Engaging a Retirement Mentor

Survey results: 84% of pre-retirees don’t have a mentor: someone who has already successfully travelled the retirement road.

With many people retiring earlier, you may find yourself retired for 10 to 30 or more years. 

When we started in life, gaining experience and maturing, we had many mentors along the way – parents, family members, teachers, friends, coaches, business associates, supervisors, and managers. They all showed us the way, pointed out the pitfalls, and helped us navigate through the obstacles. They also encouraged and praised us and helped guide our actions.

Retirement is no different; it’s filled with adventure, change, and the unknown. Facing this new phase of your life, you can choose to jump into retirement with both feet, without any planning or discussion, or you can enter retirement fully prepared and with appropriate support and guidance. Clearly, I advocate the latter.

As part of your retirement preparation, I encourage you to find and use one or two mentors to provide you with the advice and emotional support you’ll need to be a successful retiree.

The biggest “aha” moment in your talk about successful retirement was when you brought up the idea of using a mentor. I’ve had several mentors throughout my career. I’ve also paid good money to golf pros and personal trainers. Getting someone involved in my retirement made instant sense to me. John K., senior executive

How to Find a Mentor

Here are some tips for finding a suitable mentor:

· Acknowledge that it’s difficult to have a successful retirement without help.  One or more mentors can assist you in developing your retirement vision and plan.

· Ask yourself if there are one or two people in your social circle who can serve as your mentor. Consider a work colleague or friend, someone who already has created a successful retirement plan, or someone who is already a retiree you admire. Be sure to consider your financial advisor as a potential mentor. Most are keenly interested in helping their clients achieve not only financial success but also total retirement success.

· Once you identify one or more potential mentors, meet with them individually. Discuss the potential of establishing and maintaining a mentoring relationship, including the expectations and concerns, both yours and theirs. Also be sure to discuss the time commitment.

Extract: Retirement: The Ultimate Life Journey by Rick Atkinson