Most of us are used to thinking of retirement in simple terms: Either we're working, or we're retired. But life is more complicated than that. There are actually several different phases of retirement, each with different characteristics. For best results in your golden years, factor them all into your thinking and planning.

Three steps to consider
Financial thinker Ken Unger has pointed to three phases in retirement:

  • The early stage: You're no longer working, but still relatively young and energetic. It's when you might travel and devote time to interests such as golf or gardening.
  • The middle stage: You slow down and stay closer to home. You're still generally healthy, but perhaps with less strength and energy.
  • The late stage: Your physical or mental health starts to really suffer, and you're even less active.

In the early stage, you might spend a lot of money on your adventures, while the middle stage will require less cash. In the last stage, health-care expenses can be significant. Thus, overall, you might be withdrawing money from your nest egg at different rates during different phases.

Today's new realities
If anything, I think Unger's phases may be just the tip of the iceberg. These days, many people often work part-time for a stretch before full retirement. Indeed, many employers are making the most of this phenomenon by seeking out older workers, whom they value for their experience and maturity. Retirees can take fewer days off, too, since they don't stay home to care for sick children. Such elder-friendly companies include Monsanto (NYSE: MON), CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS), and Boeing (NYSE: BA). Monsanto, for instance, maintains and hires from a database of available retirees, while Boeing uses retirees to mentor new employees.

A few years ago, an AARP survey found that 70% of workers aged around 62 plan to work well into retirement. With more and more people pensionless and dependent on skimpy 401(k)s, that percentage isn't likely to drop. There's even talk in Washington of raising the Social Security full retirement age from 66 or 67 to 70.

A longer working life seems to be in the cards for most of us. So that first phase of retirement may end up split in half, with people working in the first half, and cramming their traveling and other active activities into the second half.

Working longer
Extending their professional lives will help retirees, giving them a chance to further build up their nest eggs while delaying their full reliance on those savings. Working just a few more years can make your retirement much better.

However, keeping more retirees in the working world could hurt the fortunes of leisure companies. Retirees who'd planned on buying a Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) motorcycle and riding it cross-country might end up delaying that dream indefinitely. Those who'd planned to frequent the casinos of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) and MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM) might ultimately visit them less. Cruise lines, resorts, hotels, airlines, golf equipment companies, and more could all end up reaping less than they expected from the retirement of Baby Boomers.

Companies such as E*TRADE (Nasdaq: ETFC) could benefit, though. Retirees have traditionally plunked much of their nest egg's stock money into hefty dividend payers, and not traded as much. (Think of your grandfather's decades of owning several blue chips.)

However, people working longer may now spend more years actively buying and selling stocks, even when they're retired. The interest in the market many people have accumulated over the past decade or two isn't likely to go away. Indeed, in retirement, some people will have much more time to study stocks in search of the best buys.

Retirement for us will look different in some ways than it did for earlier generations. We'll work longer, but we'll play harder, too. By saving aggressively and investing effectively, you can make the most of each phase of your golden years.