May 18: BEST OF THE BLOGOSPHERE

May 18, 2026

Retirement coaching now focuses on non-financial goals as well as money-related targets

Writing for Advisor.ca, Saman Khodai observes that today’s retirement coaches need to cover off the “non-financial variables” of retirement – such as “life-readiness” – as well as the traditional money-related ones.

Retirement, he continues, has not only become a phase of life that “lasts longer” than it used to but “an increasingly complex behavioural transition.”

Retirement coaches therefore must also help “provide clients genuine life-readiness clarity – a genuine understanding of their values, goals, and the steps required to live a fulfilling life.”

That’s a big change, the article continues.

“Advisors routinely coordinate with tax professionals, lawyers, insurance specialists and other experts when client situations demand depth and specialization. Retirement coaching fits naturally inside that ecosystem,” writes Khodai.

Factors like building a “compliant foundation” for retirement income, planning, implementation, as well as monitoring and review remain key parts of the advisor’s role, he notes.

However, he adds, it’s no longer just about the money.

“In retirement planning, a simple reality shows up repeatedly: a plan can be technically sound and still struggle in the real world if the client’s lived retirement does not match the assumptions embedded in the plan. Durability depends not only on numbers, but on whether the plan fits how the client will actually live,” he explains.

“Retirement today often involves more transitions over a longer horizon: partial work, caregiving, relocation, changing health, evolving relationships and reinvention. Many people do not move from work to rest in a single step. Often, they move through stages that require decisions about roles, structure, identity and meaning,” adds Khodai.

Thus, today’s retirement advisor needs to help answer client questions like how “they will maintain structure in retirement,” and how to maintain old relationships while developing new ones. Other topics now top of mind include ways to make retirement meaningful, as well as identifying any “trade-offs” clients must make to afford the retirement they want.

Planning assistance is needed for these non-financial needs, the article tells us.

It’s important for the prospective retiree to establish “a clear statement of priorities and non-negotiables” for retired life, Khodai continues. What are the “explicit trade-offs” the client is willing to make to achieve those priorities? These points must be gathered into an action plan, the article adds.

It’s also helpful to have “a map of roles, relationships and social connection that supports wellbeing,” the article notes.

This type of gameplan, Khodai writes, is beneficial for the client.

“When life-readiness clarity is higher, clients tend to make decisions more consistently, communicate changes earlier and implement with less friction. They are better able to articulate what is driving a change in direction and whether it is a temporary reaction or a structural shift. They are also more likely to treat course correction as a normal part of a long transition rather than as a sign something failed,” he explains.

This is a very helpful article for those who have not yet retired, as it looks at the critically important idea of what you will do with all the time you’ll now have, and who you will be doing it with. Having good social connections – and building new ones – is perhaps just as important as building retirement income.

Having income is still a key piece of the retirement planning puzzle. If you have a retirement program through your work, be sure to sign up and contribute as much as you can.

If you are saving on your own for life beyond work, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan can be your trusted savings partner. You contribute what you want – and you can transfer in funds from any registered retirement savings plans you may have – and SPP does the rest.

Our team will professionally invest your hard-saved loonies in our low-cost, pooled fund, growing them over time. When it is time to turn savings into income, SPP options include the security of a lifetime monthly annuity payment, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Advisor.ca

---

---