Three Things to Tell Your Clients About Retirement

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Retirement is about so much more than money. It is a wonderful new season of life, like the next chapter in an exciting book. While the traditional emphasis has always been on one’s financial preparedness for retirement, advisors often miss several critical factors that are equally important but not connected to money.

As we help clients take the next step, it’s wise to examine three things people rarely discuss. Exploring these elements illustrated by the following short stories, in addition to proper income planning, will lead them to a happier and more fulfilling retirement.

Plan your week

Meet Larry and Susan Calendar. Susan has enjoyed working and volunteering part time for the last 10 years and Larry just retired two weeks ago and is having a bit of a crisis. They are just returning from his retirement celebration vacation and are realizing things for this coming week look very different. Larry has become increasingly defensive when asked about what he’ll be doing come Monday. Susan, on the other hand, is excited about the substantial free time on their calendar and anxious to start filling it up with activities together. With both of them feeling very different emotions, one thing is for sure: They’re not feeling in sync and ready for this stage to begin.

We don’t realize just how accustomed we are to a week that is predominantly planned out for us. We had a 9-5 for at least five days a week. We commuted, planned our lunches around work, had social relationships tied to our job, happy hours, etc. The “dream” of having nothing but time on our hands can crash down hard when we realize how much time that means we need to fill.