Ideally your relationship with your partner should be better during retirement and like most things it will be if you do some planning. The benefit of the retirement years is that you should have less stress. You have already survived stressful years of earning a living, raising children and purchasing a home. Now is the time for you to enjoy life. Here are a few tips to help you create and follow a relationship harmony plan.Determine yourpersonal strengthsEach partner should write down and then articulate his or her life passions, life goals and Unique Ability. Dan Sullivan, co-founder of the Strategic Coach, defines unique ability as the essence of what you do and do best.This important exercise will provide surprising insight into how you should frame your plan. The next step is to examine what you both have written and then determine how you can both achieve these goals and follow the dreams in harmony. The following are some areas in which you can apply your passions and abilities.1. Generating revenueThis could involve consulting or starting a small business together. With two of you using your Unique Abilities and loving what you do you will find you will be living a most fulfilling and exciting life.You are more likely to be successful and will enjoy most every day that you are committed to your money-making activities. This is true if those activities do not become too stressful, impact on your financial security, put undo strain on your marriage or cramp your desired lifestyle.2. VolunteeringIf volunteering was something you both determined to be an important activity during your retirement, find an interest that you both share that could be woven into your retirement activities. For example, if you both wish to travel, stay physically active and would like to help children, then you may wish to explore the opportunity to volunteer overseas in areas where there is a great need to assist children using your combined skills and abilities.3. LeisureWorking independently, you should each identify the activities in which you would like to participate.You will discover through this process which activities you have in common and could do together. Alternatively you will also discover which might be better enjoyed independently. In that way, no one is in a position of feeling forced to participate in an activity in which he or she would find uninteresting, tiresome or perhaps unsafe.4. Household managementDeciding on who does what to maintain the household is essential. Couples should divvy up the household chores such as cooking, dusting, washing, managing the finances, looking after the yard or walking the dog. Over time, you have probably developed habits and preferences. However, these seemingly understood territories often shift during retirement.Part of the retirement transition process is to discuss and mutually agree upon household responsibilities and social roles, rather than assuming old patterns will continue or that adjustments will take place automatically. The easiest way to start is for each partner to make a list of the responsibilities they would prefer to assume.The allocation of those tasks should be very easy if the lists are very different. If they are the same, you have two choices take turns or both take on the chore at the same time. Doing the less fun chores together will make it go faster for both of you.5. Independent timeMost people feel the need for some time to themselves. It is important to schedule activities that you enjoy, completely independent of your spouse. You may enjoy the solitude of working in the garden or going for a walk. On the other hand, you may enjoy spending time with close friends at a weekly luncheon or monthly book club meeting. Regardless, both partners should respect the other’s need for ‘me-time’ and not feel guilty about requesting the same for themselves.6. Get back into bedStart patiently working on improving your intimate relationship. I think of intimacy as a psychological and emotional connection between two people that enhances their physical relationship. Begin working on better communication, having more fun, going on ‘dates’, opening doors for each other, holding hands and take the time to rediscover the beauty in each other.With proper planning retirement should be the most fun and fulfilling period of your life together.n Karen Schellinck is the author of Myera.MyLife. The Ultimate Boomer Guide to Planning Life After Work.