Retirement Is Outdated. Here’s What to Build Instead | Anne van Leynseele

What happens when your career ends—but you’re nowhere near finished? Anne van Leynseele believes our traditional idea of retirement is outdated. She created Preferment, a framework for thinking about life after a career not as decline or withdrawal, but as an opportunity for curiosity, growth, contribution and reinvention. In this episode of The Richard Taliaferro Podcast, we talk about retirement, career change after 50, identity beyond work, purpose in midlife and how to build a meaningful next chapter. Anne shares what five personal reinventions have taught her about carrying your experience forward rather than starting over. We explore why losing a professional title can create an identity crisis, how small curiosities can point toward something larger, why going back to school later in life may be less intimidating than it seems, and how values can help you make better decisions during major transitions. We also get into AI, adaptability and a question that matters whether you’re retiring, changing careers or simply feeling that something in your life needs to change: What do I want to build? Anne van Leynseele is an author, lawyer, entrepreneur, farmer and founder of Rarified Life. Her career has included Hollywood production, Fortune 100 consulting, government service and building a globally recognized chocolate farm in Hawaii. If you’re navigating retirement, a midlife career transition, reinvention after 50 or the question of who you are beyond your work, this conversation is for you. You can find out more about Anne at www.rarifiedlife.com —————— I’m Richard Taliaferro, a certified career coach, former journalist, and curious human. I talk with people navigating reinvention—founders, creatives, career changers, and purpose-driven professionals—about the work they’ve built, the lessons they’ve learned, and what it means to create a life that actually fits. Not sure where you’re actually stuck? Take the 90-Second SPARK for a personalized read: https://spark-diagnostic.vercel.app/ Find out more at: https://www.richardtaliaferro.com Host/Executive Producer: Richard Taliaferro