Here are my top five blogs of 2019 according to the number of times the blog was read. In case you missed any of the posts, here they are once again.
10 Questions With the Founder of the Retirement Coaches Association
In this episode of Beyond the Numbers of Retirement podcast/vlog, I talk with the founder of The Retirement Coaches Association (RCA), Robert Laura, about what the RCA is and does as well as what retirement coaching is and how it can help people make a successful transition into retirement.
Financial Advisors: Provide Deeper Guidance When Your Clients Need Retirement Help
I recently read a request from an advisor seeking a book to give a client who was dealing with the emotional part of retirement and rediscovering their identity post-work. The request was in a forum type format, and the advisor wanted recommendations from other advisors. Sounds like a simple enough request, right? Many advisors responded with book titles they thought would be good for the client to read.
The request from the advisor prompted me to pause and reflect about how to respond to this request and what is missing from this advisor’s request and guidance provided to his clients.
A recent article in the Journal of Financial Planning titled Time Allocations and Self-Reported Happiness of Retirees: An Exploratory Study, grabbed my attention. Each year the financial advisory industry produces a number of excellent research studies on a wide variety of topics. For those studies looking at providing greater value to clients when planning for retirement, most are focused on the financial side of retirement.
What caught my attention about this study was it focused on how retirees spend their time in retirement and which activities bring them happiness. As the study points out, having substantial assets doesn’t guarantee happiness (or success) in retirement. The results of the study, and its importance to retirees, has nothing to do with money.
A Golden Opportunity…Better Yet, Make It Platinum
The idea for this blog came from a recent article in Financial Advisor magazine titled A Golden Opportunity. The article is from a presentation at the Financial Planning Association’s annual conference in Chicago by Steve Vernon about the results of recent research by the Stanford Center on Longevity. The impetus also came from the many articles about “holistic” financial planning.
The article does a fantastic job pointing out that clients are living longer which creates the need for different strategies and advice from advisors. When people near retirement, they often want a change from what they are currently doing, but don’t really know to go about making this change. This creates an opportunity for financial advisors to implement financial strategies to go along with their lifestyle changes- what the client really wants to do during this time.
But could there be an additional way(s) to add even greater value for clients approaching retirement?
Several interesting articles came out recently on topics that are being discussed in the financial advisory industry. The common theme of these topics and articles is how to address client needs and wants in a rapidly changing environment. Each article has an important message. However, in my opinion, there is another topic related to these that isn’t talked about as often but is equally, if not more, important. This topic is beginning to be talked with in the financial services industry.
And a bonus article (after all, it is the Holidays!)…this one has not been posted as long …but it is trending well and will likely surpass the others…enjoy!
If one of our major life goals is to someday retire, how do we gain a level confidence going into retirement? After all, isn’t this why we have saved and invested so diligently over the years?
Look at your confidence about being prepared for retirement this way- it is like solving an equation that has two equal sides. You must find the solution for each side of the equation to be confident and prepared for retirement.
Financial Advisors, please contact me if you have any questions, would like a copy of my new 2020 whitepaper, The Other Side of Retirement: Why (and How to) Help Clients Create a Plan for Their Ideal Lifestyle In Retirement, or to find out how you can help clients plan for the NON-Financial aspects of retirement by implementing the topics I cover creating an Encore Portfolio for clients.
Here’s to a fantastic 2020!
