretionary items.

And while many people worry that retirement will put a strain on their marriage, Waxman says most relationships actually grow stronger, which is supported by many of the stories in the book.

Of course, togetherness may be wonderful, although not for 24 hours a day. As one retiree noted in the book, "I always kidded with my husband: 'For better or worse, but not for lunch.' "