What are Consumers Looking for in Their Advisor?

Peak 65 is in full force in 2026. With the Baby Boomer generation reaching retirement age, America is seeing roughly 11,200 individuals reach retirement age every single day. As such, retirement planning is more needed than ever with swathes of consumers questioning how they should approach this stage of life, looking for guidance, and attempting to navigate the emotional toll that comes with retirement.

For advisors, having the proper skillset to distinguish yourself as a trusted partner in the retirement planning process is critical. Fortunately, Jean Chatzky uncovered several truths relating to what consumers are looking for in a retirement planner in a panel discussion at our Horizons 2026 event.

How to Build Client Relationships in Retirement Planning

The panel consisted of four consumers, all in various stages of life, and all with radically different needs as they approached retirement. As Chatzky asked each of the individuals to introduce themselves and share a little bit of their background, one common thread became apparent. One after another, the consumers introduced themselves and the major life events they were dealing with that went hand-in-hand with their retirement planning process. Divorce, caring for aging parents with debilitating conditions, and nervousness about investing as an unexperienced investor were included amongst the issues that the panel mentioned.

This speaks to a crucial aspect of financial advising that is present in every specialization, not just retirement planning: relationship building. One of the panelists spoke of her first encounter with her financial advisor. Following the death of her father, who was a client, the advisor met with her and told her that she would need to take the initiative in preparing her financial future. The panelist was impressed by the effort the advisor had made to visit her personally and ensure she was being cared for. “Just getting that wake-up call made me start saving more.” Her father’s advisor, by checking in on his client’s daughter following the death of the client, secured himself another client and helped build trust between the two of them.

This sort of personal touch can make a major difference in forming bonds with clients. Your clients are people, and they need to feel as though they’re talking to a person too. For this reason, we can confidently say that relationship skills are among the most important skills in all of financial advising.

Common Consumer Questions in Retirement Planning

The panel also made it very apparent that trust between a client and advisor is fundamental to the success of the relationship. They want to be supported and offered guidance, because that’s what they’re expecting. Clients seek advice because they want to turn to someone more knowledgeable than themselves to plan their future. One panelist said, “I’ve talked to my financial advisors about how to protect my income, what to do, how can I make this money grow further...I feel like if I’m asking someone for advice, just like in medicine…you give them the guidance, you give them the treatment, you give them the plan to get better. I don’t feel like I’ve ever gotten that.”

This particular consumer shared that she had crafted a fairly robust retirement plan on her own and she clearly had a strong understanding of her finances. However, she wanted her advisor to take the lead in the planning process. By engaging in the financial planning process with an advisor, she trusted that advisor to be the expert in the room. She didn’t want to be told she had done a good job or hear projections, she wanted an authority in the field to validate her work (or point out her mistakes), advise her on next steps, and take an active role in developing her financial plan.

Another panelist stated, “I have a lot of anxiety about not having that paycheck come in and having to start seeing the numbers go down. And so that’s something I would like more hand-holding about.”

Both of these quotes share a similar story. Both panelists were financially competent individuals, yet when it came to an important process like retirement planning, they wanted reassurance. This is where the advisor comes in. Consumers are looking for a partner in retirement planning who has the knowledge to meet key moments with a calm confidence.

Improving Client Conversations

All of these qualities go hand-in-hand with expertise, one of the attributes consumers spoke on as well. When asked about the topic, one of the panelists stated that she wanted someone who was doing more than simply organizing spreadsheets or calculating her finances based on current numbers. As she said, “I can do math. I want someone who can tell me what I don’t know.”

We can see this attitude embodied in all of the previous responses. Consumers are looking for an advisor who has deep knowledge of retirement; an advisor who can focus on the people side of things while not diminishing the planning services they offer. Consumers are looking for an advisor that can help them make decisions of monumental impact with the confidence not to second guess themselves.

Ultimately, clients want an expert, because expertise embodies all the other traits clients want in an advisor.

More on Retirement Planning

• Become a retirement expert with RICP®
• Watch our podcast on the secrets of retirement spending
• See what the research says about expertise