What is Retirement Coaching?
Retirement Coaching is a process used by individuals, couples, or groups to discover a vision of life after retirement that is daily living with purpose and meaning. As opposed to an adequate financial plan for retirement, many baby boomers have not considered what the days, months, and years after a career will entail. Using several inventories, to uncover attitudes and aspirations about one’s retirement, the Retirement Coach will guide the client with powerful questions, to formulate steps forward in achieving a successful retirement transition.
Who is Retirement Coaching for?
Retirement Coaching is designed to help members of the baby boomer generation who just don’t see their years in retirement as their parents had experienced. These clients are usually 3-7 years from retiring and want to discover what type of lifestyle they wish to embrace after their career is over. The proactive approach to addressing transition this far out from the actual retirement allows the client to experiment, as well as set up, life choices that will bring happiness, health, great relationships and sense of meaning in the retirement years ahead.
What if I am retiring soon?
It is never too late to pursue this type of coaching. Even those who have had difficulty in certain aspects of retirement would benefit from retirement coaching, as it is normally a long road ahead, and adjustments and corrections can always be made.
Should my spouse/partner be included in the process?
Each person has their own image of what they want in their life ahead. It is beneficial to include a spouse or partner, if they are also on board with the concept of planning the vision of your retirement life. Couples may choose to have individual sessions, and then a joint coaching session at the end of the process, which can be very illuminating for each person.
How do you do the coaching? How many sessions does it take?
The coaching is almost exclusively done virtually, using Skype, email, Facetime, or Zoom. If desired, a personal meeting is possible. After an initial introductory session, subsequent coaching sessions may be set up in 45-minute blocks, with two sessions minimum. Often another session will be sought, especially if a couple is doing the process in tandem. Each client can request what is the right formula for their needs and may later want follow up sessions as they get closer to retirement.
I don’t want to be a retiree. I’m active, healthy and still very involved. What can planning do for me?
I’ve witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of high-functioning and driven individuals who enter into retirement unprepared for the abrupt disruption of their way of life. Their status derived from a work position disappears, and the adjective “retired” is applied, even though it is only a one-day differential. Other factors disappear too, such as socialization, sense of utility, time management, and of course, financial rewards. It’s important to address and replace work-time factors with other purpose and meaning.
What if we don’t have a plan?
Left unaddressed, an individual experiencing the stress of the transition is hard-pressed to self-explore and construct a new vision of their life. They can get stuck – with idle time, feeling grief or depression, dwelling on the past, feeling cheated, unappreciated or rejected, and struggling with their adult children or social awkwardness because they don’t fit in with friends who still work – or with the crowd at the senior center. I am passionate to mitigate this effect by educating and coaching individuals and groups in a proactive exploration, using proven tools and questions to discover the vision and meaning in their future life.
