In the strictest meaning of the word "to retire" equals stagnation, pausing, death.
A number of folk who have no planned retirement drop dead not long after they stop work.
I understand the definition that Dazz alludes to and that's the one I also like. It implies choices and opportunities. Retirement (as a word) is so finite to me. One can retire for the night, and hopefully awaken the next morning or one can retire forever and pass on.
As a society since we choose that word to indicate some type of release or freedom from the daily grind, perhaps the nomeclature should be "active retirement".
I see vibrant people in their seventies, eighties and nineties, who whilst having retired from the actual paid workforce, live meaningful, purposeful lives and are happy.
They are respectfully told that ........."at their age they should slow down". That's an insult. None of us need to slow down. We should speed up and maybe calm down. High frequency people attract all sorts of opportunities to themselves.
I intend to die young, at a very old age.
Happiness, health, purposeful relationships and then the rest are my core values. Old age is a success in itself