Ditch retirement. Try Preferment instead.

Retirement coaching for high achievers leaving the career that defined them

Retirement coaching is guided support for the personal side of leaving your career, and Rarified Life delivers it through Preferment, a research-backed framework for redesigning life after 50 as an active, purpose-driven alternative to traditional retirement.

Published by Rarified Life. Last updated: November 2, 2026

What is retirement coaching, and do you need it?

You need retirement coaching if your plan covers money but not meaning. Rarified Life’s retirement coaching helps high achievers separate who they are from what they did, find what moves them now, and align their values with how they spend their days. The first step is a free webinar; the full work happens in the live 8-week Preferment course.

The framework

Preferment, defined

What Rarified Life means by Preferment

Preferment is the Rarified Life framework for redesigning life after 50 as an active, purpose-driven alternative to traditional retirement. It helps people align their future plans with their personal values and cultivate meaningful pursuits beyond their careers.

The word means advancement. Where traditional retirement treats the end of a career as a finish line, Preferment treats it as a promotion into a chapter you design yourself. The course moves through six modules: Introduction, Identity, Motivation, Alignment, Accountability, and Launch.

Read the full Preferment framework

The Rarified Life program in numbers

Course length: 8 weeks
Live sessions with Anne: 8
Course modules: 6
Steps in the free webinar plan: 5
Breakthrough Session: 40 min
Founder’s career reinventions: 4

Program facts as published by Rarified Life, as of November 2026.

Who leads it

A retirement coach who has reinvented four times

Anne van Leynseele did not arrive at Preferment by theory. She built and sold a production company in Los Angeles film and television, advised Fortune 100 companies on digital strategy across three continents, served as an Attorney Advisor in the Obama Administration, and helped write the legal framework for recreational cannabis in Washington State. Today she co-owns an award-winning chocolate farm on the Big Island of Hawaii, and she wrote the book the course is built on.

That history matters if you are looking for a retirement coach who understands what it means when your identity has been wrapped up in your work. Anne is not teaching you to slow down. She is showing you how to run your own reinvention, with the same seriousness you brought to your career.

What a retirement coach does, and how to choose one

“I spent a few years wandering around like a goldfish in a bowl. Preferment changed all that! I thought work defined me, but I discovered I am so much more. I learned to ‘be’ rather than just ‘do’ on autopilot.”

A Preferment participant, as quoted on rarifiedlife.com

Timing

Retirement transition coaching that starts before your last day

Most people start thinking about life after work on the day work ends. Rarified Life’s retirement transition coaching is designed to start earlier, even if your last day is still years away. The free webinar shows how to have a real answer to “So, what do you do?” in eight weeks, without it starting with the words “I used to.”

Starting early is not about slowing down. It is about testing what your future self actually wants while you still have the structure of a job around you, so the first Monday of retirement already has a purpose.

How retirement transition coaching works at each stage

Compare

How the Rarified Life options compare with typical retirement coaching

Rarified Life options and published market rates for retirement coaching, as of November 2026
Option	Format	Length	Cost	Best for
Rarified Life free webinar	Online presentation of the 5-step plan	One session	Free	Accomplished women in their 50s and 60s nearing or in retirement who want to see the approach first
Rarified Life Breakthrough Session	One-on-one call booked on the calendar	40 minutes	See the booking page	Anyone who wants to talk through fit before enrolling
Rarified Life Preferment course	Eight weekly live sessions with Anne, the book, guided homework	8 weeks	$3,000 per the course description; the checkout price applies	High achievers ready to build and launch a plan for life after career
Typical 1:1 retirement coaching (published market rates)	Individual sessions with a coach	3-6 months (Coaching Aging Adults)	$150-$300 per session (lifecoachingcertification.net); $200 per session, about 3 a month (Coaching Aging Adults)	People who want fully individual pacing

Market rates come from lifecoachingcertification.net and Coaching Aging Adults. They describe other providers, not Rarified Life. Rarified Life lists its own 1:1 coaching as coming soon.

Your next steps

How to start retirement coaching with Rarified Life

Register for the free webinar
See the 5-step plan and decide whether the approach fits. Register here.
Ask your questions
Book a 40-minute Breakthrough Session or write through the contact page.
Enroll in the 8-week Preferment course
Eight weekly live sessions with Anne, the Preferment book, and homework between sessions.
Work through the six modules
Identity, Motivation, Alignment, and Accountability, each building on the last.
Launch
Name your mission for the next chapter and step into it.

Context

Why the personal side of retirement deserves a plan

Published research suggests the adjustment is real. A meta-analysis cited by lifecoachingcertification.net found 28% of retirees experience depression, with a 40% spike in self-reported depression during the first years after retiring. The same source reports a 30% uptick in retirement coaching demand as baby boomers retire, with coaches addressing identity, purpose, and relationships, not just money.

See more retirement transition statistics with sources

Invite Anne to speak, or ask about coaching

Event organizers and prospective coaching clients can reach Rarified Life directly. Share your date, audience, or goals and the team will follow up.

Send an inquiry Speaking details

FAQ

Retirement coaching questions

What does a retirement coach do?: A retirement coach helps you plan the non-financial side of leaving your career: identity, purpose, daily structure, and relationships. At Rarified Life, that work runs through the Preferment framework, which moves from identity and motivation to alignment, accountability, and a named mission for your next chapter. A coach does not manage money; that remains the job of a licensed financial professional.
How much does a retirement coach cost?: Published market rates vary. lifecoachingcertification.net reports retirement coaches typically charge $150-$300 per session. Coaching Aging Adults, a Denver-area practice, lists $200 per session, with clients typically doing 3 sessions each month over 3-6 months. The main Rarified Life program is a fixed 8-week course rather than per-session billing.
How much does the Preferment course cost?: The course page describes the investment as $3,000 for eight weekly live sessions with Anne, the book, and the guided homework. The price displayed at checkout on the enrollment page is the one that applies, so confirm it there before you buy. The introductory webinar is free to attend.
Do I need a retirement coach or a financial planner?: Many people benefit from both, because they answer different questions. A financial planner addresses whether your money will last. A retirement coach addresses what you will do with your time and who you will be. Rarified Life focuses only on the second question and does not give financial, tax, or legal advice.
Do people have a hard time adjusting to retirement?: Many do. A meta-analysis cited by lifecoachingcertification.net found 28% of retirees experience depression, with a 40% spike in self-reported depression during the first years after retiring. The Rarified Life webinar also addresses a pattern Anne van Leynseele describes: smart, capable women who get eight months into retirement and stop answering the phone.
Can I join if I am still working full time?: Yes. The webinar describes an approach you can start without slowing down and without waiting for retirement day, and it is aimed at people whose last day may still be years away. The course runs weekly over eight weeks, which can fit around a working schedule; confirm session times on the enrollment page.

Read all 47 retirement coaching questions and answers

Method

How we chose

The comparison above judges every option on the same four criteria: format, length, cost, and who it suits. Rarified Life options are described from Rarified Life’s own published program details. Typical 1:1 coaching is described only from rates published by the named sources.

This page was written by Rarified Life, the business that publishes this site and offers the Preferment webinar and course. It is not an independent review. Read our approach and sources for the full method.

Start with the free webinar. Go deeper in eight weeks.

The free presentation lays out the 5-step plan. If it fits, the live Preferment course turns it into your own plan with Anne van Leynseele. Questions, speaking requests, or coaching inquiries go straight to Rarified Life.