What’s the biggest source of friction between spouses/partners in later life?
MARC AGRONIN: Retirement brings the certainty of spending a lot more time eyeball to eyeball with your spouse or partner. Previously established household routines will be disrupted as you adjust to being home with a lot more time on your hands. Changing attitudes, emotions and priorities might clash. Time previously spent alone or with friends will be intruded upon. Age-related medical and mental-health issues might crop up that require greater involvement with one another and new (and often stressful) caregiving roles. Gender roles can be reversed if one partner has to assume responsibilities of the other. The long-established equilibrium between partners has to be re-evaluated, and this can be extremely challenging for couples who only survived together because of the previous balance.