Step Three: Develop tools and resources to help your clients become more aware of these situations and what they can do about them. This doesn’t have to be big, bodacious or a compliance nightmare. One advisor recently asked how she could order reprints of an article I wrote entitled “Retirement: The Cunning & Unexpected Thief.” She felt the article concisely captured something she felt clients needed to read and understand. Furthermore, she knew from experience that her B/D compliance person would more readily approve a reprint over anything else. Fortunately, there are a growing number of articles like these that can provide fresh insight and ideas to your client base.
Step Four: Encourage clients to embrace their feelings and the situation they are in. That may sound a little counter-intuitive, but retirement is like any other life skill. It takes time and practice. As they proceed through it, they’ll learn how to handle thoughts and feelings just as they did when they got married, had children, purchased a home or received a promotion. Suggest they take a moment to reflect on all the thoughts and feelings that come with life experiences, and how they learned to manage them over time.
Today’s advisor must prepare clients to see and, when necessary, accept the challenge of these untold tales of retirement … the things that go against what it is supposed to be. It requires not only creating the space and time to help identify and work through these issues, but also sharing their stories and outlining solutions to overcome them. It’s all part of the ever-changing retirement puzzle that all of us must continue to work on together. After all, life in retirement is a journey, not a destination.
Robert Laura is the president of SYNERGOS Financial Group, the founder of RetirementProject.org and the creator of the Retirement Wellness Report and DividendPaycheck.org, He can be reached at [email protected].