Retirement: I'm ready, but what's holding me back?

​Cassie (not the client's real name) has looked forward to retirement for her entire career. She has carefully saved and invested in her retirement account with a financial planner. The target date was set years in advance. And yet, as that date approached, Cassie felt fear and doubt, and even dread, at the thought of retiring. Despite knowing that financially, she had everything in order, there was something much deeper causing Cassie to hesitate. She was confused about her fear. Why would this dread be growing as the magic date approached?

This is what brought Cassie to me. She wanted to retire, but emotionally, knew there was something holding her back. After completing her self-assessment, I met with Cassie to review the findings. Yes, Cassie certainly had everything in order financially, but the assessment identified the areas of concern, and they had nothing to do with finances.

Cassie had two main areas of concern. The first was how to replace the structure that work provided; how to fill the time. The second was harder to discern, and required some digging. What she learned through coaching was that she had always assumed she’d be married when she retired. Here, she found herself single, with a retirement that did not look at all as she had always imagined it.
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We spent time working through these two issues, digging into their deeper causation. Even after the first coaching session, Cassie started to have hope and see things differently in her life. By the end of our engagement, Cassie was once again excited, and more importantly, ready, to retire. She could now wait for that date to arrive with eager anticipation, reaping the rewards of a long and successful career.