"Retiring Lives" presents fourteen personal real life stories from people at various stages of retiring. Each author recounts their own story about retiring, bringing together many aspects of the experiences: the social, psychological and practical. These inspirational and illustrated stories will encourage the reader to hold up these experiences to their own, learn from comparisons and similarities and extend their own thinking. The book also includes chapters on setting up and running a retiring group; the process of retiring as an aspect of professional development and reoccurring financial themes; and the benefits, allowances and privileges of becoming older. These contributions will stir the reader into becoming actively involved in the planning for their own retirement. This book is essential reading for those working within the education sector. It will also benefit all those considering retiring or changing how they view their working lives, whatever their professional background. It will be useful for those who want to set up or advise on retiring groups and workshops both within and outside their organisations. This book contains three parts. Part I, "The Context", contains: (1) Dipping Our Bread into the Sherry: Emerging Themes (Caroline Lodge and Eileen Carnell); (2) The History of the "Retiring Women" Group (Marianne Coleman); and (3) What We've Learned from Setting up the Group (The Retiring Women Group). Part II, "The Stories", contains: (4) Transitions and Transformations (Eileen Carnell); (5) Part-Time Work as a Way Forward into Retirement (Marianne Coleman); (6) Busy Doing Nothing... (Jennifer Evans); (7) Even Busier in the Third Age (Ashley Kent); (8) Dogs and Duvets: Living in Rural France as a Retirement Project (Alison Kirton); (9) One Step Forwards and Two Back, Then Hopefully Forward Again (Diana Leonard); (10) Retiring Backwards (Caroline Lodge); (11) Through the Airlock (Alex Moore); (12) Barbara Patilla's Story of a Teacher Retiring (Eileen Carnell); (13) Ann Peter's Story; and (14) Bet McCallum's Story. Part 3, "Practical Stuff You Won't Find Together in a Single Place", contains: (15) Retiring as an Aspect of Professional Development (Jacqui MacDonald); (16) Helping People to the Other Side: Recurring Themes from a Financial Advisor (Sid Reddy); (17) Reasons to be Cheerful (The Retiring Women's Group); and (18) Bibliography and Contacts (The Retiring Women's Group). This book also includes: Acknowledgements; Introduction: Retiring Lives (Eileen Carnell and Caroline Lodge); and Notes on Contributors.