Help your clients by having good ideas and making a name for your firm in their minds .

the test of our value to them . We don ’ t get fired by clients who age . We get fired by their adult children who ’ ve seen how we treat the parents . Don ’ t lose G2 .

3 . You ’ ll have more clients with more needs and you ’ ll need more help . The average advisory book was built for clients who are saving and investing , not the ones retiring . Dealing with retired clients is going to be more complicated and more difficult to scale . Each one needs much more time than they needed when they were low-maintenance accumulators . They ’ re going to start depending on you more like patients depend on their doctors , coming in anytime they ’ ve seen something on the news and asking you if Ozempic is right for them ( or at least long-term-care insurance ). You can count on this . And you should accept it . Because you might benefit from it . The research we ’ ve done at Next Chapter suggests retiring clients and their families are most concerned about three things : their health and healthcare , their guaranteed income and their liquidity . The common thread in those topics is that most advisors don ’ t talk much about them .

4 . You must seal your reputation . Make sure your ideas and your people are visible and credible . Help your clients by having good ideas and making a name for your firm in their minds . They are increasingly seeing the same information about other advisors in the same locations . Be there and be notable — and

memorable . If only to break the tie between yourself and competitors .

The New S Curve Is Longevity

Think of the S curve : In project management , this describes a process that starts off slow , suddenly takes off on a steep upward curve , then slows again after that .

Our approach to handling our clients ’ longevity could be thought of this way . People ’ s longer lives are the force that will change us , our clients and our industry . Your response to it will dictate the outcome for you and your company and for the one and possibly two generations of clients who might need your help .

STEVE GRESHAM is the managing principal of Next Chapter , a leadership community dedicated to achieving better retirement outcomes for everyone . He also serves as senior education advisor to the Alliance for Lifetime Income . He was previously the head of Fidelity ’ s Private Client Group . Steve is the author of The New Advisor for Life ( Wiley ).

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DECEMBER 2023 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 27