Teenagers and retirement

Why is it that it’s customary to pay money for gym membership in order to gain physical fitness, but not to pay a coach to help with emotional fitness in retirement? Is retirement a time for confusion or freedom? Let’s discuss.

Who remembers being a teenager? Who has been the parent of a teenager? It seems to be the case universally that it's a time of life when parents rant, lecture, bang on doors - take your pick - with the rallying cries of "get a job", "when are you going to start studying, you have an exam this week?", "do the chores we agreed on"; and so on.

And yet, on reflection it's surely a productive time of life, seemingly not much happening but happening it is, and most importantly the teenager is gathering strengths and skills for a long life ahead. Time is not a factor for the teenager, the horizon of life is not evident; yet.

You may disagree with my analysis, but what about retirement, when the time-line becomes evident and short as I will explain.

Picture life at 60. You are no longer a teenager and you have just retired. Statistically you have an average of 20 plus years ahead of you. Now remembering that statistics (to over-simplify) is about averages and variation around those averages, your individual destiny may be quite different - but let's stick with averages - then the clock is ticking for you.

We know time goes quickly so is retirement really the moment, the hour and the day to mope around the house? You won't even have dear mum and dad shouting at you. So why not plan, and in planning get the help of an expert retirement coach to help you get the most from your time to do what YOU want to do, by helping you to reach inside to find your true meaning in retirement.

Retirement is one of life’s big events, so take it seriously, get help if you need it.