Related: The real reason for the 'retirement crisis'

In a sense, we've long viewed retirement in digital terms. Our career is either on (when we're working) or off (when we're retired). Maybe, suggests Kitces, it's time to think of retirement in analog terms. Our employment engagement meter starts at full throttle then, instead of going directly to zero, gradually draws down, plateauing at lower levels for extended periods.

Consider this as a possible future: A teenager emerges from high school and immediately wades into the world of productivity rather than a traditional college. This doesn't mean they don't enter a collegiate curriculum. They will.

Only, instead of going to school full time and amassing a huge debt, they're working and going to school. In fact, the work desk and the classroom desk have become fully integrated. Much like retirement communities today, where similarly aged people live, work, and play together, we'll see "new adult" communities, where people live, work, and learn together. (OK, they play together, too.)

Once they "graduate" from this entry-level existence, they move towards what today we would consider the standard "career track." It's much like we see now. People settle down, get married, and raise a family. They will spend a significant portion of their adult lives inhabiting this stage.

Throughout this stage, people will seek to raise their plateau as they climb up their career ladder. However, contrary to current expectation, the goal of this stage isn't the terminus of retirement. Instead, people will target not jumping off the ladder, but stepping down to a more comfortable rung.

And there are any number of rungs to step down to. We have witnessed people who, rather than retire, have decided to pull back on their responsibilities, cut hours, and draw a smaller salary at their long-time company.

Others have opted out of the time clock all together and, instead, have become entrepreneurs who offer a comfortable level of paid consulting services.

Still others have thrown out their final past stub, and have decided to devote their time towards volunteering for their favorite non-profit.

Lastly, there are those who just want to relax. They travel. They sleep late. They take long walks on the beach. In short, they have chosen retirement as we currently define it.

My guess is the different "rungs" mentioned in the above paragraph represent the various stages of winding down one's work/play dynamic. It's quite easy to envision a "retirement" arc that starts with fewer hours, moves to consulting, then to volunteer work, and ultimately to a completely independent retirement.

The pace one takes hopping between rungs is a personal choice. There won't be any right or wrong answer, just many choices.

And who will be there to help guide people through these myriad of choices?

Kitces has an answer to that.