Advisors need to stop talking about vacation retirements, says industry coach
Financial advisors should help clients plan to continue working after age 65 rather than for a "vacation retirement," says coach Mitch Anthony, an industry coach and author of The New Retirementality.
"Retirement is an artificial finish line,” Anthony stressed at a recent symposium on the future of retirement. "Somebody decided that at this age, you're done. Is there anyone in the room who would like to tell yourself when you're done rather than have someone else tell you?"
The whole notion of a retirement age is really a bit of a myth, of course. Age 65 is, and always has been, an arbitrary benchmark invented by Otto Von Bismarck 130 years ago as part of a pension scheme to move aging civil servants from their posts.
But, with the average life expectancy now moving past 80, many surveys suggest that a great many people don’t want to stop working.
Advisors should be addressing this "unnatural state" of retirement with clients and stressing four
primary actions, Anthony recommends:
* Keep meaningful pursuits at the core of who you are and what
you do.
* Continue to challenge your mind, your heart and your body.
*
Round out your pursuits since keeping things in balance means never feeling
the need to quit anything.
* Delay tapping into your retirement accounts and keep some employment income coming in instead.
On the topic of enjoying retirement and building a legacy, Anthony suggests developing a mental pyramid with your money, similar to Maslow’s framework surrounding self-actualization.
Start with Survival Money, and then on top of that add Safety Money, then Freedom Money, Gift Money, and at the very peak, Dream Money, he suggests.
Has any advisor suggested a similar approach? Would you buy in if they did?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
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