The Boulevard to Financial Independence

There was an op-ed in Investment News the other day that underscored the reason why consumers are distrustful of their financial providers and increasingly dissatisfied.

The article briefly discussed the scarcity of qualified financial advisors and then provided a first person account (from the perspective of a newly minted planner) of how the planner profession had an aggressive emphasis on sales and branding.  In essence, the article said that in the planner job market, sales skills are more than it is  a strong grasp of fiancial planning.  While knowing how to attract and retain clients is important, the ability to move product shouldn’t take precedent over the knowledge of appropriate client solutions.

It’s not like consumers haven’t noticed.  Nearly 70% of investors feel that “financial advisors and advisory firms put their own interests ahead of their clients” (Annual Securities Industry Association Investor Survey). Given this statistic, the interests of consumers and the interests of their providers seem seriously out of alignment. A recent study put out by BAI advocates that banks need to focus on establishing a dialogue with customers around their plan for retirement. While this is an important first step, a dialogue that doesn’t result in a retirement plan with the consumer firmly in the driver’s seat is insufficient. Planners need to act as customer advocates, not product advocates.

New startups, like Cake Financial, are beginning to recognize that there is a significant opportunity in providing unbiased advice to consumers while leveraging the knowledge of it’s users. Similarly, Boulevard R is developing features that will deliver the customized advice that consumers need to get on track for retirement- including experts who can respond to technical questions, as well as peers who are coming up with creative ways to save for retirement.

This sort of alignment (or common sense) with what consumers are looking for, will ultimately benefit everyone involved. Even though financial services is a conservative industry, we hope that providers start to think more creatively about how they can best serve their customer’s needs so that they can drive that 70% down towards 0%.

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