“I don’t want to ‘pivot’ anymore. … I’m sick of the back-and-forth rules and guidelines. … Do this. … Oh no, do that, and I’m not getting poked until after at least a year of research and once its fully FDA approved.”
No matter where you stand on vaccines, client comments like this are likely to increase in the coming months as an emotional firestorm is underway. It’s not just a one-way conversation from people against the vaccine. Another client recently remarked, “I’ve got cancer, so if my employer doesn’t require vaccines soon, I’ll take an early retirement like that.”
Vaccine mandates are the latest factor causing people to consider immediate retirement. Advisors need to not only understand the emotional ramifications of such a decision, but also be prepared to talk about vaccine risks and returns.
For the time being, you should put aside how you feel about the vaccine. I know that is hard for people on both sides, even for those using a wait-and-see approach. But we have to do so in order to have orderly discussions about what different groups, or segments, of clients may be thinking or feeling during these times. In other words, let’s focus on what they are dealing with first.
To start, we know a number of factors are contributing to early, sudden or forced retirement. Teachers are struggling with technology and digital classrooms; first responders are grappling with additional scrutiny and public cries to defund them; and now many federal, state and even private sector employees are facing mandatory vaccines with limited exceptions and stringent testing.
Oh, and let’s not forget what some of these people are dealing with on a personal level. Maybe they are struggling with their marriage, kids at home or a bout with depression. Maybe they are coping with drugs or alcohol.
Maybe as their friends and family find ways to isolate, they are seeking attention from somebody else. Or maybe they feel haunted by a relentless news cycle that pounds them with warnings and negative news.
Before we get into the people who are thinking about retirement, we have to look at our clients who either own or run organizations and the talent drain they are already feeling. Even if only a small segment of people opt to retire as a result of something Covid-related, dealing with a 3%-5% drop in staff can have a significant impact on companies’ bottom lines. Not only are they losing key people who intimately know their culture, clients and vendors, they have to find suitable replacements, onboard them in an expeditious manner and, in many cases, pay up for the right talent.
As HR managers struggle to replace talent, there are meanwhile still people getting vaccinated who plan to work no matter what their companies’ policies might be. In their mind, they are doing the right thing and being team players. But in turn, the pat on the back or nominal work incentive is resulting in some of them seeing dramatic increases in their work thanks to missing people and unfilled positions.
This social dynamic is critically important to understand because of the impact it can have on a client social network in retirement. Work actually provides a powerful social element for clients, and many people envision continuing those relationships after they retire. However, differences of opinion about the vaccine are driving a wedge in those relationships and can be particularly challenging if somebody leaves a job and their co-workers (who are perhaps also their friends) get hit with their work.
The issue here is that many advisors have never been trained to think about things like this. Yes, advisors can run the numbers, and the person leaving the workplace may be able to fully retire or find something part time to make it work. But replacing those friendships can be more difficult than getting a client a 10% rate of return with little risk. Furthermore, it’s not just about the friendships, but also the time that those relationships help them occupy during retirement.
Again, not many people think about time replacement as a major factor in a retirement decision, especially when it’s tied to work friendships. However, if a client’s decision to retire is due to Covid-related frustration and causes a rift with some co-workers, even those with whom they spent only a few hours a week communicating, there is now a void that needs to be replaced, and that’s not easy to do.
This is the point I mentioned earlier about being able to discuss the risk and return characteristics of the vaccine. There is no doubt that I could sit here and rattle off things like Covid, breakthrough cases, vaccine side effects, case reporting, natural antibodies and death statistics to make a case for the vaccine one way or another. While all of this data is important, it can also be controversial and emotionally charged. So instead of going down this path, advisors can take a different approach to vaccine risks and returns that focuses more on the mental, social and physical aspects of such a decision.
I think it can also help to preface discussions like this with the idea that many people face sudden or forced retirement well before the pandemic. Whether they are dealing with a company closing, a health condition, a company buyout or a caregiving situation that calls them away, a lot of people end up in retirement before they expected and have to learn how to adapt to their new life after work.
No matter how a client ends up in an unexpected retirement, the fact is their mental, social and physical life will change. As I mentioned before, there will be much less social interaction with co-workers, especially if there is any amount of friction involved. Clients usually don’t understand how work served as an important social outlet for them until that work was gone. Of course, once it's gone, it's hard to get back and replace, especially if lockdowns or social gatherings are limited again because of the Delta variant or something else. In other words, clients risk social isolation without work-related engagements, either in person or online.
I am not trying to persuade people to get vaccinated just to avoid retirement. Instead, I follow a basic behavioral economics principle that suggests people make better decisions when they have relevant information, access to immediate feedback and the ability to practice it.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to be retired in general, let alone in the current state of the world. But again, this is where the advisor can come in and share the way other clients have adapted to retirement during Covid or talk about the ways other people facing sudden retirement have responded, going over what worked and what didn’t. The ultimate goal is for every client to have a written, non-financial plan that helps them replace their work identity, stay relevant and connected, keep mentally and physically active, and express their spiritual beliefs—no matter whether their retirement decision is Covid- or vaccine-related.
There’s an emotional perspective to take into account here, too. People are feeling like their choices are being taken away: that they are being forced out of work against their will—either because they have to get the vaccine or because others around them aren’t getting it.
In order to help shift the focus in these cases, I ask clients, “While you were working and dreaming about retirement, what were some of the things you hoped to do?” This is a simple mind shift from a client’s current situation to a future one that can help reframe their feelings and focus. As you might expect, some clients will say they want to travel, but now they can’t, which is why advisors should be prepared to discuss local travel ideas or even virtual tours. Taking it one step further, encouraging a client to do something like learn a new language in anticipation for future travel to a foreign country can be another helpful way for clients to shift their focus.
People’s physical activity is also going to change in retirement. They used to have to get up, get dressed, drive to work, walk into a building and stroll to a lunch or meeting room in any given day. They may not be as physically active now that they’re working from home. And they are certainly not going to suddenly become more active just because they retired.
You may be familiar with the “Covid 10” (or 20) where people gained weight during the pandemic. For me, it’s not so much that I am sedentary for a large part of my workday, but more that the refrigerator and pantry are mere steps away. Furthermore, when you’re working in shorts, jogging pants or yoga attire, you aren’t paying as much attention to your nutritional habits as you would be putting on work clothes every day.
It’s crucial for clients making retirement decisions that they have all of the pertinent information about their transition. A non-financial plan helps them replace the things they will lose from work, though it may or may not persuade them to get vaccinated. In any case, it will help them make a better transition instead of trying to figure it out on their own for the first couple of years.
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].