What to look for when choosing a coach to explore what’s next.
Retirement is one of life’s most significant transitions. It’s a phase of life we spend years, even decades, preparing for financially. Yet when the day finally arrives, many people find themselves with more questions than answers. As one retiree put it, it can feel like walking into the great unknown.
Who will I be when I am no longer working? How will I fill my time in a meaningful and fulfilling way? What will the days actually look like?
Uncertainty around retirement is not universal, of course. Some people count down the days to retirement, and some move into it quite easily. But with so much of our lives spent working, retirement is understandably a significant shift for many, even a disruption. These are personal considerations, lifestyle questions, and questions about the quality of retirement.
It is this more personal experience and adjustment with retirement that is starting to be addressed through more holistic retirement planning. Retirement coaching is one emerging specialization intended to fill a gap in retirement planning, helping clients explore these questions and clarify a vision for retirement.
Qualified retirement coaches can provide more focused support on non-financial aspects of retirement. They can help you clarify a vision that is personally fulfilling, explore uncertainties, and consider areas that play a role in retirement well-being. They can also help you bring your vision to fruition.
But the coaching industry is also largely unregulated, which means that almost anyone can call themselves a retirement coach, regardless of their training, qualifications, or methodology. Knowing what to look for will help you find someone who is genuinely equipped to support you.
Here are a few questions to consider when choosing a Retirement Life Coach:
1. Does the coach have professional coach training, or are they relying mostly on life experience?
This is perhaps the most important distinction. Having been retired, or having worked with retirees in a financial capacity, gives someone experience that may be relatable. It may give them an awareness that others do not have around the retirement transition. It does not, however, necessarily give them the tools and skills to help you discover a personally fulfilling new chapter.
What works for one person in retirement will not work for everyone else. Professionally trained coaches will be aware of their own experience and how it may differ from their clients’ experiences. Coaching is a distinct profession with its own methodology, ethics, and skill set. A trained coach knows how to hold space for you to reach your own insights, rather than offering advice based on their own experience.
Experience and lived wisdom may be genuinely valuable. It may help coaches understand the depth of the retirement experience and what their clients may experience. Alternatively, it can also contribute to assumptions about what others are experiencing. A coach’s own experience works best when it is also grounded in solid coaching skills, not in place of them.
What to look for:
Willingness to discuss their training and methodology openly when asked.
Curiosity and questions about your own retirement, rather than solutions or advice offered based on the coach’s retirement experience
Training from a program accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) or an equivalent recognized body such as the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). Associate Certified Coach (ACC), Professional Certified Coach (PCC), or Master Certified Coach (MCC) are ICF credentials that a coach will likely use as part of their title. These require documented training hours, supervised coaching practice, and adherence to a code of ethics.
2. Does the coach have retirement-specific training?
Retirement is a unique life transition, with personal adjustments and intentions that are often distinct from other chapters and transitions. Identity shifts, changes in social networks, and seeking new purpose are some areas where retirees may experience change.
Life coaches may certainly provide support in these areas. Specific training in the retirement transition, however, broadens a coach’s understanding of this chapter, enabling them to notice and more fully explore relevant areas for your own retirement.
Look for a coach who has sought out specialized training in this area, in addition to broader coaching experience. Coaching experience equips them with skills to support your own exploration. Retirement-specific training enhances awareness of the broad and diverse experiences in this chapter of life.
Certifications designed for coaches working in this niche indicate that a coach has invested in building this specialized understanding. The Retirement Life Coach™ Certification from Retirement Life Plan is one of these programs, and is approved by the ICF for Continuing Coach Education (CCE). It also seeks to support coaching as a distinct profession by requiring coaches to come into the program with previous coach training or experience, aligned with the ICF standards. This is a standard that is often overlooked.
A note on retirement coaching certifications: Retirement coaching certifications are specialty training, not a replacement for a professional coaching credential. The retirement coach training programs we are aware of may count toward continuing education for coaches, but they do not provide foundational training for coaches. So it is important to look for a coach who has professional coach training as a foundation, alongside any retirement-specific certification.
3. Are conversations about your vision, or theirs?
This is a quality that is harder to assess from a website, but it is one of the most important things to explore in an initial conversation. A skilled retirement coach helps you clarify your own values, explore your own vision, and find your own answers. They are not an advisor, and certainly not someone filling you in on their own idea of what a “good retirement” looks like.
This can be tricky when you may want answers to clear up feelings of uncertainty about what to expect. A qualified coach will balance the need for clarity with ensuring that the retirement vision is your own. Here are some positive signs you can watch for on a discovery call:
They listen more than they talk
They ask more questions than they offer solutions
They spend time getting to know you, your personal situation and your hopes for coaching
They do not push a specific formula for retirement, but instead help you explore what fits you best
They do not offer unsolicited advice about how to structure or spend your retirement
A qualified coach will be curious about you, rather than eager to demonstrate their expertise or experience. A retirement that is personally fulfilling will, after all, start with you.
4. Is the coaching style a fit for you?
The coaching relationship is personal. There are many different forms and styles of coaching, and a coaching style that works well for one person may not suit another. Some coaches will be more focused on personal goals and may have a more structured approach, while others work purely based on what comes up in coaching sessions without any pre-established structure.
Most coaches offer a free discovery session. Use this as an opportunity to watch for the signs we have outlined, and ask questions about their coaching methodology. Also, pay attention to how you feel during the conversation. Do you feel heard? Do their questions open something up for you? Do you leave feeling clearer or energized?
5. What do you want to know from the coach before you work with them?
Before committing to working with a retirement life coach, consider the questions you want to ask of the coach. Here are a few questions you might consider asking:
What is your coach training background, and are you credentialed by a recognized coaching body?
Do you have specific training in retirement transitions, or retirement coaching in particular?
How would you describe your coaching approach?
Can you share examples of how you have helped clients prepare for or navigate retirement?
Do you have testimonials or client references available?
Keep in mind, years spent coaching is not always an indication of a coaching relationship that will necessarily fit you, personally. Coaching has evolved significantly as a profession in recent decades. Newer coaches are often well-equipped with training and an awareness of how to support you in your own path.
The difference between coaching, therapy, and financial advice
A retirement coach is neither a therapist nor a financial planner. Retirement coaching is focused on looking forward, on the non-financial side of retirement. It is goal-focused, future-oriented, and empowering. A coach may help you reflect on experiences in order to enhance awareness and exploration around what’s next. Therapy typically will spend more time exploring and understanding past patterns, and is the right support for deeper psychological concerns.
And while a financial planner is focused primarily on preparing for financial needs with retirement, a retirement coach focuses primarily on the non-financial dimensions of retirement: identity, purpose, relationships, structure, well-being, and meaning. Some financial planners will also explore non-financial considerations, though not to the same extent as a coach. Some retirement coaches will also explore how you are feeling about your financial readiness, without getting into what your financial plans are and whether they make sense.
A qualified coach will know the limits of their role and will refer you to other professionals when appropriate.
The bottom line
Retirement is likely to last 20 to 30 years or more. The decisions you make about how to spend that time, what gives you purpose, how you stay connected, how you invest your energy, will shape the quality of your experiences in this time of life. That deserves thoughtful time and consideration.
When you are looking for a retirement coach, take the time to look beyond the website and the testimonials. Ask about training. Explore their approach. And notice how you feel in the conversations, and whether they are genuinely curious about your vision or quietly steering you toward theirs.
The right coach will help you build a retirement that is unmistakably yours.
About Retirement Life Plan
If you are exploring retirement coaching, our Design Your Retirement page is a good place to start. You can browse resources, connect with a Certified Retirement Life Coach, or join a workshop or event hosted by coaches who have completed the Retirement Life™ Coach Certification.
At Retirement Life Plan, we believe that a fulfilling retirement takes more than a solid financial plan. It takes clarity about who you are outside of work, how you want to spend your time, and what gives your days meaning. Our resources and programs are built on the research behind what actually makes retirement fulfilling, and on connecting people with professionals who are genuinely equipped to help them get there.
→ For coaches: Retirement Life Coach Certification — ICF-accredited for 15 CCE hours
→ For financial planners and other professionals: Psychology of Retirement Masterclass
