WorkPlace Wellness: adding life to employees for a healthier retirement

Financial advisors can be key players when it comes to making sure clients are prepared for a prosperous retirement. You already knew that.

But having enough savings isn’t enough to ensure that your clients enjoy a long prosperous retirement. A complete approach to retirement includes another element of clients’ well-being: health.

Advisors who integrate interest in a client or employees health and welfare with questions and discussion..  can help clients focus on the total picture of retirement, one that includes not just a comfortable income, but also the ability to enjoy the activities they’ve spent a lifetime imagining: travel, visits with family, and exciting new hobbies.

Research in the Stanford Center on Longevity‘s newly released Sightlines Project shows that while people are living longer, some disturbing trends persist, including obesity and sedentary living.

One source cited by the study, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reports obesity is a risk factor for high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, some cancers, general body pain, and “low quality of life” and “all causes of death.”

That’s quite a list for packing a few extra pounds.

More than a third of all Americans under the age of 75 are considered obese, according to the Stanford study. And obesity rates among those 25 to 54, and those over 75, are significantly higher now than they were 12 years ago.

It’s not entirely our fault, the study suggests.

Diet guidelines are constantly changing, and while more of us understand that exercise is good for us, we’ve become too sedentary. Again, not all our fault, considering a shift from manufacturing to “desk jobs,” not to mention that 60-inch high-definition TV and a hundred channels with movies on demand.

“Americans are sitting for longer stretches,” the study reported. “A majority across age groups are sedentary for five or more hours per day.”

One article cited in the study even dramatically reports, “sitting is the new smoking.”

What can we do  to help clients "do better" and be better?

•  We are moving into a better way to do finances.  Relationship building to include   activities instead. Raffling off a " nutrition coach" to a winning client can be fun and beneficial too.

 We Sponsor a community activity, such as a 5k run or a bike tour  or  We may organize a client day  for an active charity.

• Instead of hosting a meeting at a table... perhaps we go for a walk. The Stanford study suggests walking during meetings is a good start in getting to know a client or good time to review goals and objectives.

It’s not unusual for  our clients to ask advisors for help with areas outside financial advice, such as help finding a good tax professional or a good attorney. So why wouldn’t your clients follow your lead when it comes to living a healthier, longer life? What good is having retirement savings if clients aren’t healthy enough to enjoy it?

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