Relationships among satisfaction in retirement, strength of the work ethic, and daily activities were examined. Seventy-six retired men and women aged 53 to 88 years (M = 69.6) completed two measures of retirement satisfaction (the Life Satisfaction Index-A and the Retirement Description Index), the Protestant Ethic scale, and kept activity diaries for 1 week, in which activities were rated for usefulness and pleasantness. Retirement satisfaction, work values, and usefulness ratings were related complexly such that the least satisfied retirees, as measured by the RDI, were those with high work values who did not perceive their activities as being useful and those with low work values who perceived their activities as being highly useful. Greater satisfaction, as measured by the LSI-A, was associated with higher usefulness ratings. The mean number of activities listed correlated negatively with Protestant Ethic scores, but positively with both measures of retirement satisfaction, suggesting that retirees with strong work values are not as active or as satisfied in retirement.