So, I shared, “It’s okay, and you’re not the first person to sit in my office and struggle with such an important decision. The problem is that you are trying to make one of the biggest decisions of your life based on money alone and that will never give you the answer you want or need. In fact, it is one of the best ways to make sure you will fail at it.”
That last statement is what I want echoed on national TV: “The problem is that you are trying to make one of the biggest decisions of your life based on money alone and that will never give you the answer you want or need. In fact, it is one of the best ways to make sure you will fail at it.”
This is important because it gives us the opportunity to create a new era of panel experts that we can offer our clients as they move toward, and through retirement. Just as each shark or celebrity judge has unique experience, knowledge and connections, we need to offer our clients something similar.
We don’t need to be, and shouldn’t be, the sole judge of someone heading into retirement. The panel should include a career coach, retirement coach, business coach and even a spiritual leader.
Career coaches can be essential to a retirement decision because I have found that some people don’t actually want to quit working. They are just tired, bored or frustrated with their current position or the people around them and feel their only option is to retire.
They may prefer to be re-assigned or change roles in order to have a positive impact on others. But they let old and outdated norms about retirement creep in and they decide to retire because they are 62 or 65 instead of seeking late stage career advice.
Certified retirement coaches are experts at helping people plan for the non-financial aspects of retirement. They are trained to talk to people about what everyday life is going to look like. This is important because many people enter retirement with vague ideas and assumptions and find themselves lost, missing colleagues and deadlines. And it’s confusing because retirement is supposed to be the best time of their life, but they feel alone, bored, and worse, they don’t know who to talk to about it.
It’s also common for people to consider starting some sort of a business in retirement. Well starting a business in retirement is very different than starting one when you’re 30 or 40. Older entrepreneurs are looking for a way to turn a hobby or passion into some part-time cash flow. It’s not a business they need in order to survive or pay their mortgage, and they want some flexibility baked into the plan. Once again, a business coach can help people get more specific and start to develop a plan before they retire and still have access to resources and people.
The idea of adding a spiritual leader to the panel may not resonate with some advisors or clients, but here’s the real deal. The only guarantee that comes with retirement is that people will die during it. I know it sounds like the perfect conversation to avoid, but it’s time to stop skirting important conversations about life in retirement.
As we age, we tend to lose more family and friends, have bouts with illness or injuries that can alter our lifestyle, or we see others dealing with these issues. Which makes it more important than ever to have a spiritual foundation on which to lean on.