The other day I was watching television when a commercial for a new medication came on. Like you, I have seen hundreds of these ads. They feature a happy, outgoing person or group of people doing fun and engaging things while words, too small to read, flash across the screen and a mostly inaudible, monotone voice describes all of the adverse side effects.
It’s one of the most bizarre forms of advertising because on one hand they are projecting these happy and fun images that suggest the medications work, while sending a completely different auditory response. At one point a woman is shown welcoming her family with a big smile and open arms ready to hug them all when they warn that the medications side effects were severe diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.
They transition to her riding a bike and laughing as they warn the medication is associated with an increase in depression or suicidal behavior and that the medication could also result in unexplained or significant weight loss and may make other medications less effective.
These commercials are often mocked and leave many people chuckling at the conflicting message, but here’s the thing. It works! In 2016, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 28 percent of people who viewed a prescription ad subsequently asked a physician about the medicine and that 12 percent walked out with a prescription. That’s an important lesson that we can use when it comes to talking about the side effects of retirement and helping clients make better transitions into retirement.
In essence, we blast commercials and media ads about how the products and services we offer are going to do nothing but make a client’s life better. But we never mention any of the side effects, particularly to a client’s transition from work-life to home-life. The harsh reality is, there are a number of side effects that retirement can cause and they are just as serious as those disclosed in big pharma commercials.
It's also interesting to note, that the drug commercials also direct people to their doctor. They give a list of reasons to talk to a physician if something isn’t going right or they are planning to become pregnant or are taking other medications.
This is another miss by our industry because there are no instructions for who clients can turn to if retirement doesn’t or isn’t going as planned. People are left to suffer in silence as they contemplate why retirement doesn’t look and feel like they had been told. Oftentimes, assuming there is something wrong with them.
Fortunately, it’s a situation I think we can remedy, but let me step back and ask you a very important question. What do you think the side effects of retirement are? I want the question to be more than rhetorical and want to encourage you to grab a pen and paper or your phone to jot them down.
This is a very important exercise, because over the last several years, I have found a growing number of financial professionals who say they understand this softer, more personal side of planning, but lack education and essential skills in the area. They are generally personable people who mean well and like to help others, often using their website and social media to suggest that they know retirement and financial planning is about more than money.
But they have no training or experience in these matters and rely on over generalized and cliché bits of advice around it, one of which I think should be banned from all financial planning language. Time and time again, I hear people repeat, “You have to retire to something.”