Have you ever bounced a check? I did several times when I was younger, but it wasn’t on purpose. I thought I had the money in my account. The problem was, I wasn’t keeping track of my other financial transactions. In other words, I was doing mental accounting, keeping tabs on everything in my head, instead of writing them down and balancing them out.

Of course, back then there were no immediate notifications via text or e-mail. So I received a letter five days later noting the problem. That meant by the time I got to the bank to try and resolve the issue, I was in a major financial hole.

This is the same way clients can go wrong when trying to get their lives right for retirement. That is, they mentally assume they have something banked to help them replace their work identify, fill their time, stay relevant and connected, as well as mentally and physically active. However, what they assume will be going on or taking place isn’t always the reality they will face. As a result, they are writing bad checks and putting themselves in a hole just as they start one of life’s most important transitions.

In other words, they can end up with a deficiency in their personal life that is very different from being a few bucks short in their bank account. Quite simply, you just can’t scrape together family, friends, good health or more time.

I have seen this happen countless times in both expected and unexpected ways. For example, take the hardworking father figure who is committed to his career and doesn’t have time for his family. Yes, they live in a great house, take a nice vacation once or twice a year, and the college funds are in place, but when he finally retires and plans to reconnect and get more deeply involved with his family, it’s not always received well.

Turns out, just as they were only a small part of his plan leading up to retirement, he isn’t part of their plan now. Whether it’s a lack of connection, busyness or distance, there’s a bounced check or deficiency in the plan that isn’t easy to clear up.

While research doesn’t pinpoint the reasons for retirees’ bouts of loneliness, research from the University of California, San Francisco shows that more than 40% of seniors regularly experience it. And those feelings of separation and disconnection may predict serious health problems and even death.

In other cases, clients enter retirement with grand visions of rekindling their passions for, say, woodworking, playing a musical instrument or writing a book. Many also plan to volunteer, work part time, transition into a second career or start a business. All great ideas, but without a specific plan or concrete steps, these dreams can succumb to the honeymoon phase of retirement and fizzle out.

It’s common for people to want to just relax and do nothing for the first few weeks of retirement. The problem is, we are creatures of habit, and once those habits settle in, they are hard to break. Time and time again, I hear from both husbands and wives that their spouses don’t do anything. They either watch TV all day or simply lounge around in their PJ’s. Contact with friends and physical activity diminish, and frustration sets in.

Once again, research reinforces this harsh reality. On the front end of retirement, things can appear positive and optimistic. In fact, 83% of pre-retirees said they expect to live their best life in retirement. Furthermore, 75% of retirees and 81% of pre-retirees said there are more opportunities now than 20 years ago to have a second career, start a business or work in the gig economy.

This is great on the surface, and the numbers do show growing numbers of retirees in the gig economy, but it’s nowhere near the rates to accommodate those high levels of interest. A recent study by JPMorgan Chase found that only an estimated 400,000 seniors are now doing gig work through such popular platforms as Uber, Airbnb and DogVacay.

I don’t want to take these numbers out of context, as they represent only a small slice of gig companies and opportunities, but there are more than 48 million seniors aged 65 and older. So even if we doubled or tripled the number, we are still only talking about 1.7% to 2.5%, leaving many people on the couch or in PJ’s.

Situations can be compounded with a late-life divorce that can rob you of family and friendships. It’s the same with the loss of a loved one, or a health issue that sidelines you and limits your mental or physical ability.

For advisors, it sounds like a list of topics to avoid, but this is what can happen in retirement, and if we don’t want clients to end up bankrupt, then we have to start addressing these factors. It’s one reason I continue to advocate for a written non-financial plan. One where the focus is on an individual client’s (or a couple’s) own particular time, energy, skills, gifts and talents. What’s interesting is that making financial decisions and investments is much easier when you have a personal plan for your life after work.

I don’t want to say this is some sort of epidemic or global crisis, but the fact is, not doing this type of planning is why we continue to see rates of divorce, social isolation, addiction, depression and suicide rising in the retired population. So advisors can use these three tips to avoid creating an “overdrawn” retirement:

1. Start Finding Balance Now
Let’s face it, it’s difficult to find balance at any stage of life. It seems like things can be going great in one or two areas, but other areas suffer. Furthermore, clients who are still working eight to 10 hours a day face an uphill battle striking a balance among various aspects of their lives.

That being said, it’s important for both advisors and clients to know that just because the work factor is gone, things won’t automatically fall into balance.

In fact, they usually don’t, and things can get worse because people tend to focus on what they like and are comfortable with. In other words, if clients don’t normally exercise and eat healthy, not going to work won’t automatically get them on a treadmill or down to the farmers’ market. It takes time, effort and practice.

So don’t let clients wait until retirement to start reconnecting with people, hobbies and their community. Encourage them to start now.

2. You Need A Different Type of ATM Location And Network
When people need cash, they head to their bank’s ATM for some quick access. In a matter of minutes, they have the financial support they need and are good to go. Occasionally, they may not be near their own bank and may even pay a small fee for access to that cash.

In a similar vein, clients need access to quick support. Whether the problems are due to family, health or other issues, retirement comes with a variety of ups and downs. So it’s important during a retirement transition to know where and who clients can call for that immediate help. Additionally, their local branch of family or friends may not always be available or capable of helping. Therefore, you must help clients understand that it may cost a little bit in terms of time, effort and money to get access to others outside of their networks, and may even include a professional retirement coach or therapist.

3. You Need A Deposit Slip
When clients put money in the bank, they use a deposit slip to tell the bank which account to put the funds in and how much they want to contribute. In the same way, each person has the ability to deposit things into other people’s lives leading up to and throughout retirement.

Therefore, you can help clients avoid going “bankrupt” by working with them to develop a specific plan to invest in others that goes beyond financial contributions. Many of the things that matter most to people have nothing to do with money. Quality time, encouragement, listening, education, new experiences, wisdom, sympathy and empathy, for example, offer much more than money can ever buy.

That means it’s time for financial professionals to make sure our clients aren’t using mental accounting or maintaining a low balance in any area of their personal lives. We must commit the time to helping them assess where things are at, finding the support that they need, and encouraging them to make regular contributions to things that are important to them.      

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 pioneer in “The New Era Of Retirement,” which focuses on the non-financial aspects of life after work. He can be reached at [email protected].