Circling back, if Generation X and the Millennials are going to have less accumulated than their parents then an advisor faces the prospect of having to have more you don’t have enough money conversations to which a client might respond; so what do we do? Obviously an advisor who wants to sustain and grow his practice needs to be ready for a comprehensive conversation that helps the client get to a real solution.
An actively engaged do-it-yourselfer reading this may think people should not use advisors, questioning the value they add. The question is always valid but the reality is that very few people spend time reading, learning and studying markets, investing and retirement as the typical blog reader or Seeking Alpha reader. One conversation that emerged from the financial crisis was the lack of financial literacy by many Americans. Despite what happened in the crisis, anecdotally there not much has changed. I talk to a lot of people socially who are not meaningfully engaged in their retirement planning.
A point I have made along these lines before is that you, the engaged do-it-yourselfer are probably the go to person in your family, among your friends or other circles of influence for markets, investing and retirement questions so this is relevant for you.
This article was written by AdvisorShares ETF Strategist Roger Nusbaum.