Retirement Planning Coach
The shortcut: This is a coaching business about identity, time, and purpose — not money. The minute you tell a client when to claim Social Security or which fund to buy, you've quietly become an unregistered investment advisor.
Industry: Consulting & Coaching | Investment level: Small — $2,000-$8,000 | Time to launch: 4-7 months
Best for: Someone in their 50s or 60s who has lived a transition like this themselves — a former corporate leader, HR director, therapist, pastor, or coach — and wants to help peers figure out the part their financial advisor won't touch. What you'll likely make: $1,500-$3,000 month 3, $4,000-$7,000 month 6, $8,000-$14,000 month 12. Math is in Section 4.
Market Opportunity
Your client has the money. He has a CFP. He has a spreadsheet. What he doesn't have is an answer to the question keeping him up at 2 a.m. — who am I when I'm not the VP of operations? That gap is the entire business. The financial advisor solved the math. Nobody solved the man.
The wave is real. Roughly 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day through 2030 (Pew Research). A healthy 65-year-old today faces an 18-30 year retirement (CDC life expectancy data). Roughly 42% of new retirees report depression or significant loss of identity within two years. None of them are going to a financial planner for help with that.
Here's the surprise piece. Most CFPs want someone to refer the soft side of retirement to. Identity work, marriage recalibration, "what do I do all day" — that's not in their training and they hate the conversation. The Retirement Coaches Association reports membership grew roughly 60% from 2020 to 2023 and supply still doesn't come close to demand.
The buyer is 55-70, professional or executive, either 3-5 years from retirement or 12 months into one that isn't going well. They are not shopping on price. They want someone who has done this and can walk them through it.
Start with this idea — free signup, no card required.
