My Smart Retirement

There are many phases of change we go through in life. Retirement is one of them. Changing for Good: A Revolutionary Six-Stage Program by John C. Norcross details the 6 stages of change. On today's show, we will be discussing the first 3 stages: pre-contemplation, contemplation, and preparation. These are the mental and emotional hurdles we must go through when we make a change. Learning about the way we transition is an important tool in navigating retirement. The pre-contemplation phase could also be called the denial stage. At this point, you probably don't even recognize there is an issue that needs to be addressed. We see this with couples a lot, one spouse wants to lock down on their retirement planning while the other doesn't see the financial problems that need to be focused on. Usually, spouses are on different phases of change and they must work as a team to make things happen.  After getting past pre-contemplation, we move on to contemplation. Here you understand there is a problem that needs to be