Truth be told, it’s not uncommon for people to confuse who they are with what they do. As a result, they get to retirement and can feel lost and out of sorts. This is a problem because they have been duped into believing that retirement is this holy grail phase of life where everything is easy and stress free. And I’m not saying it can’t be an amazing time, but it takes time, energy and planning to get there.
Retirement can be stressful and even at times, cause clients to feel like they are failing at it. This is why I continue to emphasize the need for a concrete, written plan that addresses all of the five key areas of a successful retirement transition: mental, social, physical, spiritual and financial.
Research supports it. I have been offering a retirement priorities quiz for several years and over 19,000 people have taken it. What we have found over the years is that less than 20% of boomers have a plan for what an ideal day and week will look like in retirement and 45% of the same respondents don’t have a hobby or passion that defines them outside of the workplace. Furthermore, only 37% of the group say they participate in four or more social events each month.
Therefore, it’s not enough to just tell clients about it. Awareness is not the key here. Advisors need to not only have access to tangible tools and resources, but professional training in helping clients see the need to replace their work identity from a fresh perspective.
We need to guide, encourage, and ultimately be in a place where we can show them how to do it because the whole idea of complete reinvention in retirement sounds like a daunting task that should be put off for as long as possible. It seems like this monumental project, sort of like setting a whole bunch of New Year resolutions for the rest of your life…and then slowly but surely failing at all of them.
No thanks, right? This is why I think it’s so important for advisors to have strategies to help shift client’s perspective on this and other non-financial topics. For example, the idea of replacing one’s work identity can be much more engaging and doable if you look at the process in the same way Michelangelo carved his statues. His philosophy was that God had already created the statue within the marble and it was his job to get rid of the excess.
Think about that. Our true selves are waiting behind these hard, outside layers of stone that have been put around us. Things like our work environment, negative people and situations, demands from others, and even technology. All of which, make it harder to see what’s behind the marble.
Let’s not forget that there are also a series of layers that the media and our industry put up around the concept of retirement. We are constantly bombarded by mainstream images of what a perfect retirement is supposed to look and feel like, but most of it has very little to do with what might be truly important for each of your clients.
Therefore, it’s crucial to start chiseling back the layers.
What’s invigorating about this idea is that advisors can help clients get rid of things rather than asking them to do more. Oftentimes, adding more things to do can feel overwhelming and stressful. So instead of piling more things on, ask your clients to think about the layers of life they want to get rid of and be done with as they transition into retirement.