

How Financial Advisors Can Help Prepare Clients for 4 Phases of Retirement
With today’s rising lifespans, we could be facing roughly 20 or more years in retirement, which is approximately 8,000 days. Once thought of this way, it becomes clearer that retirement is not an end, but rather a new, complex, and unknown phase of life, during which so much could happen.
The Four Phases of Retirement
It’s often asked, “What will you do on Day One of your retirement?” Most clients have a clear image of Day One. Maybe even Day 1,001. But few can imagine 8,000 days of golf, and even fewer have a vision of what they will be doing on any given day—such as Day 4,567. But getting started on the right foot can be crucial.
Instead of planning for ‘retirement’ as a single state, it may be beneficial to reframe the conversation to reflect a four-phased concept of retirement. Each is characterized by the tasks and issues individuals are most likely to be managing. The four retirement phases enable a clear vision to plan and to anticipate what is likely to come.
- The Honeymoon Phase
- The Big Decision Phase
- The Navigating Longevity Phase
- The Solo Journey Phase
A Life in 8,000 Day Parts (2:31)

John Diehl, Sr. VP of Strategic Markets Hartford Funds, explains how your clients’ lives can be divided into four 8,000 day segments and what’s most important in each.
Learn How to:
- Anticipate what clients will face in retirement—whether that’s Day 362 or Day 3,459
- Help co-create a story that people can realistically see themselves as the main character
- Understand how to maintain your core competency and value as a financial expert, but evolve to serve as a curator of a yet largely uncharted life phase of 8,000 days
Next Steps
- Download or order the client workbook below
- Listen to episode 1 of the Human-centric investing podcast as Dr. Joe Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, discusses the 8,000 days concept


Related Resources:
How to Create a Family Caregiving Plan
Alone Together: How the Pandemic Showed Us Why We Really Need the Internet
Helping Clients Through the Honeymoon Phase of Retirement
How to Help Clients Plan for the “Solo Journey” Phase of Retirement
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How Meal Delivery Services Can Help Caregivers
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8,000 Days article for clients
John Diehl is a registered representative of Hartford Funds Distributors, LLC. Check the background of this firm/individual on FINRA's BrokerCheck.
The MIT AgeLab is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Hartford Funds. 216634