‘Nothing but a retiree’: why Boomers are turning to lifestyle coaches

Remarkable increases in life expectancy mean retirees can expect to live as long as another 30 years after finishing work. Medical research says engaged lifestyles can improve health, bolster cognitive capacity, slow decline and boost longevity.

More than 670,000 Australians plan to retire over the next five years. Boomers, who were born between 1946 and 1964, are viewed as having had it much easier than previous generations because of free healthcare and university, job security and soaring house prices.

But 40 per cent will struggle with the transition from full-time work to what comes next, despite having plenty of retirement savings, according to Glass, whose company is called 64Plus.

“What will you do on your first day of retirement? In the second week? At the end of the first quarter, the end of the first year? These are all milestones that can bring great joy – or despair,” he says.

René Vernon, a former human resources director with the Department of Defence, took early retirement at 59 and within 18 months became deeply depressed and was contemplating suicide.

“I had lost my purpose and structure,” Canberra-based Vernon says of his brutal transition from work to retirement. “I missed the structure, socialising and meaning that work gave. I had nothing to call myself except a retiree.”

While many people are impatient to retire, recent UK medical research found that participants who worked either full-time or part-time scored higher on measures of mental health than those who had retired.

It also indicated that women who continued working past 65 had a lower likelihood of requiring long-term care and reduced risk of decline in their ability to complete daily activities.

Go-go jobs to quietude

The “working boost” extended to both sexes for people whose jobs were considered “rewarding”.

A Harvard Business Review study also found that people who retired at 66, rather than at 65 or younger, lived 11 per cent longer.

Vernon combined his training in human resources with courses in retirement and life coaching to create Next Steps Retirement Coaching.

His clients are a mix of men and women, typically office workers aged between 50 and 70.

“They are usually Canberra professionals who had demanding go-go jobs but are suddenly thinking what am I going to do 24/7 for the next 25 to 30 years,” he says.

Craig Wachholz, managing director of Let’s Go Surfing, the nation’s largest surfing school with about 100 instructors, runs Silver Surfer classes for retirees – and those coming up to retirement – typically aged up to 70. His oldest student was 90 years of age.

“It’s about changing lives one wave at a time,” he says, adding that many older surfers are confronting fear of the ocean, recovering from illness or just wanting something new. “It’s also about getting fit in a spiritual and immersive experience,” he says.

Teen again

Guy McKanna quit full-time work in his mid-50s, turning to researching and writing non-fiction books. His latest is called Survive Your Death.

“After tackling such big questions that are thrown up when you retire, I found fishing and sailing were not enough to occupy me,” says McKanna, who works part-time in public relations and marketing in Sydney. “I still needed mental and spiritual stimulation”.

Leah Shmerling, principal of Career Coaching and Training, which offers online retirement coaching programs, says retirement is a bit like being a teenager again “because you are asking all sorts of questions about your life, relationships and where you fit in the world. These are powerful questions.”

A “good” retirement is proactive and purposeful and contrasts with someone who “waits for time to pass” or for people to come to them, Shmerling says.

“Retirement is about working to your passions. At retirement, you can do what you want full time, part-time, casually or through a project. It is complex and important, but most people consider it purely in financial terms – that once they have enough money to retire everything else will fall into place.”

Glass, a former fund manager who worked for AMP, Bankers Trust and Media Super, says around one-in-five retirees feel unfulfilled or have no purpose.

“Prepare for retirement by having a discussion with your family or spouse because those people will soon have you around the house more than ever before,” he says. “Will they welcome that, or will you disrupt their own routine?”

Glass, who takes on about six to 10 clients a year, typically discusses retirement ambitions over six one-hour sessions.

“This is not in-depth psychology. It is emotional counselling. It is bringing to the surface feeling and emotions that concern their work life, their transitioning to retirement and their retirement.”

In addition to 40 years of funds management, Glass has a doctorate in pure mathematics from Cambridge University and training in counselling and coaching.

Filling the gaps

His advice ranges from dealing with a loss of identity through to recommendations about creating a new identity, hiving off some private space at home, such as a library or workroom, and new activities, which can include a return to work.

“Another key aspect of retiring is recognising that your work, your contribution, your colleagues, have provided you with a sense of self-esteem and self-worth for decades,” he says.

Many miss the office banter, teamwork and problem-solving that made them feel good about themselves, he says.

According to Harvard University studies, some of the health benefits from working come from the movement that is usually required to get to an office, while cognitive tasks keep the brain active. Researchers found the most important health benefit was increased social connections and engagement.

“All of a sudden those connections can be gone,” Glass says. “No one is asking them for advice, let alone to do something.”

Vernon conducts one-on-one consultancies and around six clients a year.

“I give them a psychological test that assesses where they are now compared to what they hope to be in retirement,” he says. “I can then discuss with them how to fill those gaps.”

He provides advice about how to structure a week, where people derive their identity and purpose, and strategies for socialising.

Vernon says some of his clients find fulfilment in new hobbies, volunteering, writing books, religion, setting up a business or going back to work.

Shmerling encourages people to “visualise their ideal lifestyle” and then consider what barriers they need to remove, or steps that can be taken, to achieve it.

Despite retirement advertisements, retirement won’t feel like a permanent vacation. The novelty of travelling soon wears off. Instead, you settle into a new equilibrium of daily chores, hobbies, family, friendships and passion projects.

Tim Mackay, an independent financial adviser at Quantum Financial, says the first five years of retirement are crucial financially and emotionally.

“After a long, successful career, announcing ‘Honey, I’m home forever’ places stress on any relationship,” he writes.

“While you are both working, you have independence and other relationships. When at home, you need to adjust and relearn what you enjoy doing together. It’s not wise for A-type personalities at work to try to take over the management of the home to fill the void.”

Retirement coaches typically cost between $200 to $250 an hour. There are estimated to be about 20 in Australia. The sector is unregulated, which means those considering counselling need to check qualifications and experience of their coach.