What is the gap in retirement readiness?
According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 67% of workers feel confident they will have enough money for retirement. Yet research reveals a significant gap when it comes to emotional and psychological readiness.
One comprehensive survey found that 24% said retirement had the third biggest emotional impact on them, after children and marriage. This highlights how the emotional, social, and psychological dimensions of this transition arrive as a genuine surprise for many retirees. Another 2020 survey by Age Wave and Edward Jones found that 54% wish they had done better planning for the non-financial aspects of retirement. Together, these statistics tell a story that is ramping up in the retirement planning space:
Pre-retirees and retirees are looking for resources that go beyond finances.
Financial support for retirement is crucial. Helping people save, invest, and plan for the financial side of leaving work forms a foundation for retirement. Without it, retirement is not always an option—though circumstances may force retirement anyway.
But financial preparation does not necessarily equate to readiness for life in retirement. Even with a solid financial plan in place, many people still struggle with retirement. It is one of the most significant life transitions a person will ever navigate. One survey found that 24% said retirement had the third biggest emotional impact on them, after children and marriage. But for many people, the emotional, social, and psychological dimensions of this transition arrive as genuine surprise.
What tends to surprise people? The loss of professional identity. The absence of daily structure. The quiet erosion of social connections that work had quietly provided for years. The unexpected question of what now?
These are not small adjustments. Yet most people arrive at retirement having thought almost exclusively about the numbers.
The Gap in Support: Life Design
If you are a coach working with pre-retirees or retirees, this gap is where your work lives. Clients may arrive with a solid financial plan and an unclear sense of what comes next. They may feel vaguely unsettled without being able to name why. They may be six months into retirement and quietly wondering why it doesn't feel the way they thought it would.
This is not a financial problem. It is a life design problem and it is exactly what retirement-focused coaching is equipped to address.
If you are a financial planner, this gap is also relevant to you. Your clients trust you with the most important transition of their financial lives. Broadening that conversation, even slightly, to include the lifestyle, identity, and wellbeing dimensions of retirement can deepen that trust significantly and differentiate your practice in a meaningful way.
Improving Retirement Outcomes
The emotional and psychological side of retirement is not unpredictable. It is well-researched and well-documented. However, it is not inevitable either. Not everyone struggles with retirement. And with the right preparation and support, it is very navigable for those who are at risk of a difficult adjustment.
People who enter retirement having prepared for the non-financial side of retirement fare significantly better than those who have not thought about it. The problem is, most people feel in the dark with regard to retirement, and what to expect. It is a vast unknown. They do not know where to start, and many assume they are alone in their concerns.
That is rapidly changing, and that is the opportunity: Filling the gap in support for retirement wellbeing, and improving satisfaction and other retirement outcomes for those now entering retirement or already in retirement.
At Retirement Life Plan, our programs are built on research behind what retirees actually struggle with, what supports retirement wellbeing, and the tools professionals can use to help their clients thrive in retirement. Our aim is to address that gap, going beyond surface level advice to address the depth of retirees’ experiences that truly impact the quality of their retirement experience.
For coaches: The Retirement Life Coach Certification provides research-based frameworks, retirement-specific coaching tools, and 15 hours of ICF-approved Continuing Coach Education (CCE).
For financial planners and other professionals: The Psychology of Retirement Masterclass is a self-paced program designed to help you lead deeper, more holistic retirement conversations with clients, without a coaching background required.
Sources
Employee Benefit Research Institute. 2025-2026 Retirement Confidence Survey
Edward Jones and Age Wave. The Four Pillars of the New Retirement (June 2021)
Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Retirement: One of Our Most Emotionally Challenging Milestones (March 2021)
