Sketching out the golden years: new book tries to make retirement planning fun

“Your retirement shouldn’t be reduced to numbers and spreadsheets,” says Jamie Hopkins, CEO of Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors.

A longtime advisor, writer and teacher of financial planning concepts, Hopkins is partnering on a new book that attempts to tackle a not-fun topic (retirement planning) in a fun way. Hopkins and Bonnie Treichel co-wrote the recently published Your Retirement Sketchbook: 125 Retirement Planning Lessons from Financial Experts.

Hopkins spent about a year and a half writing the book because he felt there was a need to make retirement savings more approachable. Since a lot of people are visual learners, the book is loaded with sketches to help simplify the retirement journey.

“Retirement saving is not set in stone. You can change it as you go. The book looks to simplify retirement planning through storytelling,” Hopkins said.

Written for the general consumer, the book is broken down into 125 topics, from money matters to end-of-life planning. The book will officially launch March 31 and is available for pre-order wherever books are sold.

As someone who has been in the retirement planning space for many years, Hopkins said his goal was to make retirement planning fun and the enemy of a boring retirement plan.

CEO of Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors, Hopkins is also chief wealth officer of WSFS Bank, and founder of FinServ Foundation. He is a professor of practice at Creighton University and The American College of Financial Services.

Treichel is the founder of Endeavor Law and the founder and chief solutions officer of Endeavor Retirement, a consulting firm.

A resource for financial professionals

Published by Harriman House, the 256-page paperback book is also available in audiobook format. It incorporates a light, easy-to-read format with fun graphics that drive home serious points.

For example, the importance of planning is accompanied by an illustration of a happy and content couple enjoying life on a big boat, surrounded by thought bubbles containing words like “freedom,” “budgeting” and “peace of mind.”

Below the happy couple is another illustration of a frowning single man in a paper boat and an umbrella. His thought bubbles are “no plan,” “no savings” and “relying on government programs.”

The new book is a good resource for financial professionals to read and share with their clients, Hopkins said.

“It provides a great framework for client engagement. It’s also a great resource for seminars and workshops as well as onboarding. Advisors can choose three or four topics to cover in a webinar or other format,” he noted.

‘Interconnected decisions’

The eight chapters take readers from their “relationship with money” to living in retirement. All of the chapters conclude with blank pages allowing readers to take notes along the way.

“Your Retirement Sketchbook offers readers a useful overview of the many interconnected decisions retirees face—from Social Security timing to healthcare, taxes, legacy planning, and finding your passion,” said Wade Pfau, founder of Retirement Researcher, an educational resource for clients and advisors on topics related to retirement income planning.

The book can help advisors challenge themselves on how they can be more engaged with clients, Hopkins said. With advances in artificial intelligence, financial professionals can work with clients to create their own sketches of how they envision their own retirements, he added.

“The earlier financial professions can get to future planning the better,” said Hopkins, a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, educator, and executive speaker.