My wife recently bought front-row tickets for the local high school’s performance of The Wizard of Oz.  She was excited to take our daughter and 6-year-old niece out to dinner and to the show. Dinner was great, but after they were ushered to their VIP seats, a major problem popped up. When our niece sat down, it became painfully obvious that she couldn’t see the entire stage. The height of the stage behind the orchestra pit was just tall enough to cut off her vision of the full depth of the stage.

This was obviously a first world problem and meant my wife would be holding her for part of the show while she sat on her knees for the rest of it. The point I am trying to make is that sometimes our view of things can be cut off, even if we pay up for the premium seats.

This is definitely the case when it comes to financial professionals who have a front-row seat to the world of retirement. Quite frankly, our profession gives us something very few people ever see or get. We have VIP, all access to people who are just starting to plan for it, people who are in the throws of the transition, as well as clients already living in it. We get to see how they accumulated their savings, what their plans are for life after work, and how the transition impacts them both personally and financially. It’s definitely an interesting script we get to see play out.

However, similar to the issue with my niece, many professionals only maintain a partial view of retirement, sometimes disregarding the value and importance of the backdrop and what scenes may be playing out in the background of retirement. They simply stay focused on what they know and see about the financial portion of the retirement show. In other words, they focus on the star or stars of the show who are standing out in front but reality is, there’s no show or stars without a supporting cast.

To further illustrate my point, I want you to think about a play or musical you have seen. It’s amazing how you start out knowing that you are in a theatre and you’re about to watch a group of people pretend to be someone else in a costume but then, within minutes, you can be swept away and transported to another place or time. That’s how I see and feel about retirement. When you really take a look at everything, particularly things that are going on in the backdrop, you get a very different, often times, award-winning experience.

I recently had a situation with a couple that was dealing with a forced retirement. The husband was getting let go from his career after a 25-year run, but he wasn’t mad about it. Instead, he was grateful for the opportunity to move on to something else because he was only 60 and wasn’t financially capable of retiring yet. So, as we discussed his transition, he discussed several opportunities he was considering and the financial ramifications of them.

However, after a few minutes, I asked him and his wife, “What are your favorite things to do when you’re not working and on weekends?” They rattled off a short list of things and talked about some upcoming events they had planned and then I said to them, “Well I think you just eliminated a few of those job prospects.”

Turns out, Thursday night was their big date night out and they enjoyed volunteering and attending church on the weekends. With one simple background question it became clear that two of the four new opportunities would reduce or eliminate those key times together for them. Which can serve as a wedge in their relationship. Less quality and planned time together may cause them to grow apart, to resent their decision to make the change, and potentially add stress to the situation again in the future if the husband has to change jobs again.

They tried to make money and benefits the star of the new show, and don’t get me wrong, that’s important, but if I would have stayed in my financial advisor seat with a limited view, I might not be managing their joint account in a couple years.

This plays out in so many ways with our clients, which is why it’s so important to pay attention and ask more backdrop questions so we can enhance their retirement transition. In another case, I had a woman who sold her big beautiful house a couple years ago after her husband passed away. She was unsure what she wanted to do or where she wanted to live, so she opted to rent a nice condo in a new development. A recent change in her landlord has prompted her to consider other options.

She had already started looking for homes, which caused some sticker shock and in her initial search, she couldn’t find anything that fit her taste. She was quick to jump into the numbers asking me about different situations ands possible scenarios. After a few minutes, I stopped her and asked, “What if we put you first, and then figured out the money stuff later?”

I technically didn’t wait for her to answer me, I just jumped right into is saying, “For example, what’s most important to you about where you live right now?” She said she liked her neighbors, appreciated the fact that she didn’t have to worry about the furnace or hot water tank going on and needing to find someone to fix it, and that her friends were close by.

Next we talked about what she didn’t like, which was that she didn’t feel like she could put her stamp on the home. Which prompted me to ask, what would that look like. She was quick to say she wanted the kitchen painted, new hardware on her kitchen cabinets and a more stylish bathroom in terms of light fixture and vanity.

I asked her if she knew someone like a handyman who did painting and that kind of bathroom and cabinet work. She did, because there was a guy the condo association recommended for residents that she had used for something else previously. So, I suggested that she ask him to come over and give her a quote for the work.

I’m sure you can see where this is going. She got the quote, shared it with the new landlord, and they agreed to split the cost of the work. She didn’t have to trudge through a new home purchase, pack up and move, add any worries and move further away from her supporting cast. The tone and direction of the meeting and her life could have been very different right now, but it’s not because I asked about her backdrop.

There are a myriad of other examples, but the main thing I want to get across to advisors is the need to be transported by the personal life and situations of their clients. Get swept away by the backdrop of their life and understand that the scenes, lighting and music will change. Sometimes it may be bright and cheery while others time dark and somber. But in any case, treat your clients like their own little theatre production by helping them not only set the stage, but also turn in an award-winning performance.

The final act for clients’ lives haven’t been written yet, and you have a front-row seat to not only watch it unfold but to also help direct it. But in order to do that, you have to adjust your seat and be willing to look at more than whose center stage in the typical retirement show. That’s how you and your clients will get that standing ovation we all want and deserve.

Robert Laura is a best-selling author, nationally syndicated columnist, and president of Wealth & Wellness Group. He is a seasoned conference speaker, corporate trainer, and founder of The Certified Professional Retirement Coach Designation which focuses on the non-financial aspects of life after work. He can be reached at [email protected].