hard-nosed insights and experiences that include a focus on solutions , not just information .
Right now , too much of the research and material out there is high-level and generalized . For example , many of the biggest financial firms attach their names and logos to the polls and studies being done by outside researchers . The surveys do a nice job of identifying issues , but that ’ s where it ends . There ’ s no new training for these companies ’ advisors or value-added services outside of traditional financial products . They use the material to imply they care about more than your money , but if you go to their websites , you ’ ll find only what they want you to know about the financial products and services they sell . At some point , people are going to want advisors to talk about more than money . Their issues won ’ t be resolved with more talk about annuities and mutual funds .
To help facilitate change and reshape the narrative , we need to disrupt people ’ s thought patterns and get them off autopilot .
We need a little shock and awe . A ripping off of the proverbial Band-Aid to allow for new thoughts , ideas and direction to form .
Which is exactly what you are going to get here with my list : “ The Top 10 Things No One Tells You About Retirement .”
These are little nuggets of knowledge , sound bites and gems I have uncovered as I ’ ve done my research , and I am sharing these things to dramatically change everything you ever thought about retirement . So , without further ado , here they are :
1 . Retirement is empty . That ’ s right , there ’ s nothing there . Retirement is a made up , manufactured phase of life that doesn ’ t hold or contain anything . That means it ’ s up to retirees to fill it up with things that they value , want to do , and are important to them .
If they don ’ t , they ’ ll struggle . If they just assume their retirement is going to be full of good times and feelings , they ’ ll have problems with the transition .
Research supports this . According to research from the Retirement Coaches Association :
• Seventy-six percent of retirees have
To help facilitate change and reshape the narrative , we need to disrupt people ’ s thought patterns and get them off autopilot .
seen someone struggle with the transition to retirement .
• Forty-three percent of retirees reported that adjusting to retirement was harder than they expected , and 45 % said adjusting to it took longer than expected .
The fact is , making the transition into retirement is not easy .
2 . Beware of the dark side . Your mental health should be a much higher priority to understand and manage than a stock market crash turning you into a homeless person .
The Journal of Population Ageing has reported that retired people are twice as likely to report feeling symptoms of depression than those who were still working , and the possibility of suffering from clinical depression goes up by about 40 % after they retire .
Alcohol abuse is another possible danger . According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse , alcohol is the most used drug among older adults ; about 65 % of people 65 and older report high-risk drinking .
Isolation is yet another scary factor . According to Pew Research , Americans 60 and older are alone for nearly half their daily measured time ( their waking hours beyond those they spent in activities ). Forty-three percent of men over 60 who lived alone said all their time was spent alone ( that share was 34 % for women ).
The point here isn ’ t to suggest that retirement is full of alcoholics and isolated , depressed people or that you can ’ t enjoy an adult beverage or some extended time by yourself . But most human misery is not due to economic factors .
It ' s worth noting , none of this has to do with the amount of money people have saved . It ’ s about their mindsets , daily actions , health and relationships .
3 . The wrong top 10 list . Many people don ’ t realize that retirement is one of the top 10 most stressful life events , and the other things that make the list have to do with retirement indirectly . To put it bluntly , it ’ s a minefield — a time of change that can make you feel lost , out of sorts and irrelevant .
The list comes from the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale . Long story short , in the late 1960s two psychiatrists , Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe , surveyed 5,000 medical patients and found 43
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