I recently spent some time in the bush with friends, a wonderful way to reset and feed the soul. These friends and I are all in the financial services industry so much of what we chat about, and debate is aspects of our work. A big focus for all of us is the various intricacies around retirement. Not just the money side (the easy part to work out), but the human side which gets more interesting, challenging, and more important the more we continue to learn about it.
The issue of a sudden or unplanned retirement is something we have all come across recently, so much of the discussion revolved around the challenges we have seen clients struggle with when this happened.
The interesting thing was that in each instance we discussed, the client’s sudden retirement did not mean that they where short financially, in fact they all had way more money than they needed to maintain their lifestyles. The problem was that they had not prepared themselves mentally or emotionally for the transition away from work and into this new stage of their life.
They all were sliding into this new phase, handing over their business to the new owners or consulting several hours every week. Each had had the plugged pulled on their services 12-18 months sooner than they had planned, leaving them employed one month and unemployed a few months later.
While many would see this as a blessing, the emotions that these clients experienced were difficult for them to handle. Things had not ended as they planned, or on their terms. As highly organised and successful businessmen, this was a tough pill to swallow. The change happened quickly, but the transition hadn’t really started.
After over 30 years as a financial planner, it is so clear to me that by focusing on our client’s money alone, we do them a disservice. Truth be told that successful people will be successful with or without a financial planner when it comes to having enough money. It is the human side of how they use their wealth to live their best life, that is truly important.
Being able to prepare them for retirement so that they are someone outside of their work becomes important. Making sure they understand what their money means in the way that it enhances their life after work and allows them to have a purpose, is what really counts.
At Client Care we understand how difficult this transition to retirement is for most, and that is takes time. A large focus for us is assisting clients with this transition and the future transitions they will face as life changes. Don’t leave this to chance, we can help you get ready and navigate into retirement.