It's important for advisers to
prepare themselves for retirement, rather than adopting a 'wait and see'
attitude.
Nov 8, 2019 @ 2:10 pm By Joni Youngwirth
I recently googled
"Joni Youngwirth." Wow — what an experience. The results that came up
took me through the history of my professional life, or at least the last 20
years of it.
During that time, I
probably authored more than 200 articles on practice management. Curious to see
what I had said, I reread and reflected on a selection of them. I was pleased
to find that the articles that I pulled still ring true. And it was interesting
to see the progression of topics I addressed over the years.
What I discovered
led to my topic for today: Why advisers should be ready for mindful retirement.
During the current
decade, a lot of my articles originated from calls or conversations with
advisers in the field. Increasingly, retirement was looming on the horizon for
many of them (and for their clients), and they wanted to discuss retirement
concerns, as well as a slew of succession-related topics.
More and more, I
came to understand the importance of pivoting mindfully to retirement, as
opposed to adopting a rocking chair, "let's wait and see" attitude. Being
prepared financially is a big part of retirement readiness, but it's certainly
not the only concern.
6 reasons we avoid
the "R" word
In our rapidly
aging industry, many advisers have a lot of trouble dealing with the
"R" word. Everyone is different, but often it's due to one or more of
the reasons listed below. Some advisers may:
1. Suffer from work
saliency — being so committed to their profession that it overtakes their
self-identity.
2. Have mediocre
physical and/or mental health maintenance habits.
3. Have not taken
enough care of financial planning for themselves.
4. Have let
relationships fester or have not invested time to grow and strengthen
relationships.
5. Be unsure about
how to fruitfully use time other than to work and may not have a fulfilling
hobby.
6. Have
procrastinated so long on succession planning that their clients have started
to leave.
A mindful approach
No matter what
generation you are, I think it's a mistake to avoid thinking ahead to
retirement. Whether you have a few years to go or many, I recommend taking a
much more intentional approach.
Think about
mirroring successful methods of practice management, such as setting a clear
vision of what you want to achieve instead of letting your life evolve over
time like a meandering stream.
Next, you'll need
to create the implementation plan to execute on your vision.
Whether you're
focusing on your income, your practice or your retirement, each one is just too
important to leave to chance. You need to put some serious elbow grease into
creating a "what's next" that is worthwhile and meaningful.
Strengthening your
relationships is particularly important, because not doing so can lead to
loneliness and isolation as one approaches the retirement years.
The power of passion
For me, publishing
has always been rewarding because my articles are about my passions. What could
be more fulfilling than a career in practice management that allows me to work
with phenomenal advisers all day? Feeling lucky, I'm as passionate as ever
about my work.
But like many of
you, I'm still thinking about how to pivot to the next phase of life. To
develop content that's useful to me as well as to other advisers (and their
clients), I'm continuing my strong focus on mindful retirement articles,
presentations, workshops and blog posts. I'm also deepening my dedication to
the power of corporate purpose and industry philanthropy.
I believe that for
all of us, there can be good news ahead. As we age, we add not just years but
wisdom.
Joni Youngwirth is
managing principal of practice management at Commonwealth
Financial Network.
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