But why fear the worst?...FRONTLINE presents spry documentary 'My Retirement Dreams,' a whimsical look by off-the-cuff filmmaker Marian Marzynski at how a few Florida retirees spend their time.

No dry facts and figures here. 'Dreams' is a fanciful, subjective look at retirement. Marzynski, 60, who calls himself, between 'a boomer and a geezer,' trains his camera on a few retired Miami Beach condo dwellers as they socialize and ponder the meaning of their lives.

The biggest hurdle retiree Louis Shroer and the other elders of 'Dreams' face is depression--a loss of purpose and hence of joy. Several have moved south from New York to retire and feel displaced. Most are isolated from younger people.

But irreverent Marzynski is determined to find a formula for better aging. He tries the baby boomer antidote--golf. It's a humorous bust. He visits professor--and boomer--Tim Patton who teaches 'Retirement' for Baby Boomer' at Florida's International University. Patton is convinced boomers can age more happily and healthily than their parents.

Mostly, Marzynski ferrets out older folks who are role models for a better 'elderhood.' 'My philosophy was always live and laugh,' says Betty Sullivan, 69, who has little money but relishes the new adventures of each day.

A light look at growing older, yes indeed. But why not approach what's scary with wit and confidence, as 'My Retirement Dreams' does?

Filmmaker Marian Marzynski has pieced together quite a poignant picture of what may lie ahead in life's final chapter. Only the telling is considered light-weight.

Marzynski captures a stage in life that can be glorious or downright depressing. He manages to serve all sides of the issue in troubling and, dare I say, cute, ways.

'The spectacle of retirement is rather disappointing,' one retiree says while power walking on Miami Beach. "I felt lost, and I still do at times. I felt like I should have a destiny, someplace to go."

Most intriguing is that many of the subjects interviewed here feel that they were put on earth to do something constructive and are now faced with the possibility that they never did it, whatever it was; others keep pushing, taking classes and even falling in love, figuring that life is merely a journey to be walked, even if it's in a walker."