Are you waiting until 65 or 70 to retire—only to risk missing your best decade of health? In this episode of Next Act Ninjas, Dr. Rachael Van Pelt explains why retirement isn’t one long “golden plateau” but three very different stages: the Go-Strong years (55–65), the Go-Slower years (65–75), and the Go-Less years (75–85). Discover how biology—not your financial planner—shapes your retirement timeline, and why aligning your money with your healthspan is the smartest Next Act decision you can make.
Are you waiting until 65 or 70 to retire—only to risk missing your best decade of health? In this episode of Next Act Ninjas, Dr. Rachael Van Pelt explains why retirement isn’t one long “golden plateau” but three very different stages: the Go-Strong years (55–65), the Go-Slower years (65–75), and the Go-Less years (75–85). Discover how biology—not your financial planner—shapes your retirement timeline, and why aligning your money with your healthspan is the smartest Next Act decision you can make.
If you’re nearing retirement, don’t miss this eye-opening conversation about vitality, family, caregiving, and creating memories when you’re still strong enough to enjoy them.
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Chapters
00:00 Rethinking the 'Work As Long As Possible" Advice
01:38 Retirement Years Aren't Uniform
02:47 The Go-Strong Decade: Peak Vitality
05:29 The Go-Slower Decade: Navigating Change
07:18 The Go-Less Decade: Embracing Wisdom
08:57 Timing Retirement to Enjoy Quality Time Remaining
Hey, hey, welcome back to Next Act Ninjas, the go-to podcast for mastering your health and wealth longevity. I'm your host, Rachael Van Pelt. Today, we're diving into a question that might be a sensitive topic, but it's one that more and more people are asking, "Will my health still be good if I wait to retire"?
Now for decades, the traditional wisdom has been hang in there as long as you can. Work until at least 65, maybe even 70. Wait to collect your social security. Keep adding to that 401K. Accumulate as much money as you can and then, only then can you enjoy retirement. But here's the problem with that. Life, and more specifically our physiology, doesn't work on a financial planner's timeline. The human body doesn't keep you in a stable, high-energy state until 85 and then just flip a switch. Retirement years don't all look the same. They come in very distinct phases, and if you're not paying attention, you might find yourself waiting until 65 only to discover you've already missed your best decade of vitality.
So today we're going to unpack why retiring in your 60s is so different from your 50s, what actually happens biologically as you move through each decade of retirement, and why the real question isn't just, "Do I have enough money to retire yet"? Or "Do I have the energy to keep working"? But rather, "Can I support an earlier retirement so I can take advantage of the quality years I have left"?
Let's start by reframing how we think about retirement. Too often I think people imagine it as this long flat golden road stretching out uniformly for decades. You stop working and suddenly, you're free to do whatever you want whenever you want for the next 20 to 30 years. But in reality, retirement is not a plateau, it's a staircase. And the stairs go down, not up. That doesn't mean it's bleak. In fact, each stage has its own beauty. But it does mean that your best years are finite.
You get a window of 10, maybe 15 years when you've got both the freedom of retirement and the physiologic energy to fully enjoy it. And then inevitably, biology begins to narrow your options. Add to that the demands of family and you may have even fewer years for fun than you ever imagined. So let's walk through the stages just so you know what I'm talking about. There are three big steps on the staircase and, although everyone isn't going to experience them exactly the same way or at the precise ages that I mentioned here, I think you're going to get the gist.
The decade between, say, age 55 and 65 are what I call the Go-Strong years. Biologically, this is your last decade at near-full capacity. Your muscle, heart, and lungs, they're still strong. That is assuming you've kept up some sort of resistance training and aerobic exercise. Your aerobic capacity may not be what it was at age 30, but you can still hike, bike, ski, or take those active vacations without much trouble. Cognitive sharpness is still high, and sleep may be lighter or more disrupted, but at least you have the resilience to push through. Energetically, this is the decade when you can go after your bucket list. You can travel, learn new skills, start a new business, volunteer.
However, it's also a time when family dynamics begin to change. For those with adult children, it's often when grandkids arrive. At the same time, many are juggling aging parents who now may be in their 80s or 90s. So caregiving responsibilities become demanding. And even for those who aren't caretaking, the travel demands to go see grandkids or aging parents in their final years go up dramatically. So the question during this decade isn't so much, "Do I have the energy to keep working to 65"?, but rather, "Do I have enough time and energy for myself and my family"?
Because if you're still working 40+ hours a week at age 60, there's a good chance you're missing out on some quality, high-energy years with those grandkids. It's hard to be that active grandparent who's down on the floor building Lego castles or chasing toddlers around the park when you have your nose to the grindstone, isn't it? Likewise, if you're juggling work and taking care of aging parents, you probably have little time to devote to your health and other relationships. There's just not enough time or energy to go around, is there? A
nd for those without grandkids or parents, the logic still applies. You may not be pulled into childcare or elder care, but you still have a narrow energy window for travel, friendships, adventures, and creative pursuits. That vitality window is the same whether you're a grandparent or you're a solo adventurer.
Retiring at 55 rather than 65 can give you the flexibility to be present for family without work conflicts. Earlier retirement can buy you time to invest in relationships or dreams that you'll never regret. On the other hand, if you wait until 65 to retire, you may find you've already burned through those Go-Strong years.
So let's fast forward a decade, those years between age 65 and 75, they're what I call the Go-Slower years. That's because biologically, age-related declines start catching up with us. Muscle and bone loss, also known as sarcopenia and osteopenia, they start to accelerate fast. Unless you've been diligently pushing the strength training for the past decade, you're losing strength and your fracture risk is going up every year. Your cardiovascular reserves are also shrinking. That same hike that felt invigorating at age 60 is now probably depleting your energy at age 70. It's going to take longer for you to recover from every hard effort. And chronic conditions like arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes, they're much more common and they require close monitoring. Your mental cognition may still be strong, but processing speed and memory, they're just not what they used to be.
Socially, this stage often shifts from chasing novelty to seeking comfort and stability. Many people still travel quite a bit, but trips get shorter, don't they? Itineraries get simpler and recovery time takes longer. Family roles keep shifting too. If your parents are still alive, caregiving may now be heavy, even daily. Grandkids are probably growing up and while you can still show up for recitals and ball games, you're less likely to be bombing down the ski hill with them. Of course, it's still a great stage of life, but it's not at all the same as the last decade. The window of high physical energy and strong cognitive function is closing fast. If you wait until age 67 to retire, you may still be rocking your career, but your chance of enjoying a highly active retirement is shrinking.
And that leads us to the decade from age 75 to 85, what I call the Go-Less years. This is when physiologic declines become much more pronounced. These are the years when frailty sets in, gait speed slows, balance becomes unsteady, and fine motor skills diminish. Your immune system also gets weaker, so recovery from illness or injury slows way down. And cognitive function declines, so risk of dementia goes up dramatically.
Socially, this is the stage when caregiving tends to flip. Rather than caring for your aging parents, your children may be starting to care for you. And your shrinking energy levels and cognition start to limit the kind of travel that you can manage, which means you're probably choosing closer destinations or guided trips where someone else handles all the logistics.
But here's the beauty, this is the decade of wisdom and legacy. While you may not have the energy to chase adventures, you still should have the presence of mind to share stories, mentor younger generations, and focus on relationships. Quality of life shifts from go, go, go to savoring what matters most. Many people will report feeling much more at peace and having spiritual grounding in this phase of life. There's freedom in simplicity. There's joy in presence. But let's be honest, it's not the decade of bucket lists and wild adventures. So if you push retirement to age 70, you're probably looking at a quieter, less physically active Next Act.
Which brings me back to the central question. If retirement is not one long, homogenous pool of years, but instead, distinct phases with different levels of energy, health, and opportunity. The decision isn't simply "How long can I work"? The real decision is "Can I retire soon enough to enjoy what good years I have left"?
For some people, especially singles or couples without kids or grandkids, or those whose parents are already gone, the family caregiver layer may not apply. But the physiologic reality still does. The Go-Strong years still end, the body still ages, the window of opportunity to travel, learn, explore, live fully while healthy is still limited.
And that means the goal isn't just accruing money for financial security, it's enjoying what quality time remains. Would you rather work a few more years, save a few more dollars but miss out on those peak years? Or would you rather adjust your financial plan, maybe scale back expectations a bit, and carve out more time to invest in memories, relationships, experiences? The choice is yours.
So I challenge you to flip the script. Instead of assuming you have to work as long as possible, ask, "What would it take to make retirement during my Go-Strong years possible? What would I give up or reimagine in order to buy myself those extra years of vitality"? Maybe it means downsizing your home or relocating to a lower cost area. Maybe it means creating a small income stream in retirement through a rental property. The point is, retirement planning isn't just about maxing out your 401k. It's about aligning lifestyle with healthspan. Because biology doesn't wait for your financial planner.
Does it mean everyone should retire at 55? Of course not. For some, finances simply won't allow it. But for many, the answer is: You can't afford not to! Your Go-Strong years are precious. They're the window when you're free enough and strong enough to fully live. Don't assume those years will still be there at 65 or 70.
And look, if you're someone who has already missed the window, don't despair. If you already feel the downward pull of aging, but your finances won't allow you to retire, that's okay, I've got your back. I help people every day level up their healthspan and stretch out those Go-Strong years. There's a lot we can do to stop age-related declines in muscle, bone, and cardiovascular fitness. We can even slow cognitive decline. The speed of biologic decline is not inevitable, it's modifiable. So hop on my calendar if you would like a free coaching call. You'll find the link in the show notes.
That's it for today. Until next time, my friends, live well, love more, age less.