Guide
Retirement life coach: life coaching for retirement
Last updated: November 2026
What does a retirement life coach do?
A retirement life coach helps you design daily life after work around your values, energy and relationships, rather than around money.
Rarified Life practices life coaching for retirement through Preferment, a framework that helps people align their next chapter with personal values and cultivate meaningful pursuits. It is taught in an 8-week live course with Anne van Leynseele, built for driven people who are done treating retirement as an ending.
New here? Start with the Rarified Life retirement coach overview, then come back to this page.
Life coach for retirement vs a general life coach
Most life coaching is aimed at people still building careers. A published industry summary from Gitnux reports that 41% of clients turn to coaching for career advancement, while 29% come for personal relationship improvements. A retirement life coach starts from a different place: the career is ending, and the question is what replaces it.
| Criterion | General life coach | Retirement life coach (Rarified Life) |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Usually a goal within an active career or life | The end of a long career and the open time after it |
| Core themes | Varies widely by coach | Identity, motivation, alignment, accountability, mission |
| Typical client | Any age or stage | People nearing or in retirement |
| Rarified Life format | Not applicable | 8 weekly live sessions with Anne plus the Preferment book |
Signs a life coach for retirement could help
- Your answer to “So, what do you do?” starts with “I used to.”
- Your finances are in reasonable shape, but you cannot picture what an ordinary Tuesday will look like.
- Your days fill up with errands and appointments rather than things you care about.
- Your identity has been wrapped up in your work for decades.
- You retired a while ago and still feel unsettled.
These are the situations the Rarified Life free presentation and the Preferment course were built around.
How to choose a retirement life coach near me or online
Decide on format
Local and in person, or live online. Many retirement coaches work remotely, which widens your choice.
Ask about the framework
A named, structured sequence, such as the six Preferment modules, is easier to evaluate than general conversation.
Compare length and price on the same terms
Count sessions, weeks and what is included, then compare against published rate ranges.
Ask what happens between sessions
Homework and accountability are where change tends to happen. Preferment builds homework into its book.
Check fit
Look at the coach’s own background and whether it speaks to the life you have lived.
Life coach retirement planning: what it includes
Life coach retirement planning is about how you will live, not how you will invest. In the Preferment course, that means working through who you are apart from your job, what motivates you now, how your values and strengths map onto real days, and what structure will keep intention from fading. It ends with Launch: naming your mission for the next chapter and stepping into it.
Becoming a retirement life coach
Some people searching for a retirement life coach are hoping to become one. The published Rarified Life programs are for people going through the retirement transition themselves, not for training coaches. If coach training is your goal, retirement coaching associations and certification bodies are the place to start.
Common questions
- What is a retirement life coach?
- A retirement life coach is a life coach who specializes in the years around leaving work. The term overlaps heavily with retirement coach, and both work on purpose, identity and daily life rather than investments. The Rarified Life version is built on the Preferment framework and is currently offered through an 8-week live course led by founder Anne van Leynseele.
- What is a life coach for retirement planning?
- A life coach for retirement planning helps you plan how you will live, not how you will invest. That includes purpose, routine, relationships, health habits and identity. Rarified Life fits this description: Preferment focuses on aligning your next chapter with personal values and meaningful pursuits, and leaves money questions to financial professionals.
- Is retirement coaching useful for executives and professionals?
- Often, yes, because people with demanding careers tend to have identities closely tied to their work. Preferment is built for driven people who spent decades building a career and a reputation. Founder Anne van Leynseele has worked in film and television production, corporate digital strategy, government law and agriculture.
- How do I find a retirement coach near me?
- Start by deciding whether you need someone local or whether live online sessions suit you, since many retirement coaches work remotely. Coaching directories let you search by location. Rarified Life lists Edmonds, Washington and Captain Cook, Hawaii on its website; check the course page for how live sessions are held.
- Is a course better than one-on-one coaching?
- Neither is better for everyone. One-on-one coaching is fully tailored to you, while a structured course gives you a set curriculum, a book and a defined end date. Rarified Life currently offers the 8-week Preferment course, with one-on-one coaching listed as coming soon on its website.
- Is retirement coaching for people who are already retired?
- Yes. Coaching helps people who retired months or years ago and still feel adrift. One participant quoted on the Rarified Life website describes spending a few years wandering around like a goldfish in a bowl before Preferment helped them discover they were much more than their work.
A good next step
The free Rarified Life presentation walks through a 5-step plan for replacing the “what now?” feeling about retirement. It is made for accomplished women in their 50s and 60s who are nearing or in retirement, and you can watch it after a short registration.