"Baby boomers, who are starting to turn 60 this year, are probably well aware of the financial challenges that lay ahead but few may realize what they will experience emotionally," said Ken Dychtwald, CEO of Age Wave in San Francisco and an authority on baby boomers. "We have discovered that retirement is a complex process made up of distinct emotional stages, similar to other life transitions, such as pregnancy or grieving and loss."

Ameriprise worked with Age Wave and Harris Interactive, a Rochester, N.Y.-based market research firm, to conduct the "New Retirement Mindscape" study in August. They surveyed by telephone more than 2,000 Americans ages 40 to 75.

The study found:

• In the imagination stage (six to 15 years before retirement), 65 percent of survey respondents have high expectations of adventure in retirement; 44 percent say they're prepared.
• In the anticipation stage (five years before retirement), 80 percent say they'll "be able to achieve their dreams in retirement."
• Seventy-eight percent say they enjoy retirement during the liberation stage (retirement day and a year after).
• In the reorientation stage (two to 15 years into retirement), 49 percent feel empty and 34 percent are bored. The biggest worries were: health insurance and loss of income (both 24 percent) and the loss of social connections at work (22 percent). The positives included having more control of their time (44 percent), time to relax (23 percent) and a chance to reinvent their lives (17 percent).
• People in the reconciliation stage (at least 16 years after retirement) show more contentment, acceptance and personal reflection.