Editor’s note: Dave Buck is a longtime columnist with Rethinking65. Read more of his articles here.
Florence, or Flo to her friends, avoided the discussion of retirement. Divorced and in her early sixties, she knew she should have been thinking about post-career life, yet she kept putting it off. It wasn’t the idea of no longer being employed that scared her; the steps required to make a more flexible lifestyle sustainable caused her hesitation.
Therefore, Flo was often withdrawn and quiet during her meetings with her wealth management team. Her primary advisor, Nancy, asked surface questions and received general answers. Flo’s portfolio was doing well, some nebulous date was put out there to calculate the models, but the heart of the matter was not addressed. How would Flo make the transition to retirement?
As financial advisors engage with clients who are five to 10 years away from retirement, a common theme emerges: confusion. Despite having accumulated savings and assets, many pre-retirees feel a sense of uncertainty about what their post-career life will look like. This vagueness can cause them to delay making concrete plans or taking the necessary steps to secure a fulfilling and financially stable retirement. The missing link? Clarity.
A Retirement Clarity Session
Do you have clients like this? Ones who are insecure about the future?
Introduce them to a retirement clarity session — a targeted discussion designed to help pre-retirees visualize their ideal future lifestyle. Unlike traditional financial planning meetings that focus solely on asset allocation and income distribution, the clarity session homes in on time-use analysis and lifestyle design. By shifting the conversation from financial figures to life purpose, it allows clients to anchor their financial decisions in a compelling vision of their retirement years.
For instance, instead of simply discussing withdrawal rates and budget projections, advisors can ask questions like:
What activities bring you the most joy and fulfillment now, and how do you see those translating into retirement?
How do you envision spending your time once work obligations are removed?
Are there hobbies or interests you have put off that you would like to revisit?
By aligning financial resources with specific lifestyle goals, clients can see the “why” behind their financial plans — a powerful motivator that accelerates commitment and decision-making.
When Flo was asked similar questions, it made her realize how much work she had to do just to prepare for all the “free” time she was going to have in retirement.
Leveraging Time Analysis to Uncover Priorities
To further refine this vision, time-use analysis can help clients examine how they currently spend their time and how they anticipate spending it in retirement. Advisors can guide clients to think through six key areas: their current relationship with work, how they manage their time, their attitude toward retirement, their financial mindset, their envisioned lifestyle, and their planned activities.
For example, with couples, one partner may be enthusiastic about retirement and already envisioning an active lifestyle, while the other may feel uncertain or even anxious about how to spend the newly available time. These differing perspectives can lead to necessary conversations about priorities, routines and shared goals.
Likewise, a client might express vague concerns about boredom or loneliness in retirement. Exploring these feelings can lead to strategies that infuse structure, purpose and social connection into their plans. Whether it’s travel, volunteering, continuing education or even part-time work, envisioning a purposeful daily rhythm helps clients gain the confidence they need to move forward.
Nancy spent time helping Flo understand that she had the resources to move into retirement. That clarity opened a host of options for Nancy to better present financial options that ensured Flo stayed within model predictions while exploring interesting personal pursuits.
The Role of Financial Advisors
For financial advisors, a retirement clarity session provides a strategic opportunity to deepen client relationships and reinforce their role as more than just a financial planner — they become lifestyle architects. By incorporating time-use analysis tools into their practice, advisors can help clients align their financial plans with a tangible vision for the future.
In turn, clients who gain clarity around their desired retirement lifestyle are more likely to commit to the necessary financial strategies to support it. Whether it’s increasing savings, adjusting investment allocations, or planning for healthcare costs, the lifestyle focus transforms abstract financial concepts into actionable steps grounded in personal meaning and purpose.
Flo doesn’t have it all figured out, but Nancy is in a better position to provide the right financial advice for Flo to be able to explore a life of greater fullness.
From Confusion to Clarity
Pre-retirees often hesitate to take definitive action in retirement planning, not because they lack resources or guidance, but because they lack a clear vision of what life will look like after work.
Retirement clarity sessions offer financial advisors an empathetic approach to bridge this gap, helping clients uncover the “why” behind their financial plans.
By focusing on time analysis, Flo is better able to map out anticipated activities. This helps Nancy facilitate deeper conversations that not only clarify Flo’s post-career vision but also accelerate Nancy’s commitment to planning.
Ultimately, the goal is to shift the conversation from confusion to clarity — empowering clients to take control of their retirement journey with confidence and purpose.
David Buck is the author of the book “The Time-Optimized Life,” co-author of the book, “The Retirement Collective,” owner of Kairos Management Solutions LLC and founder of the Infinity Lifestyle Design program. As a certified professional retirement coach (CPRC), David works with financial services providers helping their clients create a post-career lifestyle strategy. To learn more, contact him at dave@kmstime.com or visit Infinity Lifestyle Design.
Florence, or Flo to her friends, avoided the discussion of retirement. Divorced and in her early sixties, she knew she should have been thinking about post-career life, yet she kept putting it off. It wasn’t the idea of no longer being employed that scared her; the steps required to make a more flexible lifestyle sustainable caused her hesitation.
