3 steps to help clients avoid emotional decision making.

Step 1. Understand your client's emotional response to investment loss.

Research on retirement investing shows that clients tend to drill down on a dollar value as their primary reference point for success.² But this can have significantly negative impacts on retirement behavior.

Clients watching this number fluctuate over time could be susceptible to letting their emotions dictate their investment decisions, especially if they are close to retirement age.⁴ As a result, they might be tempted to time the market, may negatively impact their potential investment performance.

Step 2. Reframe your client's outlook to focus on their retirement lifestyle goals.

Even if your client is focused solely on their growth potential, you can help them see the bigger picture, which is how they'll be living in retirement. It starts by getting them to focus more on what they need to do to secure their retirement income.

For example, a client might want to save $500,000 for retirement. Try reframing the conversation around the lifestyle they want and how much they'll need to maintain it, which, for this hypothetical client, might be about $30,000 per year. This can help them focus less on the total dollar amount of their savings — which is likely to increase or decrease depending on market performance — and more on making sure they have an annual amount to maintain their lifestyle in retirement.

Step 3. Help boost your client's retirement confidence with an annuity solution.

An American who retires at age 65 can expect to live to age 85, according to U.S. Social Security estimates. (Go to the U.S. government's Social Security website to calculate the odds for yourself!Opens in a new tab). Yet nearly half of all working-age Americans don't have any retirement savings, go to the 2020 U.S. Census data site to read the numbersOpens in a new tab. So, it's a safe bet your clients are looking for solutions that can make them feel more confident as they reach retirement.

With tax-deferred growth potential and flexible options for guaranteed lifetime income and legacy protection, an annuity may complement your clients' portfolios while adding more confidence and protection to their retirement goals. Your client's future is worth protecting, and we have competitive annuity solutions designed to support their goals — and your business.

Build confidence through key retirement decisions.

Helping clients navigate their investment decisions through market volatility with a level-headed approach starts with trust. We're here to help you help them feel more confident about their retirement income now and in the future.

As you guide clients through more key retirement decisions, explore additional topics that may help influence their strategies:

• Behavioral investing
• Medicare
• Social Security