Media’s Role in Creating Retirement, Investing Stress

Misleading depictions of retirement on television can prevent Americans from focusing on and even achieving long-term financial goals, according to a Capital Group senior accounts manager speaking Tuesday during a webinar, “Stop Playing Mind Games.”

Advertisements and television often portray retirement as an active, joyful lifestyle full of leisure, when the reality is often very different, said Jonathan Young, a senior national accounts manager at Capital Group.

“The media is showing us this ideal image of retirement,” Young said.

Very often, people may retire from one job, but return to work not by choice, but out of necessity, Young noted. For others, health issues prevent them from reentering the workforce even when they need to, and they must find other means of financial assistance. Both realities stand in stark contrast to idealized images of retirement.

This creates unrealistic expectations for many Americans, ultimately leading to disappointment and regret, said Young, adding that regret can then cause paralysis from the fear of making the wrong choice.

“This mind game confuses them, makes them feel guilty, makes them regret the decisions they made to do something or not do something,” he said. “Sometimes doing nothing was the worst decision.”

Turn to Advice

Young said behavioral coaching can help bridge the gap between investment returns and what investors often experience.

“Behavioral coaching can be a huge step forward in making everyone’s lives a little bit better when it comes to investing,” he concluded.

Capital Group, like many financial services firms, has ramped up its holistic financial wellness programming for clients and their participants. In July 2023, the firm announced a partnership with Financial Finesse to offer wellness coaching to clients in the large plan sponsor market.

“We have to help [investors] see around the corners to make better decisions,” said Young. “This may mean changing your plan design, changing the recordkeeper, changing your enrollment system, adding some of these auto features. These adjustments can help a lot to minimize overconfidence, herd mentality, regret, etc.”

News Nightmares

When it comes to investing and saving decisions, Young also discussed the negative impact coverage of war, the COVID-19 pandemic and political unrest can have on financial decision making.

“It unsettles investors,” Young said, “When they are unsettled, they’re less likely to stay in tune with their long-term goals. They lose sight of objective-based investing.”

Young’s advice for avoiding the anxiety triggered by current events is to “change the channel,” referring to watching less coverage. He suggested that by controlling the environment, whether in the office or at home, investors and retirees alike can remain focused on their long-term goals instead of getting swept up in the chaos of the news cycle.

“Maybe consider the Travel Channel,” he suggested. “Every now and then, the Travel Channel comes on, and they’ve got that million-dollar RV show. I’ve got to tell you: That looks like an intriguing retirement to me—riding around from national park to national park.”