The Retirement Crisis No One Warns You About: Why Mattering May Matter Most
Most of us approach retirement with spreadsheets and checklists. We think about savings, investments, health insurance, and maybe even where we’ll live. But there’s a quieter, deeper question very few people prepare for:
How will I continue to matter once my career ends?
That question sits at the heart of “The Retirement Crisis No One Warns You About: Mattering,” a powerful article by Jennifer Breheny Wallace, originally published in The Wall Street Journal on January 16, 2026. Her reporting reveals a truth that many retirees discover only after the fact: retirement doesn’t just change how we spend our time—it can shake our sense of identity, usefulness, and belonging.
When the Applause Stops
Wallace opens with a telling scene. A group of recent retirees, all accomplished professionals, sit around a dinner table in Sarasota, Florida. Each had assumed their decades of experience would be welcomed in retirement—through teaching, consulting, or volunteering. Instead, they found closed doors and unanswered emails.
What they were mourning wasn’t just lost opportunity. It was the loss of mattering—the deeply human need to feel seen, valued, and able to contribute.
We plan carefully for our wealth span and health span, Wallace notes. But almost no one plans for their mattering span—how they will continue to feel useful and connected in the decades after work.
Why Mattering Is a Pillar of Well-Being
Mattering isn’t a vague feel-good concept. Coined by sociologist Morris Rosenberg in the 1980s, it describes the feeling that:
You are important to others
Your presence is noticed
Your contributions make a difference
Research cited in the article shows just how serious this is. A 2020 meta-analysis found that nearly one-third of retirees experience depressive symptoms, particularly those who felt pushed out of work by illness or layoffs.
The strongest predictors of post-retirement depression weren’t financial—they were psychological: feeling less needed, less valued, and less connected.
As more than 11,000 Americans turn 65 every day, Wallace argues that the central question of aging may no longer be “How long will I live?” but “How will I continue to matter while I do?”
The SAID Framework: What Mattering Is Made Of
To make mattering actionable, Wallace introduces a simple framework used by researchers, captured in the acronym SAID:
Significant – feeling seen and essential
Appreciated – being valued for what you contribute
Invested in – knowing others care about your well-being
Depended on – being needed by someone
Retirement often disrupts all four at once. Work once provided daily proof that we were needed. When that disappears overnight, the emotional impact can be surprisingly destabilizing.
Why Retirement Planning Often Misses the Point
A 2024 study cited in the article found that lifestyle planning—not financial planning—was the strongest predictor of retirement satisfaction. Yet fewer than half of retirees give real thought to how they’ll structure their days, maintain relationships, or stay engaged after leaving work.
The biggest challenges retirees reported weren’t money-related. They were boredom, loss of structure, and social disconnection.
In other words, retirement requires intention—not just savings.
Carrying a Thread of Identity Forward
One of the most hopeful ideas in Wallace’s article comes from the story of Nancy Schlossberg, a longtime academic who found retirement unexpectedly disorienting. By studying how others navigated the transition, she noticed a pattern: the happiest retirees didn’t abandon their old identities—they adapted them.
A former museum director curated occasional exhibits. A retired executive stayed on as an “emergency consultant.” Schlossberg herself continued teaching, not in a classroom, but through writing, speaking, and mentoring.
The lesson is simple but powerful: you don’t need the same role to express the same purpose.
The Power of Invitation and Being Needed
Mattering is relational. Wallace highlights how small social choices—saying yes to coffee, joining a book club, extending an invitation—can rebuild connection after the social scaffolding of work disappears.
Just as important is being depended on. In her interviews, retirees who regained a sense of purpose often did so by meeting real needs with what they had to offer: time, talent, or treasure.
From Repair Cafés, where retirees fix broken appliances, to nonprofits redistributing household goods to families in need, these efforts did more than help others. They restored a sense of usefulness and belonging to the people giving their time.
The Quiet Truth About Feeling Better
Perhaps the most striking insight from Wallace’s article is this:
The fastest way to feel like you matter is to show someone else that they do.
That might mean checking in on a neighbor, mentoring someone younger, or volunteering in a way that makes your presence genuinely missed. Mattering doesn’t come from being impressive—it comes from being useful.
A Retirement Conversation We Need to Have
This article is adapted from Jennifer Breheny Wallace’s upcoming book, “Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose,” and it makes a compelling case that retirement planning needs a new dimension.
Money matters. Health matters.
But so does knowing that your life still makes a difference.
And that’s a conversation worth starting long before the farewell party.
Questions? We offer a complimentary 15-minute call to discuss your concerns and explore how we can assist you.
Source:
Adapted from “The Retirement Crisis No One Warns You About: Mattering” by Jennifer Breheny Wallace, The Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2026.
This material was written in collaboration with artificial intelligence (ChatGPT) and derived from sources believed to be correct.
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