Thirty or more years ago, the opposite was the case, and a majority of clients were, if not under 45, then certainly below retirement age; in the ‘accumulation’ rather than ‘decumulation’ phase, in current fin servs jargon, saving fof rather than spending in retirement. The change is not just that most financial advisers are nowadays of or past retirement age themselves, that’s more symptom than cause. Commission, remember that, meant that the focus for what were then mostly salesmen for insurance companies and banks, was on selling, remember that, savings plans and pensions. Because they were designed to pay three people, and the client was often third in line, they were not always good value for the first ten years or so and disappeared in a flood of regulation. At the other end, most pensions back in the day disappeared into the one off purchase of an annuity. Nowadays there is frankly no money to be made from those who don’t yet have any money. So advice waits until they have some. Which may never happen… a rather different circle of life.
“Trade war: Stock markets rally as Trump rows back on Fed and China threats”
Yet another reminder, should one be needed, of how quickly things can and will change. A nod and a wink in the right direction from himself and/ or an underling can provide the solace the money men crave and turn a plummet into, if not a soar at this stage, then certainly a bounce.
