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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How can retirement readiness coaching help me?

Thinking about retirement or semi-retirement can be overwhelming. It’s a big life change which can lead to a new stage of growth, joy, and fulfilment, but can also bring a lot of uncertainty and questions to consider.


With so much going on in the present, it can be challenging to think ahead. We can’t control the future, but we can take control of how we approach it and make decisions that work for us.
Investing in Retirement Readiness Coaching with Second Spring will give you:
 

  • Breathing space to work out what is important to you going forward and what is not

  • A thought partner to ask you questions and help you to reflect on how you respond, without judgement, and in a confidential space

  • A process for you to take ownership of how you prepare for your future so that you can create the retirement or semi-retirement you choose rather than have it happen to you

  • Support to stretch yourself and take step by step actions after each coaching session towards the outcome you want

  • A process that helps you to focus, plan and take action more quickly and effectively than doing this alone if you’re struggling with how to approach your next stage in life

What questions or issues can you help me with?

You will set the agenda and outcomes to work towards in your coaching sessions. This may change over time as the work you do refocuses your thinking. That’s ok. It’s important to focus on what is most relevant for you to make the most useful changes in your life.
 

Questions or issues you may want coaching to help you with may be, but are not limited to:

  • Moving to part-time work where you are or somewhere new

  • How to leave your work completely and put a succession plan in place

  • How to monetise your knowledge, skills or passions to create income with flexibility

  • Reframing your purpose or identity when this has been tied up with a job you are leaving

  • Maintaining or finding new connections

  • Working out how you want to spend your time

  • Grandparenting, caring for elderly relatives, finding support and setting boundaries

  • Relocation, future proofing your home or downsizing

  • Setting sustainable foundations for your physical and emotional wellbeing

 

This is not financial planning. Much of what we discuss may inform or be underpinned by your financial planning for retirement, but all financial planning questions should be discussed with a qualified and regulated financial advisor.

How close to retiring do I need to be to have retirement readiness coaching?

Wouldn’t it be great to start thinking about what you want from retirement or semi-retirement and putting plans in place a few years ahead of time? Realistically, this doesn’t always happen, with demands on our time, energy and brains in our current everyday life taking up all the space.
 

Engaging in retirement readiness coaching 6-12 months before you want to make a big change, to retire or semi-retire, will enable you to be proactive and make decisions in a way that enables you to move onto your next stage of life on your terms.
 

When you take part in retirement readiness coaching isn’t determined by age. We all have different reasons, incentives and disincentives for when we retire and our own set of circumstances. As a generalisation, clients tend to be in their 50s and 60s, but clients outside of this are welcome.
 

If you’re closer to retiring than this because you’ve taken voluntary redundancy or have woken up in the night thinking you’re done with work and it’s time for the big change now, I’m still here to help.

Is retirement readiness coaching for me if I still want to work part-time and only semi-retire?

​Yes. Retirement readiness coaching with Second Spring supports you to make decisions that are right for you, and to create and implement plans that work for you at this time in your life. It recognises that a change is needed, and that for reasons of income, purpose, connection or health, for example, part-time work is what will fit your next stage.

How does coaching work?

Over a period of sessions, typically 4-6, I will work with you to set the medium or longer-term goal you want to work towards. In each session I will support you through a process of setting a short-term goal, as we take a step-by-step approach to work towards your larger goal. We will explore your short-term goal, its relevance and importance to you, where you are with it so far, what might be standing in your way etc. I’ll support you to think creatively about how you can achieve your goal and what concrete actions you will take to get there.

What is expected of me as a client?

It may sound like a cliché, but you get out of it what you put in.


For coaching to be effective, you need to be present, to be ready to do the work of reflection, and be willing to stretch yourself.
 

I will listen, ask you questions and support you to refocus when needed, but you will make the decisions and set the direction of the sessions.
 

I don’t set homework. You will choose what actions to complete in between sessions to make progress towards the outcome you have set for yourself. I will help you to work out what actions you want to take to give you the best chance for success. The outcomes of coaching are your responsibility.
 

If you want someone to tell you what to do, then I’m not the right coach for you.

What does it cost, and can I pay in instalments?

Details of the Explorer and Jump Start coaching programmes including costs can be found here.
 

Monthly payments are made for 2 or 3 months depending on the programme.
 

For bespoke coaching programmes or workshops, get in touch for a conversation here.

How long will the coaching last?

Coaching sessions are held approximately two weeks apart, allowing time for you to make progress on the action you have set yourself to take forward in between sessions. Session dates will be mutually agreed between client and coach. Based on 6 sessions, the Explorer programme, for example, would last approximately 3 months.
 

Each coaching session is typically 60 minutes unless otherwise stated or agreed.

Why should I choose to have coaching with you?

I see you, I will listen to you, and I won’t judge you. 

 

I am kind, and patient, and will refocus you when you need it.


I will ask you challenging questions and encourage you to stretch yourself, even when it’s a bit uncomfortable, because I believe that you can create the retirement or semi-retirement you choose

if you allow yourself to go all in with the coaching process.
 

I’m a qualified coach with over 20 years of experience in professional project and programme management, supporting people to focus their goals, create plans and make them happen.
I want you to have the semi-retirement or retirement that is right for you, because you deserve it.

 

This next stage is too important, and can be too overwhelming, to ignore. Let me help you to reach for what you want in a proactive and reflective way, that gives you ownership of your future.
 

For more about me, see here.
 

Get in touch here for a free 30-minute chat to see if we’re a good fit to work together.

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