The new normal of succession planning

Advisers across the industry have been encouraged to get their continuity and succession plans in place. By and large, they’ve heeded the advice.
Still, advisers approaching retirement see the same statistics they show their clients about more people working beyond the traditional retirement age. And like their clients, they too want to continue to be relevant. This has many advisers reconsidering when to stop working or what type of career to pursue next.

How does this changing viewpoint affect the established succession plan? As you might imagine, some advisers who have found a successor, trained that individual and have confidence in his or her ability to lead the business may be having second thoughts. They may put off signing the buy-sell agreement, which, in turn, puts them at risk of losing their heir apparent.

On the other end of the spectrum are the younger advisers who expected to become part of a partnership but are instead left holding the bag for everything — seeing clients, running operations and developing new business. They assumed they would be working alongside the tenured adviser, but the tenured adviser is out pursuing new dreams.

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