Ralph Warner, author of Get a Life: You Don't Need a Million to Retire Well, urges that people looking toward retirement think about more than financial matters.

In his interviews of more than fifty contented retirees, Warner "couldn't find a major correlation between retirement success and money. By working a little less you're really investing in yourself, in your family. Money is not the most important factor."

The five factors rated most important to satisfaction in the retirement years are these:

1. Health
2. Interest/engagement with life and new things
3. Friends
4. Family relationships
5. Money