FAQ
Last updated: November 2026Published by Rarified Life
Here are 45 plain answers about the Preferment framework, the 8-week course, who it is for, and how to enjoy life after retirement.
Part of our retirement lifestyle planning guide.
Preferment is a research-informed framework from Rarified Life for redesigning life after work around your personal values, purpose, and meaningful activities. Rarified Life presents it as an active alternative to conventional retirement: instead of treating the end of a career as an ending, Preferment treats it as a next chapter you design on purpose.
Anne van Leynseele created Preferment and wrote the book the 8-week course is built on. She built and sold a Los Angeles film and television production company, advised Fortune 100 companies on digital strategy across three continents, served as an Attorney Advisor in the Obama Administration, and now co-owns an award-winning chocolate farm on the Big Island of Hawaii.
No. Rarified Life uses Preferment as a deliberate contrast to retirement. Conventional retirement is often framed as stepping back. Preferment frames life after work as stepping forward into a chosen mission, built from your values and strengths. The Rarified Life website puts it simply: ditch retirement and try Preferment instead.
Rarified Life describes Preferment as research-informed, meaning the framework draws on research rather than opinion alone. This guide does not list the specific studies behind it, because they were not supplied to us. The Preferment book, which is included in the 8-week course, is the best place to review the thinking behind each module.
The six Preferment modules are Introduction, Identity, Motivation, Alignment, Accountability, and Launch. They move from where you are now, to separating who you are from what you did, to finding what moves you, to matching values and strengths with your days, to building structure, and finally to naming your mission for the next chapter.
Yes. Anne van Leynseele wrote the book Preferment, and it is the companion text and workbook for the 8-week course. The homework for the course is built into the book. Rarified Life also lists additional books as coming soon on its website, so check rarifiedlife.com for current titles.
The Preferment Life Platform is how Rarified Life brings its offerings together: the 8-week live course, books, and 1:1 coaching. As of November 2026, the 8-week course is available to purchase, while additional books and 1:1 coaching are listed as coming soon on rarifiedlife.com.
The Preferment course runs for eight weeks, with one live session each week. Each week builds on the last, and you complete homework from the book between sessions. Rarified Life describes it as a structured path rather than a self-help pep talk, so the eight weeks are designed to be worked through in order.
The sessions are live. The course includes eight weekly live sessions with Anne van Leynseele, working through the Preferment book chapter by chapter. The course page does not say whether recordings are provided, so if you may miss a week, confirm the recording policy on the course page at rarifiedlife.com before enrolling.
The course includes eight weekly live sessions with Anne van Leynseele, the Preferment book as your companion text and workbook, homework built into the book, and a structured path in which each week builds on the last. The content is organized into six modules: Introduction, Identity, Motivation, Alignment, Accountability, and Launch.
As of November 2026, the course page on rarifiedlife.com lists the course at $6,000.00, while the course description on the same page states an investment of $3,000 for the eight live sessions, the book, and the guided homework. Because the page shows both figures, confirm the current price at checkout before you enroll.
Homework is built into the Preferment book and done between the weekly sessions. Rarified Life describes it as real exercises, not busywork. The course page does not give a weekly time estimate, so plan a few unhurried hours each week and check the course page if you need a firmer number.
No. The course page says you do not need a five-year plan, you just need a room to start figuring it out in. The first module, Introduction, starts with where you are right now. The plan is something the course helps you build, ending with the Launch module, where you name your mission.
Enrollment happens on the Preferment course page at rarifiedlife.com, where the course is listed as Preferment, Anne van Leynseele's Live Course for Life After Career. This guide does not handle enrollment. We suggest reading the framework explanation first, then visiting the course page once you know the approach suits you.
Preferment is for people, especially high achievers, who are approaching or already in retirement and want life after work to be built around values, purpose, and meaningful activity. The course page describes its audience as driven people who are done treating retirement like an ending and ready to treat it like an ascension.
No. The course page speaks to driven people in general. Rarified Life does offer a free presentation aimed specifically at accomplished women in their 50s and 60s who are nearing or in retirement, which describes a 5-step plan. The framework itself is presented for high achievers approaching or in retirement.
Yes. Rarified Life says you can start even if your last day at work is still years away, and without waiting for retirement day. Starting early gives you time to separate your identity from your job title and test new activities before your schedule suddenly opens up.
That is the exact problem the Identity module addresses. It focuses on separating who you are from what you did for a living. Rarified Life speaks directly to people whose entire identity has been wrapped up in their work, and to the moment when someone asks what you do and the answer starts with I used to.
Yes. Rarified Life designs Preferment for people approaching or in retirement. If you have more time than ever and no clear idea what it is for, the course starts where you are now and works toward naming a mission for this chapter. Being retired already simply means you can apply each week right away.
Anne van Leynseele is the founder behind Rarified Life and the author of Preferment. Her career spans film and television production in Los Angeles, Fortune 100 digital strategy, a role as an Attorney Advisor in the Obama Administration, and work on the legal framework for recreational cannabis in Washington State. She describes herself as having lived four reinventions.
Enjoy life after retirement by replacing what work gave you, not just your hours. Work supplied identity, motivation, structure, and a reason to show up. Rebuild each on purpose: know who you are beyond your title, find what moves you now, fill your week with activities that match your values, and create accountability so plans become routine.
Retirement can be stressful, even when it is wanted. Losing a role, daily structure, and work relationships all at once is a major change. Money worry adds to it: EBRI's 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey found workers' confidence in having enough to live comfortably fell 6 percentage points to 61%. Planning both lifestyle and finances reduces the uncertainty.
Good retirement lifestyle ideas meet a real need: purpose, mastery, connection, health, or contribution. Examples include mentoring in your former field, learning a demanding new skill, starting a small venture, serving on a board, or committing to a fitness goal. Pick ideas by testing them against your values rather than copying a bucket list.
Retirement lifestyle planning is deciding how you will spend your time, energy, and identity after your career, alongside how you will fund it. Financial planning answers whether you can afford retirement. Lifestyle planning answers what the years are for. Rarified Life's Preferment framework is one structured approach to the lifestyle side.
Plan for retirement on two tracks. The financial track covers savings, income, healthcare, and timing, ideally with a licensed professional. The lifestyle track covers identity, purpose, relationships, and how your weeks will look. Start both early. The Preferment framework from Rarified Life focuses on the lifestyle track and works alongside financial advice, not instead of it.
Common signs include: work no longer energizes you, you keep imagining what else you would do, your health needs more attention, your finances are on track, you feel ready to mentor rather than compete, you crave flexibility, family needs you more, your role has changed, you have outgrown your goals, and you can picture a next chapter worth building.
The core ideas for how to enjoy life after retirement in India are the same as anywhere: rebuild identity, purpose, connection, and daily structure. Pensions, healthcare, and family arrangements differ by country, so get local financial advice. Preferment's values-based approach is not tied to one country; check session times and format on the course page.
Many retirees feel lost because work quietly supplied identity, motivation, and structure, and those disappear on the last day. Rarified Life describes it as standing in a room nobody prepared you for, with more time than you have ever had and no idea what it is for. Rebuilding those supports on purpose is the remedy.
No. Rarified Life presents Preferment as a framework for redesigning life after work around values, purpose, and meaningful activities. It is not presented as financial planning. For investments, income, taxes, and benefits, work with a licensed financial professional, and use Preferment for the identity and purpose side of your retirement.
There is no single best retirement fund for everyone. The right choice depends on your age, income needs, risk tolerance, taxes, and what your employer offers. A licensed financial advisor can compare options for your situation. This guide covers retirement lifestyle planning, so treat any fund question as a question for a qualified professional.
The 3 rule usually refers to withdrawing about 3 percent of your savings in the first year of retirement, a more conservative version of the widely cited 4 percent guideline. A lower rate aims to make savings last longer. It is a rule of thumb, not advice, so confirm a withdrawal rate with a licensed financial planner.
Claiming at 62 permanently reduces your monthly benefit. For people born in 1960 or later, 67 is full retirement age and pays your full benefit. Waiting past full retirement age adds delayed retirement credits until age 70, raising the monthly amount. Confirm your own figures with the Social Security Administration at ssa.gov.
There is no universally smartest month to retire. The best timing depends on when bonuses, pension credits, health coverage, and vacation payouts land, plus tax considerations. Ask your employer and a financial professional how timing affects your numbers. On the lifestyle side, start planning months ahead so your first week already has shape.
The age people actually retire varies widely, and many leave work earlier or later than they planned because of health, caregiving, or job changes. For current figures, EBRI's annual Retirement Confidence Survey tracks expected and actual retirement ages. Whatever your age, Preferment encourages starting the identity work before your last day.
It depends on your interest rate, savings, tax situation, and how much monthly cash flow matters to you. Paying off a mortgage lowers fixed costs but can tie up money you might need. This is a financial decision best made with a licensed advisor; it sits outside what the Preferment framework covers.
Confidence is falling. EBRI's 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey found workers' confidence fell 6 percentage points to 61% and retirees' fell 5 points to 73%. NIRS reports that 80% of Americans say the nation faces a retirement crisis, up from 67 percent in 2020. See our by the numbers page for sources.
A retirement coach usually works with you one to one on your own pace and goals. The Preferment course is a structured 8-week live program led by Anne van Leynseele, with a book, homework, and six set modules. Rarified Life lists 1:1 coaching as coming soon, so as of November 2026 the course is its main offering.
As of November 2026, Rarified Life lists 1:1 coaching as coming soon on its website. The live 8-week Preferment course is currently available. If personal coaching matters to you, check rarifiedlife.com for updates, or compare the course with other retirement coaches using the criteria on our comparison page.
They answer different questions, so many people need both. A financial planner helps you fund retirement. Preferment helps you decide what retirement is for: identity, motivation, alignment, and a mission. Rarified Life positions Preferment as a faster route to a lived plan for life after work, but it does not replace financial advice.
The course adds what a book alone cannot: eight weekly live sessions with the author, a set pace, and homework you bring back each week. If you prefer working alone, a book may suit you. The Preferment book is included in the course, so you get the text plus structure and accountability.
Retirement transition coaching helps people move from a career identity to a fulfilling life after work. It typically covers identity, purpose, routines, and relationships. Some retirement transition coaching happens one to one; some happens in structured group programs. The Preferment 8-week course from Rarified Life is a live, structured format of this kind of support.
Start by reading how the Preferment framework works, especially the six modules, and notice which one feels most urgent for you. If Identity or Motivation stands out, the framework is likely relevant. Then read the 8-week course details and visit the course page on rarifiedlife.com when you are ready.
Yes. Rarified Life offers a free presentation for accomplished women in their 50s and 60s who are nearing or in retirement. It describes a 5-step plan for replacing the what now feeling of retirement within 8 weeks. You can find it on rarifiedlife.com.
The main Rarified Life website is rarifiedlife.com. It has the course page, information about the Preferment Life Platform, and updates on books and 1:1 coaching, which are listed as coming soon as of November 2026. This guide is a supporting site focused on explaining the framework.
The Preferment Guide is published by Rarified Life, the business behind the Preferment framework and course. It is one of a small number of websites Rarified Life publishes. It is not independent, and it says so on every page. Its purpose is to help you understand Preferment before deciding on the course.
Ready to go deeper? Start with what Preferment is, then read what the 8-week course includes.
Published by Rarified Life
