Before the 2008 market crash, very few baby boomers had retirement plans, but millions had retirement expectations. The bull market and strong economy that preceded the downturn had created a fantasy world of wealth. A poll in late 2007 showed, for example, that 80% of Americans believed their standard of living would go up after they stopped working, despite the fact that some 40% had saved nothing for retirement.

What a difference a meltdown makes. In 2008, when the recession and market downturn hit, 63% of Americans said they had given up on the idea of retirement altogether. While that finding was disturbing enough, the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) released its annual Retirement Confidence Survey last month and found that this percentage had jumped to 70%. While the economy may be showing signs of recovery, these findings indicate that retirement expectations have not returned, for good or ill.

A dangerous thing happened during the boom: Americans became psychologically divorced from retirement planning and saving. Things were going so swimmingly, in their view, that any of their vacation homes may well fund their entire retirement. The answer to the question, "Should I buy a $50k car or a $75k car?" was, "Can I get $75k?" Few bothered to think about the impact their choices might have on retirement.

Similarly, many advisors remained focused on the retirement nest egg, while their clients were making questionable financial decisions within other dimensions of their lives. Now that the inflow has dwindled or disappeared for most clients, they are re-examining all of their financial decisions, large and small. And they are in desperate need of holistic advisors.

The title of my new book, Retirementology, represents a thought process for the post-meltdown era that redefines not just the retirement planning process, but clients' relationship with money in general. Many of you may already use a holistic approach and engage in deep conversations with clients about their emotions, attitudes and concerns. For more traditional advisors, adopting this new mind-set means recognizing that retirement is connected to the breadth of their clients' financial decisions and, perhaps most important, understanding how the meltdown has affected their clients' expectations.

The following five issues offer reasons why the retirement planning conversation needs to change, given the new economic and market realities.

SHIFTING EXPECTATIONS

One of my favorite research findings from the pre-crash era is that 59% of workers expected to receive a traditional pension when they retired, but only 41% reported that they or their spouses were currently enrolled in pension plans. This statistic is a perfect example of how people's expectations for retirement often don't match up with reality.

In the wake of the meltdown, investors are trying to recoup losses in their portfolios while also struggling to recover emotionally from the experience. Advisors need to help clients reassess their retirement expectations in light of new economic realities. The first step is to address how the market meltdown influenced their emotions. How well did they cope with their fears? Did they lose sleep? Did they watch the markets every day and make decisions out of panic?

All of the emotions investors experienced-fear, stress, uncertainty, perhaps even despair and helplessness-play a role in how they now view retirement and retirement planning. But while investors obviously have a strong emotional attachment to their money, advisors are far enough removed from the situation to provide an objective perspective. Over the past 80-plus years, stocks have experienced some severe declines, as well as dramatic growth. Advisors can encourage clients to remain committed to their long-term investing strategies by explaining to them why "this time is different" are perhaps the four most dangerous words in investing.

The next step is to reexamine clients' desired lifestyle in retirement in a new context. How has it changed? Why has it changed? What does this mean moving forward? The key is to determine what retirement actually means to the client-not just financially, but emotionally and practically as well.

Advisors should be asking clients to envision life in their seventies. Are their expectations about work and retirement realistic? It's important to note that some 40% of people who retire each year were forced to retire earlier than expected. The idea of being able to "work as long as I want" is romantic and perhaps even noble, but naïve.

HOUSE MONEY

During the housing boom, countless homeowners fell victim to the wealth effect-as the value of their homes skyrocketed, they believed they were wealthier than they actually were and felt empowered to spend accordingly. Now, one in four Americans are underwater on their mortgages.