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Wealth Management Insights
Making the Transition to Financial Services
Within the next decade, 37% of today’s advisors are expected to retire, leaving behind a crucial gap in talent that Gen Z and career transitioners are positioned to fill.1 At the same time, new professionals are signaling a disconnect. One in four Gen Zers report that job expectations are unclear, suggesting a difference in understanding between how the industry is perceived and what the work actually demands.2
Those statistics point to a larger issue: many people enter financial services with a mental image of the industry that doesn’t match reality — and it’s in that gap between perception and practice where the surprises and challenges begin.
Perception vs. Reality in Financial Services
“One of the surprising things for me...getting into the finance industry, I thought it was a lot about numbers,” said FinServe Network ambassador Ryan Swenson, RICP®. “But it’s a lot more of a relationship business.”
This realization can be disorienting for new professionals and career changers alike. Technical skills can be taught, licensed, and tested, but building relationships and trust requires a different kind of adjustment.
This shift isn’t just anecdotal; it’s grounded in how firms are adapting to a changing labor market. A recent survey by TestGorilla, a talent assessment platform, found that 87% of financial firms were using skills-based hiring to broaden their talent pool. Rather than focusing exclusively on technical ability and credentials, firms are placing greater emphasis on communication, adaptability, and client engagement — skills that are often developed in other industries and highly transferable for career changers.
For many career changers, the move into financial services is driven by purpose as much as opportunity. Professionals often arrive from adjacent industries with strong relationship skills and a desire to do more meaningful work.
“I worked in [the pharmaceutical sales] industry for over a decade, and I wanted to get back to my roots of finance, “said FinServe Network ambassador Terrel Dinkins, ChFC®, RICP®. “That’s how I ended up in the financial services industry. I felt it allowed me to do something that was very passionate: helping people with their money.”
Still, the importance of soft skills like client communication and building trust aren’t always made explicit early on. Swenson’s experience runs counter to the image many Gen Zers — and career changers of all ages — might have grown up with. Movies, television, and cultural narratives tend to frame finance as purely technical, analytical, and transactional, introducing people to the industry and shaping their perceptions long before they ever consider working in it.
“We watch television or movies — the movies that come to mind for me are The Wolf of Wall Street or Boiler Room — and we think about the image that is projected through media. Oftentimes, we take on that persona. We believe that is the style that we're supposed to project, right? Well, in reality...this is the real world,” said FinServe Network ambassador Marco Williams, CFP®.
The real world of financial services brings with it an emotional weight that many new advisors may not be fully prepared for.
“It was almost like you build a portfolio, you get them allocated, and you start doing well by them and making them money. Then, a life event happens,” Swenson said. “The relationship really matters there, when they’re coming to you about a death in the family or something else that happened. Those are the things that I wasn’t really prepared for.”
Williams frames this as a common yet fundamental misunderstanding of the industry.
“What I realized along that path was this is really not about wealth management or investment management or anything else along those lines. It's really more about personal finance, and what's the key word there? Personal. You can't get more personal than an individual or family's money, right? It's a very emotional business.”
Bridging Knowledge Gaps for a Sustainable Career
Understanding the reality of the financial services industry upfront is crucial. Gen Z professionals consistently report ineffective onboarding and unclear job expectations, and when career changers enter the industry with an incomplete picture of the role, those knowledge gaps can quickly become barriers at a moment when the industry urgently needs new talent.
For many newcomers, the surprise is not that the work involves numbers; it is that it involves people. Understanding that financial services is about guiding individuals and families through life’s major financial decisions — often its most difficult emotional moments — is key to a successful and sustainable career transition into financial services.
More on the Career Transition
- Learn more about attracting Gen Z with the Onboarding Gen Z Study
- Unlock more insights from the FinServe Network, FinServe Network Convenes for 2025 Summit
- Determine if financial services is right for you, Financial Services Practice Management for Beginners: Getting Started
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Practice Management Insights
Proactive and reactive consumer trends
Instead, a majority of Americans are now managing their finances reactively. Rather than plan for future financial difficulties, they address these issues as they arise. This trend, highlighted in recent research by PYMNTS Intelligence (PYMNTS), reveals not only a change in behavior but also a deepening vulnerability across all income levels and age groups.
According to the PYMNTS research, just 40% of Americans are categorized as “planners.” These individuals are characterized by their proactive approach to money management: they pay off credit card balances in full, maintain a savings buffer of at least $2,500, and generally take steps to anticipate and prepare for financial challenges.
This represents a significant drop, as this figure was closer to 50% in February of 2024. This signals a significant shift in the nation’s financial mindset. The remaining 60% of Americans now fall into the category of “reactors,” a group that manages money on a more ad hoc basis, often relying on credit and carrying higher balances.
Reactionary Approaches on the Rise
The majority of Americans, now identified as reactors, are defined by their tendency to address financial obligations only as they arise. Rather than planning ahead, these individuals often find themselves reacting to emergencies, unexpected expenses, or debt payments. This reactive approach is closely linked to higher credit card balances and lower levels of savings.
This shift is not just a matter of personal preference. It is a response to the economic realities facing many households. Rising costs of living, inflation, and economic uncertainty have made it increasingly difficult for Americans to set aside money for the future. As a result, even those who once prided themselves on their financial discipline are finding it harder to maintain proactive habits.
Generational and Income-Based Shifts
The research also revealed several surprising trends across various generational groups. While it might be expected that younger generations would be more likely to manage their finances reactively, the data reveals that this trend is spreading across all age groups and income brackets. Among Baby Boomers, 54% still identify as planners, but 73% of Generation Z now consider themselves reactors. This generational divide highlights the differing priorities between older and younger Americans. Boomers seek financial stability, while members of Gen Z are more willing to take risks, with 6.8% listing one of their top financial goals as “starting a business.”
How to Address the Increase in Reactionary Planning
As a result of this significant drop in American consumers planning ahead for financial difficulties, larger quantities of Americans lack emergency savings and would likely face sizable struggles when these financial difficulties inevitably arise.
Fortunately, there are courses of action that can be taken to alleviate these issues. Consumers can make efforts to increase their financial literacy and develop support systems that help them navigate economic challenges.
One such measure is working with a financial advisor. Financial advisors can assist clients in increasing their financial literacy and working with them to construct a comprehensive financial plan that accounts for current shortcomings while setting and meeting goals for the future.
As for advisors, it can be important to understand what type of planner a client is, whether that be proactive or reactive. Understanding the mentality of a client often allows advisors to determine the best ways to communicate with their clients and help them achieve their goals.
Learning concepts such as behavioral finance, which are addressed in The American College of Financial Services’ Master of Science in Financial Planning (MSFP) program, can provide advisors with the knowledge they need to effectively work with clients of all kinds and help them devise a plan that is best suited to their approach towards financial planning.
What This Means
Ultimately, the financial habits of Americans are undergoing a profound transformation. As economic pressures mount, more people are abandoning proactive financial planning in favor of reactive money management. This trend is evident across generations and income levels, highlighting a growing vulnerability. As such, the nation’s financial health depends on our ability to adapt, educate, and support one another in building a more secure future. The overarching message is unmistakable — without a renewed focus on financial literacy and proactive planning, Americans will remain at risk, ill-prepared for the uncertainties that lie ahead.
More From The College
- More research about economic uncertainty
- Learn more about behavioral finance with the MSFP Program
- See more research from The College
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Ethics In Financial Services Insights
Methodologies for AI Assessments, Reviews, and Audits
In the recent episode “Methodologies for AI Assessments, Reviews, and Audits” from the New York City Bar Association, Azish Filabi, JD, MA, managing director of The American College Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics in Financial Services, joined a panel of experts to explore how assessments, reviews, and audits differ, and why clear definitions and methodologies matter for effective oversight.
The conversation examined international approaches across the United States, European Union, Canada, and the United Kingdom, highlighting how regulatory expectations are evolving around transparency, accountability, and the identification and mitigation of bias. The panel also discussed practical ways organizations can examine AI models, with examples from high-stakes sectors such as financial services, anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, fraud prevention, and export controls.
This topic connects directly to the work underway at the Center for Ethics in Financial Services. Through the Responsible AI program, the Center is convening a series of Responsible AI Executive Forums that support leaders who are navigating emerging governance challenges and who want to build approaches grounded in sound methodology and ethical practice.
More on Responsible AI
- For professionals seeking to strengthen their AI governance efforts, listen to the full episode as an accessible and informative starting point.
- Explore our Responsible AI program to learn more about how we are helping the industry navigate this complex space.
- Learn more about becoming a corporate supporter of our Alliance for Ethics in Financial Services to unlock exclusive invites to the Responsible AI Executive Forums and gain first access to our research.
- Explore key insights on AI in financial services from our publications, including Adaptable Artificial Intelligence, AI Ethics and Life Insurance: Balancing Innovation with Access, and Five Key Questions for Ensuring Responsible AI in Financial Services. For additional insights on AI in financial services, visit the Center for Ethics’ News and Research page.
CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®
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Practice Management Insights
The Future of Advice
With artificial intelligence (AI) on the rise in nearly every facet of modern life, the financial services industry stands on the brink of a transformation more profound than any it has seen before. However, contrary to the dystopian fears that often accompany discussions of AI, the whitepaper’s central message is clear: the future belongs not to machines alone, but to the powerful partnership between technology and human empathy, with trust as the ultimate differentiator.
What Will Be AI’s Greatest Impact?
One of the most striking predictions in the whitepaper is that technology’s greatest achievement will be its own invisibility. As AI and automation become more sophisticated, they will recede into the background, allowing the human side of advice to take center stage. As the article states, “The more technology recedes from view, the more human the experience becomes.” Rather than replacing advisors, technology will automate the administrative and analytical tasks that once consumed their days, freeing them to focus on what matters most: building meaningful client relationships and personalized advice.
This shift is already underway. Today, most firms operate with what the paper refers to as a “Frankenstack” — a patchwork of disconnected platforms and tools. By 2030, AI will serve as the connective tissue, seamlessly integrating data and automating routine processes. As one contributor shared, “Tech is the scale enabler. It allows advisors to be human.” The statistics are telling. According to research cited in the paper, most firms currently use only about 40% of their technology’s capabilities, highlighting the vast untapped potential for efficiency and client engagement.
Advancing Advice Through Human Relationships
As technology takes over the menial and repetitive tasks of advising, humans are given more opportunity to focus on the purpose of an advisor-client relationship. Advisors will be valued not for their ability to crunch numbers, but for their capacity to listen, empathize, and translate complex financial concepts into actionable, personalized guidance. In summarizing this point and how it will impact the future of advice, the whitepaper contends that, “Empathy acts as the advisor’s operating system, then trust becomes the product.”
This is more than theory. According to “Advice 2030”, only 11% of clients currently receive comprehensive, multidisciplinary advice, while 42% receive transactional advice and 46% receive planning-focused guidance. As technology automates the transactional, advisors have a unique opportunity to move up the value chain, delivering the kind of holistic, life-centered advice that clients increasingly demand.
In a world where investment products are commoditized and information is ubiquitous, trust and responsiveness become the true differentiators. The whitepaper attests, “The winning firms will be those that deliver confidence faster, clearer, and more transparently.” Firms are urged to “track speed as a trust metric” and to make “speed = care” a firm motto. As one contributor stated, “Speed is the new sincerity. The advisor who can show up with clarity and empathy in five minutes will win over the one who needs five days to perfect the plan.”
Clients are also seeking more holistic support. A striking 66% now say they want to discuss their mental and physical wellbeing with their advisor. This serves as proof that financial planning is no longer just about numbers, but about supporting clients in all aspects of their lives.
The Power and Responsibilities of Teaming With AI
As is well known, the predictive power of AI and the explosion of data brings legitimate concerns about AI overstepping its boundaries. The whitepaper does not shy away from these issues. Azish Filabi of The American College of Financial Services cautions, “In an age where AI makes it easy to capture and analyze every client interaction, we must be especially vigilant about privacy, fairness, and the stories our data tells — or doesn’t tell. Ethical advice delivery means remembering that behind every data point is a person and a context, so we have to go beyond the numbers and consider the responsibilities we carry as stewards of both information and trust.”
Regulatory oversight is also expected to increase. Bonnie Treichel of Endeavor Retirement notes, “Regulators are going to require that someone is responsible for the AI engagement whether data, private information, or even recommendations ... licensing and legal liability will drive acceptable use of advanced technology.”
The whitepaper recommends transparency as a best practice: “Disclose your digital DNA. Write a short AI and data ethics statement to share with your clients that shows how technology supports your human judgment instead of replacing it.” Robert Kirk of Intergen Data adds, “The real ‘wow’ isn’t just what the numbers say; it’s how we use that knowledge — communicating with empathy, protecting privacy, and making sure clients understand the journey ahead, not just the data point.”
Continuous Learning and Adaptability as Advice Differentiators
The pace of technological change is relentless, but the whitepaper argues that adaptability and continuous learning are the ultimate skills for future-ready advisors. Advisors who can offer specialized knowledge that perfectly meets the needs of a client will stand out from the sea of algorithmic advice. According to our own Chief Marketing Officer Jared Trexler, “Advisors must be adaptable and able to differentiate themselves by delivering real client value. At The College, we’re focused on these changing needs through extensive generational research and by developing cutting-edge programs and new designations like our tax planning certification, our fastest growing designation in our 100 year history.”
Ultimately, “Advice 2030” makes a compelling case that the future of financial advice is not about choosing between humans and technology, but about harnessing the strengths of both. As AI and automation make capacity abundant, it is empathy, trust, and adaptability that will remain scarce — and therefore, invaluable. The firms and advisors who thrive will be those who use technology to amplify their humanity, delivering advice that is not only smarter and faster, but also more personal and meaningful. In the end, it is not the machine, but the human at the center of the relationship, who will define the next era of financial guidance.
More From The College
- Read about responsible use of AI
- Learn more about client trust with the Trust Certificate Program
- See more research from The College
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From The President Insights
An Epic Retirement Planning Experience Returns
When I joined The College nearly seven years ago, I saw its potential as a convener in the financial services industry: an educational and institutional leader to bring important conversations about the planning profession to the forefront. And none felt more important to me, or remains as critical today, as retirement planning.
Along with my leadership team, I knew I wanted to position The College as a leader in the retirement planning space — and with our Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) designation program already powering our reputation for quality, applied education across the profession, we’ve made great strides. But you may have noticed that here at The College, we also put a lot of time and effort into and take a lot of pride in the fantastic enterprise events we host each year. I wondered: what if we could bring that kind of energy, community, and experience — and pair it with The College’s deep knowledge and vast network of experts in the field — to an experience that was 100% retirement planning-focused?
This March, we answered that question as we held the inaugural Horizons event in beautiful Coronado, California — and it exceeded all my hopes and expectations. With that in mind, I’m very excited to announce that Horizons is returning in 2026, and we’re doing everything we can to make it even better than the first one. Better doesn’t mean bigger, though; we’re committed to keeping it intimate, even if that means selling out early (like we did last year).
“An all-star game for retirement planning.” “The best industry event I’ve ever been to.” “Unlike any conference I’ve ever attended.” These were just some of the things I heard from attendees as I made my way around Horizons 2025, and I couldn’t agree more. Horizons isn’t just another financial services conference: it’s changing the way our industry approaches events, incorporating unique and personalized experiences that feel like a five-star vacation or retreat and pairing them with practical, applicable knowledge delivered directly from the top minds in retirement planning today.
Watching this year’s Horizons event was pure magic, and we’re leaning even more into that feeling with our 2026 location in sunny Orlando, Florida — right next to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando. The event is still coming together, but I can tell you it’s going to be even more epic than the first, with personalized experiences, a scholarship golf classic, headlining speakers in retirement planning, and more.
You can register for Horizons 2026 now — and I hope I’ll see you there!
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About The College Podcasts
Making Waves in 2025 and Looking Ahead to 2026
In this special year-in-review episode of the Shares podcast, listen in as leaders from The College look back on 2025 and discuss how we’ve worked to fulfill the mission to better society through financial education, as well as where they see these programs taking The College in 2026 and beyond. They’ll cover topics such as the Horizons conference, the Tax Planning Certified Professional® (TPCP®) program, and more expansions to The College’s learning platform that position us to offer expertise for every stage of a professional’s career and their clients’ lives. They’ll also talk about new and upcoming partnerships, such as The College’s partnership with Achievable, their expectations for the twentieth anniversary of the Conference of African American Financial Professionals, and more.
George Nichols III, CAP®, currently serves as the 10th president and CEO in the storied history of The College. Nichols joined The College after a 17-year stint at New York Life, where he held principal roles in sales, P&L, strategic initiatives, and public policy. In 2007, Nichols was named to the company's executive management committee. He also served as executive vice president in the Office of Governmental Affairs.
Nichols has been acclaimed for his efforts to drive transformative change in the financial services profession and elsewhere. Savoy, a leading Black business and lifestyle magazine, named him among the "Most Influential Black Corporate Executives" twice: in 2012 and 2018; and among the “Most Influential Black Corporate Directors” in 2021. He was named to Forbes' inaugural 2021 edition of "The Culture 50 Champions." Nichols was honored as one of "The Ten to Watch in 2021" by WealthManagement.com, and in 2022, he won a ThinkAdvisor Luminaries award for Executive Leadership, followed by InvestmentNews’ recognition in 2023 for the year’s See It, Be It role model. Additionally, Nichols is the inaugural recipient of the Alonzo Herndon Award by Business Insurance Magazine.
Jared Trexler serves as a senior vice president and chief marketing and strategy officer at The American College of Financial Services. In this role, he leads branding, strategic and executive communications, digital media, events, and demand generation efforts, as well as overseeing the growth of The College's three strategic focus areas. Trexler previously served as director of strategic and executive communications at The College, working with President and CEO George Nichols III, CAP®, and The College’s leadership team to draft compelling narratives that best communicated strategic initiatives, new education programs, and the missions of The College’s Centers of Excellence. He is a past recipient of the Mary Varner Award for Exemplary Service, The College’s highest honor for professional staff.
Any views or opinions expressed in this podcast are the hosts’ and guests' own and do not necessarily represent those of The American College of Financial Services.
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- Learn about how The College helps advisors specialize
- See how The College and Achievable are working together
- Explore the TPCP® program