I know what some of you are going to say . You do talk to people about more than money and you do have very personal relationships with them . Maybe you even consider yourself holistic or comprehensive and reference retirement readiness or wellness . But let me call your bluff .
If I go to your website and LinkedIn profile , what does it say you are an expert in and interested in ? Money , right ? You likely don ’ t have a credential that says otherwise . Your blogs , guides , news feed and short videos likely don ’ t talk about developing a retirement plan addressing the mental , social , physical or spiritual aspects of life after work .
Remember the saying , “ Show me your bank statement and I ’ ll show you what ’ s important to you ”? The same holds true here : “ Show me your website , and I ’ ll know what ’ s important to you .”
That leads me to another topic . Over the past couple of years , I have been coming across more and more financial professionals who want to retire themselves but don ’ t know how . That may sound a little counterintuitive , since most advisors consider themselves experts at helping others retire . But they are actually just experts at replacing a paycheck and retirement income , not actual retirement .
Ouch ! I know that hurts to hear . But if you can figure out what it takes for your own retirement and make a successful transition , you will be a better financial advisor for others .
I noticed a trend several years ago when I was doing a presentation on making better retirement decisions at the annual FPA conference . When I was done and opened up the session for questions , all of the hands that went up were from CFP professionals asking about their own personal retirement rather than their clients ’.
I guess I am saying all of this for a couple of reasons . First , I want you as a financial professional to retire right and finish strong . I realize that may be three to five years from now or 10 to 20 years away . In either case , if you ’ ll take the time to examine your own ideas and concepts about retirement and truly understand the psychology of it , I can assure you , you will be pleasantly surprised and have a bigger impact on people than any level of market returns you could ever provide .
There ’ s another thing I know from years of training , coaching and speaking to financial professionals . They all have one thing they always wanted to do but never got around to it . For some people it ’ s writing a book . For others it ’ s developing a course . But for many others
The time to get stuff right is right now . You need to be proactive and decisive .
it ’ s truly offering this more personal side to planning .
In any event , the time to get stuff right is right now . You can ’ t afford to wait or assume things will continue to be OK if you stay on this course . You need to be proactive and decisive .
I ’ ve spent this entire article beating you up , but it ’ s only so that now I can build you up .
I want you to write down five things it will take for you to finish strong and retire right . What five things do you need to get right for your personal retirement ? Write them down . Don ’ t just form them mentally .
Now take the list and jot down a first
step for each item . This is important , because as the world moves toward reopening this summer and fall , advisors will have a tremendous opportunity to rebrand themselves and make the discussion of wellness part of their events and client meetings . These initiatives will help them develop new business . This is your time to be innovative , ahead of the curve and establish yourself as someone who can really prove you care about more than money .
These simple steps won ’ t take long , but more important , they ’ ll position
you better for working with clients considering their own retirement . While I didn ’ t jump into client details and the many things people may think , say or try to rationalize as they make their transition to life after work , don ’ t let them take the plunge until it ’ s all right and they can finish strong . It ’ s the new narrative of retirement planning , and it ’ s one you have to follow and model first . Don ’ t fall short !
RobeRT LauRa is a best-selling author , nationally syndicated columnist , and president of Wealth & Wellness group . He is a seasoned conference speaker , corporate trainer and pioneer in “ the new era of retirement ,” which focuses on the non-financial aspects of life after work . He can be reached at rl @ robertlaura . com .
July / August 2021 | finAnciAl Advisor mAgAzine | 29