Researchers have not established that most retirees miss being expected more than work, money or status. That is striking evidence, but it is not a ranking of what retirees miss most. Work makes a person’s presence consequential every dayWe often talk about work as labour exchanged for money. Among the retirees, mattering helped explain part of the association between general social support and later positive feelings, although it did not explain the association with life satisfaction. It simply makes presence visible.