Retirement: Planning for the third half of life

In rugby, the game is divided into “three halves.” The first two halves are the official parts of the game that are played on the field. But the “third half” takes place when the game is over. Players from both teams meet and celebrate together, establishing relationships and a sense of community.

Just as in rugby, retirement can be thought of as the third half of life, said Campbell Gerrish, cofounder of Third Half Advisors, based in New York. After working in the insurance industry since 1973, Gerrish founded Third Half Advisors five years ago. 

Third Half Advisors’ mission is “helping people approach life in an optimistic way, as opposed to looking at retirement as a drag,” he said. He created a curriculum completed by more than 500 people to guide them to finding joy and purpose in their post-employment years.

“It has been a mission of mine for the last five years to teach people that there really is a third half of life that can be just as bright or even brighter than the first two halves they played on the field,” Gerrish told InsuranceNewsNet. 

The first half of the average person’s life is education, he said. “During those years, you have to follow a certain curriculum and routine.”

An individual’s working years make up the second half of life, he said. “Once you strap yourself into a desk, you’re there for a long time. Even though you may work for a variety of different companies in your career, you’re mostly in a situation where you’re required to be there.”

The third half of life — retirement — is completely different. “After you retire and step back from work, you get to choose what you want to do,” Gerrish said. “That’s what our business is about. It’s about helping people decide what are the activities that will bring them energy in this stage of their life.” 

After more than four decades in the life insurance business, Gerrish wanted a change. He chose to form a practice focused on helping people form their vision for retirement and make a plan to thrive in the next chapter of their lives.

He created Milestone Sessions, three-hour programs designed to introduce people to alternatives to traditional “aging” choices. The program begins with using the Clifton Strengths Finder, a professional assessment tool to help people identify their current strengths. Out of 34 different strengths, participants filter down to 10 of those strengths and then identify five strengths to focus on as they plan their retirements.

“We have determined that if people focus on those areas of life, they will find energy and joy and abundance,” Gerrish said. “We try to teach them how to create a portfolio with a variety of different activities that all bring energy, fun and joy into their lives.”

This is different from many of the aptitude and personality tests that people may have taken in their working years. “It’s the same type of information, but we orient it in a different way,” he said. “At this stage of their lives, the field is wide open. I think that when we’re working, there are many things we may be good at but we don’t like doing very well.”

Gerrish said many of his clients rediscover the passion for something they enjoyed or wanted to do when they were much younger. “Maybe you always wanted to play the flute, or maybe you played an instrument when you were in school but haven’t done it since you started working. Now you have time to pursue those things.”

One client chose to fulfill a longtime dream of raising funds to create an interfaith worship center in his city. Another client decided she would cut back her business hours so that she could spend every Friday with her mother.

Finding meaning and purpose on life’s whiteboard

Although preretirees are concerned about having enough money to fund their post-working years, Gerrish said most of his clients are more concerned about finding meaning and purpose now that they no longer have a title or an office in which to spend their days.

“Suddenly, they don’t have appointments on their calendar. They don’t have a community of people to work with,” he said. “Now life is like a whiteboard. It’s complicated because even though you don’t have someone telling you what to do anymore, retirement is baffling for some people. You’ve been working for 30 or 40 years in a particular career, you become good at doing some things and you have things on your calendar for every day. You don’t have to ask what you are going to do today.”

Retirement often is envisioned “as this idyllic picture where you play golf and enjoy cocktails at sunset,” Gerrish said. “But many people I work with are thrown off-kilter by retirement. They don’t know quite what to do. They may have played all the golf they want, or they may have hurt their knee and they can’t do some things they enjoy. They don’t quite know how to approach this phase of life.”

In addition to those who don’t know what to do in retirement, some try to take on too much now that they no longer have to punch a time clock. 

“Some people say yes to everything,” he said. “The next thing you know, they’re overloaded with responsibilities for things they might not even like very much.”

Answering the important questions

Gerrish said his goal is to help clients answer the questions: What are my strengths? What are my values? How will I make decisions about things I want to do as well as things that I must do, such as taking care of aging parents?

“The most important thing they must decide is what they won’t do anymore,” he said. “It’s about realizing, ‘Here are some things that I had to do for years and I never really liked doing them. I’m not going to do them anymore.’”

The Clifton Strengths Finder also helps clients identify the types of activities they want to engage with as well as what they value most.

“What are the most important things during your working career might be completely different after you retire,” he said. “Some people may want to learn something new, others may want to give back.” 

Creating a ‘portfolio life’

As part of the sessions, clients are asked to create what Gerrish calls “a portfolio life.”

“We want them to divide their lives into different categories. Imagine a pie chart — and then have those elements of their portfolio weighted. For example, someone wants to spend 30% of their time traveling and 30% of their time doing something else and 20% doing another thing. Then, on an ongoing basis, we measure what they’re actually doing compared to what they set out to do. Now they have a time management system. It may not be as structured as it was when they were working. But at least they’re paying attention to what they’re doing day to day and making sure that they’re doing the things that matter to them.”

Having a plan for retirement that goes beyond saving money is important to a retiree’s physical health, Gerrish said.

“Having meaning and purpose in life will extend your longevity. I think it has been proven that being lonely and not having companionship is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. So having meaning and purpose and a community of people that you’re engaged with will extend your lifespan tremendously.”

Gerrish said he believes the insurance and financial services industry must help Americans plan for the nonfinancial aspects of retirement.

“We must put more focus on what people are going to do in retirement. With 85 million Americans in the baby boom generation and so many people going through this period of uncertainty, I believe we must give them a hand up to get them to a different place and a better place.”

Gerrish played rugby when he was younger, and he reminisced about how much fun he had with his fellow players during the game’s third half.

“It’s the only competitive sport that I’m aware of where you meet your opponents and have some fun with them. And that’s what the third half is all about. It’s the game after the game, and now you can still continue to play.”

Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].