When I was 12 years old, I accompanied a very imposing NFL football player named Jackie Slater to an LA Lakers basketball game. I grew up in Southern California and Slater was a friend of our family’s. I’d like to say I was invited to the game, but it was more about being the last one available after my dad, my older brother and probably several other people had schedule conflicts. Regardless, I jumped at the chance.
Known as “Big Bad Jackie” on the field, Slater was a gentle giant off the field and a good sport about letting a youngster tag along with him to the Lakers game. When we approached our courtside seats at the LA Forum, the crowd started chanting, “One more year! One more year!”
At first, I thought they were cheering on the Lakers for another playoff run, but when all eyes turned in our direction, I realized the crowd was pleading with Slater to play one more year for our beloved Los Angeles Rams. A perennial All-Pro, he had 19 seasons under his belt in the grueling position of offensive lineman. His 245 regular season games in the trenches were the most ever by an offensive lineman at the time. Could his body endure one more punishing season and guide the Rams to the Super Bowl? More on that in a minute
As a parent, business owner or professional athlete, when you’ve done something the same way, every day, for eight to twelve hours a day, for decade after decade, it can be jarring when you no longer have a routine and all the responsibility that comes with being a mentor and authority figure. Suddenly the spotlight’s no longer on you.
The sense of aimlessness and isolation can create tremendous stress and mental health issues. I’m sure Slater had some of those thoughts in the back of his mind, just as every retiring athlete, business owner and empty-nest parent does.
Jelani Jenkins, another former NFL player, should know. As he shared on my podcast recently, he went through a difficult transition after retiring from football. “Mentally, spiritually, physically, I was going through some things with identity, not really understanding where I was going to be next, or what to do next, or who I was outside of being an athlete,” related Jenkins. Ultimately, that led him to go through a self-discovery process to get out of that “really dark time and space in my life” to get some support from mentors and loved ones. Having the right support helped Jenkins realize he wasn’t alone. Many former teammates were going through even tougher mental, physical and financial anguish and he eventually created the Postseason app to help former professional athletes make a smoother transition out of sports.
But what about the millions of other boomers who are quietly retiring every day? While boomers may be the most financially literate generation ever, they’re also the first to retire with the future of Social Security uncertain. They’re also the first cohort to retire with more members counting on self-directed retirement savings such as 401(k)s, than company provided pensions. And then there’s the stress of a new life without the structure of work/family they’ve been used to for the past 40 years or so. That’s often a recipe for mental health issues.
Your role as CPA v2.0
Let’s face it. Technology is automating more and more of the tax prep, auditing, planning and compliance work that used to take up most of your day. That’s actually a good thing because it frees up more of your time to have more intimate conversations with clients about their passions and goals for the next stage of life. And no one is better equipped to help them get there.
A client might need a revised budget for extensive travel and will have to cut back on daily living expenses to meet it. They might need help setting up a part-time consulting practice or switching their charitable giving to less cash and more volunteer time.
You already know more about your clients than anyone else, including their doctor. You’re in a unique position to help them through a trying time in their life. CPAs have long been considered their client’s most trusted advisors, but now you can help them as their “transformational” advisor.
Same goes for major life events or transitions — having a child, changing jobs, getting married, getting divorced, retiring, or dealing with the death of a close family member.
As author, technologist and behavioral finance expert Dr. Jordan Hutchinson mentioned on my podcast recently, life changes often cause our identity to change. Take the example of parents whose youngest child is now off to college. After so many years of carpooling, doctor appointments, school events and athletic competitions, suddenly they have all this free time. Free time seems great on the surface, but if they’ve lost fulfillment and engagement in their daily life it can be extremely stressful and depressing. Same goes for retiring, especially if your client was a Type A business owner or top executive.
Like Hutchinson, I’ve seen what happens to athletes when they hang on too long, especially in physically demanding sports like football, boxing and basketball. It rarely ends well. The athletes don’t need the money anymore. They need the adulation. They need to be the center of attention. They need the adrenaline rush of competition.
As an undergrad at UCLA, I was good friends with many baseball and football players. When they ended their college careers and didn’t make it to the pros, they didn’t know what to do with themselves. After practicing their sport every day of their lives from early childhood, suddenly they’re no longer a “player” and no longer have a team around them for support and bonding. Hutchinson, a former college basketball player agreed it’s a very tough transition because he said your sports self has long been your identity. Same goes for retirees.
“In Western culture, one of the first things people ask you when they meet you is: ‘What do you do?’ They need an identity to tie you to. When you take that away, in retirement, and they instead say, ‘I’m going to play golf,’ or ‘I’m going to hang out with the grandkids’ it seems so much less important,” Hutchinson added.
He believes many successful people, from athletes and professional people to executives and business owners, really struggle in their post-working years because they haven’t thought through how to retire. They haven’t thought through the tasks and self-defining activities that they can do to gain fulfillment. Same goes for empty nesters. That’s where you come in.
Athletes can still coach or become announcers. Retired executives can still mentor or consult. Empty nesters can help out at schools. But they need a plan. When it comes to aging, people have to push themselves to try new experiences and to learn new things called “capital allocation,” explained Hutchinson.
“It’s not just financial capital; it’s capital on our time and capital on our skills and gifts that we can pass along to others,” he added.
“When you have clients going through big transitions, ask them where they’re going to find engagement in life. You can only play so much golf or spend so much time with your grandkids until it’s clearly time to go home,” noted Hutchinson. “You don’t want clients to burn through their assets, because they’re searching and really struggling.” In response, you can start small and just push them bit by bit,” advised Hutchinson.
From my vantage point, this is why CPAs and accounting professionals are uniquely positioned to be advisors of the future. We’re still early on when it comes to behavioral financial advice. But incorporating this philosophy into your practice can be incredibly rewarding for you as a practitioner.
If you’re wondering, yes, Jackie Slater came back for a 20th season. His 259 regular-season games played were the most ever by an offensive lineman when he retired, and his 20 seasons with one team was an NFL record. Then, thanks to having a great support network, he knew it was time to move on to the next chapter in his life. He not only got inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2001, but he became a successful college coach, an advocate for the NFL’s Play60 youth fitness program, and developed a prosperous third act to his career helping former athletes with their money challenges.
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