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Published by Rarified Life

Preferment: an 8-week retirement life course for your next chapter

Last updated: November 2026

Preferment is a retirement life course: eight weekly live sessions with Anne van Leynseele, built on her book, that help you shape an active, purpose-driven life after your career.

Rarified Life created Preferment for driven people who are done treating retirement like an ending. Over eight weeks you move through six modules, from Identity to Launch, completing homework built into the book between sessions. The goal is a next chapter shaped by your own values, not a calendar of errands and appointments.

Explore retirement coaching optionsSee the six modules
Front and back covers of the book Preferment by Anne van Leynseele, showing a green meadow under a blue sky and Anne standing beside a pickup truck on her farm
The Preferment book is the companion text and workbook for all eight weeks of the course.

What is a retirement life course?

A retirement life course is a structured program that helps you plan the non-financial side of retirement: who you are without your job, what motivates you now, and how you will spend your days. Rarified Life's Preferment course does this over eight weeks of live sessions with founder Anne van Leynseele. Each week works through one part of her book, and homework turns each idea into a concrete decision about your own life.

People often search for a grounded life retirement travel course or a life course perspective on retirement. Preferment is closest to the second: it treats retirement as one stage in a longer life rather than a finish line. As the book points out, the United States set 65 as the standard retirement age in 1935, and people can now stay active and healthy far longer than that model assumed.

The Preferment course at a glance

Definition: what Preferment is

Preferment is the live, 8-week course from Rarified Life for life after career. Anne van Leynseele leads eight weekly sessions that work through her book Preferment chapter by chapter. The book is also the workbook, with real exercises completed between sessions. Rarified Life describes Preferment as a research-informed framework and life platform for rethinking retirement, aligning plans with personal values, and cultivating meaningful pursuits. Its central idea, from the book, is the difference between filling hours and fulfilling hours.

The course by the numbers

  • 8 weeks, with each week building on the last
  • 8 weekly live sessions with Anne van Leynseele
  • 6 modules, from Introduction to Launch
  • 1 book that serves as companion text and workbook
  • 4 career reinventions Anne draws on as founder

Price, as published on the Rarified Life course listing: $6,000.00 on the listing, and $3,000 stated in its Investment section. See the cost page for details.

Life coaching for retirement, or a structured course?

Life coaching for retirement usually means one-on-one sessions shaped around your situation, while Preferment gives you a set path, a book, and weekly accountability in a live course.

Both aim at the same question many people face after a career: what is all this time for? A retirement coach adapts to you session by session. Preferment moves through six modules in order, so you never have to decide what to work on next. Rarified Life lists its own 1:1 coaching as coming soon, which makes the 8-week course the current way to work through the Preferment framework with Anne.

Read the full side-by-side on life coaching for retirement versus a live course, or see four ways to plan life after a career compared.

How the eight weeks unfold, module by module

  1. Module 1

    Introduction

    Where you are right now, and why the old model of retirement was never built for someone like you.

  2. Module 2

    Identity

    Separating who you are from what you did for a living.

  3. Module 3

    Motivation

    Finding what actually moves you, now that a paycheck is not the reason.

  4. Module 4

    Alignment

    Matching your values and strengths to how you will actually spend your days.

  5. Module 5

    Accountability

    Building the structure that turns intention into a lived routine.

  6. Module 6

    Launch

    Naming your mission for this next chapter, and stepping into it.

Read what each Preferment module covers in depth

Who is Preferment for?

The course listing describes it plainly: you spent decades building a career, a reputation, and a way of moving through the world, and now you have more time than ever, with no idea what it is for. Preferment is for driven people ready to treat this stage as an ascension rather than an ending.

Rarified Life's free presentation speaks especially to accomplished women in their 50s and 60s who are nearing or in retirement, including those whose identity has been wrapped up in their work. You do not need a five-year plan to begin, and you do not need to have retired yet.

"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."
Participant quote shared on rarifiedlife.com
Anne van Leynseele, founder of Rarified Life, seated at a studio microphone in front of a city skyline
Anne van Leynseele, founder of Rarified Life, who wrote the book the course is built on and leads every live session.

Explore the Preferment course in detail

Ready for a next step after exploring? Rarified Life offers a free presentation on rethinking retirement.

Common questions

What is the Preferment course?
Preferment is the live, 8-week course from Rarified Life for life after career, led by founder Anne van Leynseele. Participants work through her book Preferment chapter by chapter in eight weekly live sessions and complete homework built into the book between sessions. It treats retirement as the start of a new chapter rather than an ending.
How much does the Preferment course cost?
The Rarified Life course listing shows a price of $6,000.00, while the Investment section on the same listing states $3,000 for the eight weekly live sessions, the book, and the guided homework. Because the two figures differ, check the current price on the course listing at rarifiedlife.com before you enroll.
How long is the Preferment course?
The course runs for eight weeks. There is one live session with Anne van Leynseele each week, and each week builds on the one before it. Homework from the book is completed between sessions, so plan for some time outside the live sessions as well as the sessions themselves.
Who is the Preferment course for?
According to the course listing, Preferment is for driven people who are done treating retirement like an ending and ready to treat it like an ascension. It suits people who spent decades building a career and a reputation and now have more time than ever, but no clear sense of what that time is for.
Is a course or a retirement life coach better for me?
It depends on what you need. A structured course like Preferment suits people who want a set path, a book, and weekly accountability. One-on-one coaching suits people who want every session shaped around their own situation. Rarified Life lists 1:1 coaching as coming soon, so its course is the current option.
Can I take the course while I am still working?
Yes. Nothing in the course requires you to be retired. The Rarified Life free presentation speaks directly to people whose last day at work is still years away and encourages starting without waiting for retirement day. Starting early gives you time to test new pursuits while work still provides structure.
What is a life course perspective on retirement?
A life course perspective on retirement treats retirement as one stage in a whole life rather than a finish line. Preferment takes that view. Its book notes that the United States adopted the Social Security Act in 1935, setting 65 as the standard retirement age, and that people can now stay active and healthy for longer.
Read all 43 questions and answers

Exploring retirement coaching? Start with the right question.

See whether a structured course or one-on-one coaching suits you, then watch the free presentation from Rarified Life as your next step.

Course or coaching?Watch the free presentation