• Retiring later appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s, according to the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Can you imagine a client coming in who is excited about an early retirement package and your immediate response is, “I wouldn’t do that! You’re probably going to get depressed and maybe even die earlier than your buddies who are still working. Oh, and you might end up in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s sooner than you’d expect. But let’s look at those figures and see what we have.”

I realize many of you may be thinking, well if the early retirement plan doesn’t work out, a client could just go back to work. It just isn’t that easy. As you know, any gaps in employment can be a cause for concern with employers, and research suggests that older workers need more time to find a job than their younger counterparts. A 2014 U.S. government workers survey noted that people age 50 or older are likely to be unemployed for 5.8 weeks longer than someone between the ages of 30 and 49, and 10.6 weeks longer than people between the ages of 20 and 29. Furthermore, if your client does manage to find a new position, chances are it won’t pay as well as the one she left.

In essence, the seduction of freedom lures clients into a world that can be anything but blissful, primarily because they are giving up so many things and many times are unaware of the consequences. Retirement can create a loss of purpose, reduced social interaction and a loss of physical activity and mental stimulus.

The buyout helps replace the income from a client’s job, but most employers don’t provide any training on replacing these non-financial aspects, despite workers wanting and needing it. An Accenture survey of workers and retirees in the United States and Canada found that 82% would like more help with retirement planning, and 84% would like assistance with retirement coaching.

The problem goes beyond the statistics and a simplistic overview of the problems early retirement can cause. I have worked with numerous early retirees, and they struggle for several reasons.

First, all of their friends are still working. That leaves them with very little to do between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and when they do find a retired group of people to hang out with, they end up being outsiders because they are so much younger and usually have less in common with them.

The same holds true with friends who are still working. A client may have worked with the same folks for 20 to 30 years, but when they are no longer in the trenches with them, the dynamics of the relationship begin to change. Talking about work isn’t as easy, and reliving the old days only lasts for so long.

Additionally, people treat retirees differently and have stereotypes for them. Unfortunately, the mainstream assumption by many is that retirement means you have been put out to pasture and are no longer a contributing member of society. It’s harsh, and many of us are working diligently to change that perspective and the impact ageism can have on older workers, but it’s still there and doesn’t feel good when a client experiences it.

Advisors need to be aware of these things and be open to finding ways to share them with clients. I’m not saying advisors should tell clients to turn down a lucrative buyout offer and tell them to avoid retiring early. Instead, if advisors can step in and say something like, “Great, now we have a good plan in place to make sure you don’t run out of money, but we also need to make sure you have a plan to avoid running out of family, friends, good health and time.”