The concept of retirement coaching has caught fire, and it’s getting hotter. It’s one of those industry trends you don’t want to be on the outside of looking in, or wind up the last one to integrate it into your practice. 

That makes the answer a simple “Yes, you should add elements of it to your practice.” Of course, the harder question is, “How do I do it?”

Retirement coaching can be broadly defined as the process of helping clients prepare for, and transition into everyday retirement life. Things like replacing their work identity, staying relevant and connected, keeping mentally and physically sharp, and even spiritually grounded. In other words, using tools and resources to help clients prepare for the non-financial aspects of retirement.

Taking it one step further, I view retirement coaching as the way in which we give our clients permission to open up … discover who they are … what this time will mean for them, and then, empowering them to do it.

On the surface, adding retirement coaching to your skill set may seem like a major decision demanding hours of research, a new credential, plus ongoing training and support. While all of those may need to be considered at some point, I want to encourage you to start simpler. To begin by connecting your prospects and clients to this type of retirement planning by sharing your own life lessons as a means of creating both awareness and points to reflect upon as they journey toward retirement.

By using your own everyday life examples, advisors can shift the focus from feeling overwhelmed by another role they need to play to concentrating on the way they wish to deliver the coaching. Here are two recent examples that could fit into a blog post, newsletter or email. 

Retirement Coaching: What Are You Carrying Into Retirement?

I’m not sure what compels me to do it, but every time my wife comes home from the grocery store, I have this inherent need, a deep-rooted desire, to carry everything in with one trip to the car. Mind you, we have four kids, plus a dog and guinea pig, so as you can imagine, when I reach the car, I am greeted by a sea of grocery bags.

As I approach the vast cargo, I begin to assess the prospects of the journey and begin strategically slipping the bags over each wrist … carefully leaving my hands available to carry a gallon of milk and laundry detergent.

As I lift with great force and walk with profound focus, I quickly come face to face with my grocery delivery nemesis: The door.

Despite having done this hundreds of times, my mind begins to scramble as I step onto the porch and try to figure out how I am going to adjust the bags or manipulate my body to swing open and walk through that door with all the stuff still in my hands.

I’m proud to admit, that many times the mission is accomplished … however, as a result of trying to do it all at once, something usually suffers.

It could be the loaf of bread that gets squished, the bag of chips or soda that falls out, or the juice from the chicken or hamburger that drips onto the porch and kitchen floor because of the way it was repositioned by all the other bags in my hand.

Furthermore, there are no real rewards for everything that I put into it. My wife and kids don’t love me more or shower me with gratitude for the task I deemed to be important or necessary.

It makes you stop and wonder, why don’t I just set the bags down or make a couple trips, right?

Fact is, something very similar can happen on the way to retirement. We’re often tasked with carrying and juggling a lot as we approach it … but you’ll never get through the door with it all.

You pour yourself into work, make sacrifices, save and invest regularly and suddenly find yourself on the doorstep, wondering what you may have to adjust or manipulate to walk through.

While many of the things you reach the door with are essential goods for retirement, trying to get everything through the door usually means something has suffered along the way. It could be a relationship, healthy lifestyle, desire to participate in or experience certain activities or even the ability to find joy outside of work.

It begs the question: What do you need to put down and re-strategize before you actually walk through that door?

Here’s another example:

Retirement Coaching: Finding New Adventures In Retirement

After moving to a new city just before starting high school, my brothers and I were constantly on the lookout for things to do that summer. One day my dad told us about a park that was supposedly close by. He claimed it contained basketball and tennis courts, baseball fields and even had a small creek running through it.

He gave us some general direction as to its location, despite the fact that he had never been there himself. For a few days we cruised around the area on our bikes looking for this park to satisfy our midsummer boredom.

After many laps around the same general area and no new clues, we gave up and simply decided to head in a new direction. Freed from the stress of finding that which eluded us, our bikes peddled with greater ease and all seemed to enjoy the ride much more.

New streets, houses and cars revealed themselves in a carefree way that solved our monotony and gave us something new to talk about and experience. It wasn't long before we came around a sharp bend, that the elusive park finally presented itself to us.

It makes me wonder what long and elusive journey you may be on. Could it be time to surrender and go in a new direction? One where peddling might come easier as new things and experiences present themselves.

It seems that sometimes we are all given ideas, directions and goals by others, and that as we pursue them, we hold tightly to what we have been told and where things will take us. However, when we feel the need to hold on, that is usually the moment to let go since most of our searching is looking for ways to discover who we already are.

Take a moment to think about your retirement plan or life. What do you hope to find in yourself or during this phase of life when you come around the sharp bend straight ahead? What are you looking for?

As you can see, in each case I used an everyday life situation, such as carrying groceries or riding a bike, to open up new doors that reveal ideas about retirement. And that’s precisely what retirement coaching is all about—helping others start to think about and prepare for the many areas of retirement.

What’s more, it fills a major retirement planning void. As the old adage goes, “That which is not expressed ends up depressed.” That goes for both advisors and clients because the more we share and bring out what is in us, the more we can bring out in others—something that is essential to creating stronger bonds with clients.

The two examples above were selected specifically because some advisors may already be carrying too much … wearing too many hats … or are afraid to give something up in order to go in a new direction. I know I had my feet in each of those camps at different times and for different reasons. Which is why I use elements of retirement coaching to not only grow and transform myself but others as well. 

Retirement coaching is a rapidly growing trend where the tools and resources will only get more complex and sophisticated. As a result, more credentials will crop up and related trainings will inevitably dominate industry conferences. Advisors who stay ahead of this curve will not only avoid the headaches associated with playing catch-up but will also position themselves to grow and transform lives well beyond the dollars and cents associated with our industry. 

 

Robert Laura is the president of SYNERGOS Financial Group, the founder of RetirementProject.org and the creator of the Retirement Wellness Report and DividendPaycheck.org. He can be reached at [email protected].