The factors that contributed to a person's self-esteem during their working years will also play a critical role during retirement. While each issue may or may not have the same weight as it did during their working years, advisors can help clients manage both their self-worth and net worth by making adjustments to how they frame questions they ask clients about retirement, helping to ensure that their plan contributes to a healthy level of self-esteem.
I hope advisors come to the realization that they must not only be skilled in retirement planning but also retirement transitioning, particularly if they don't want their clients to turn out to be an Idler, a Conspiracy Theorist or a Homebody.
Follow Robert on Twitter @robertlaura. He is the president of SYNEGOS Financial group, co-founder of RetirementProject.org, creator of the Laddered Dividend Portfolio, and author of Naked Retirement. He can be reached at [email protected].