Most advisors don’t spend their day thinking about how to jolt their clients, but I do. I have a unique perspective on retirement planning because prior to becoming a financial advisor I was a social worker. I worked with some of the most difficult clients and situations, facilitating individual, group and family therapy as well as serving many of my area's psychiatric hospitals for years. I worked with addiction, depression, suicide, sexual abuse, child-neglect, self-harm, crime and more.
It’s an experience that takes you to places and situations most can’t imagine and leaves you wondering how and why. On the bright side, social workers are trained in how to observe people because you have to document everything including body language, tone, mannerisms and word choices. As a result, I’m not only comfortable in uncomfortable situations, but I pay very close attention to how people respond to the various things I say and ask.
Additionally, I spent close to a decade as a trust officer, which gives you a very real look at death, money and legacy. So, I’m not sharing these statements for fun or to be crafty. They are retirement realities that advisors can use to jolt clients in order to start new conversations that will help clients better prepare for everything that retirement can bring with it.
1. Stop advising clients they need to “retire to something.”
2. The difference between todays haves and have-nots isn’t money.
3. Twenty of the 43 most stressful life events take place at or near retirement.
4. Why worry about a market crash when the dark side of retirement carries much greater risks?
5. The issue isn’t that people are living longer, it’s simply taking longer for people to feel “old.”
6. Without your memory, your life loses meaning.
7. Traditional estate planning is backwards and may be more damaging than no planning at all.