Financial advisors surveyed their clients and learned something groundbreaking. People with money worry about money. Revolutionary stuff.
The clients are concerned about short-term costs. They're concerned about long-term costs. They're concerned about whether Social Security will exist when they retire. They did not specify whether they're concerned about medium-term costs because the survey apparently ran out of adjectives.
Advisors needed a formal survey to learn this. They could not simply listen to their clients during the hundreds of billable hours spent rebalancing portfolios by 0.3% and calling it tactical allocation. They needed data. They needed charts. They needed PowerPoint slides with clipart of worried stick figures standing next to declining bar graphs.
The timing is incredible. Midterm elections approach and suddenly everyone remembers they have expenses. Rent existed last year. Groceries existed last year. Medicare's solvency issues have been front-page news since 1985. But now, specifically now, with a survey in hand and an election cycle providing narrative cover, advisors have discovered their clients read headlines.
The beautiful part is what happens next. The advisors will schedule calls. They will present solutions. They will recommend shifting 5% from large-cap growth to large-cap value, as if Pfizer's P/E ratio has ever stopped inflation or saved an entitlement program. The clients will feel heard. The advisors will feel useful. The survey will get cited in compliance-approved marketing materials.
Social Security might not be there when you retire, but your advisor's 1.25% annual fee definitely will be.
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
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