Leading world expert in retirement visits New Zealand to launch book for New Zealand pre and post retirees.
Barry LaValley is a leading Canadian educator, expert in retirement and author of the book: ‘So you think you are ready
to retire’. After successfully launching his book in North-America (2014) and Australia (2016), LaValley has co-written
a new edition with financial advisory firm Cambridge Partners, specifically aimed at a New Zealand audience.
The book prepares New Zealanders for retirement and helps ageing boomers clarify their vision for the future. ‘So you
think you are ready to retire’, is the result of 30 years of working in the field of retirement, psychology and
transition issues faced by pre and post retirees around the world. It includes personal global stories from retirees and
thought provoking exercises for the reader. LaValley has combined an understanding of retirees and what they are going
through with the research that is available in the social sciences. His approach is adopted by people and corporations
all over the world. His list of clients has included several major financial institutions in both Canada and the U.S. He
has served as Special Consultant on Retirement for The Scotiabank Group of companies.
From LaValley’s experience, retirement is more of an emotional issue than a financial one. “Retirement has changed
greatly in a generation with the retirement period increasing from 10 to 30 years. This means the perception of
retirement has gone from a ‘long deserved holiday’ into a second life,” LaValley says. “I wrote this book because I know
what helps people moving into retirement and I can guide them with common misconceptions and pitfalls.”
Some insights from the book:
• Many retirees suffer from stress after retirement. Three major stresses are health, relationships and financial
security.
• There are six to eight distinct phases in retirement. The honeymoon phase is the first three years and people tend to
spend a lot of money. When retirement routine kicks in, paired with physical limitation, retirees hit the disenchantment
phase. Some people will get to the final contentment phase, but some won’t.
• People think retirement happiness is directly tied to financial resources. In fact, good relationships and health are
the biggest keys to a successful retirement.
• Men and women envision retirement and life after retirement differently. 38% of the men want to spend more time with
their spouse after retirement in contrast to 9% of women.
• New Zealand is a great place to be an older worker, enabling people to phase their way into retirement. This country
already has significantly higher labour force participation rates among older workers relative to other countries such
as the US or Australia, ranked second in the OECD behind only Iceland for employment participation in the 55-64-year age
bracket. New Zealand has one of the most generous pension systems in the world and the largest basic pension in the OECD
relative to incomes (OECD, 2015).
The book will be launched on 17 October in Christchurch at the Christchurch Art Gallery, 5.30pm. Media are invited to
this event.
Barry is in New Zealand (Christchurch and Auckland) from October 16-19. He is happy to talk to media about the other
side of retirement and why being financially prepared isn’t enough.
For more about Barry: http://www.retirementlifestyle.com/
‘So you think you are ready to retire’ is available at grownups.co.nz, $39.99.
Cambridge Partners is the result of a recent merger between Bradley Nuttall and IQ2 Private Wealth, making it one of New
Zealand’s largest independent financial advisory firms. Cambridge Partners is one of only a few DIMS (discretionary
investment management service) licensed firms in NZ which also holds the prestigious Centre for Fiduciary Excellence
(CEFEX) certification for global best practice standards in investment management.