Three Trends That Will Change the Game for Advisors

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This article is excerpted from Steve Lockshin’s new book, Get Wise to Your Advisor, available from the link above. This book makes an impassioned argument as to why clients should choose independent advisors who adhere to a fiduciary standard. The book also contains a checklist that clients can use to evaluate a prospective advisor; Steve has made this checklist available to our readers here.

Twenty years ago, if you wanted to buy a book or a pair of shoes, you went to a store, made your purchase and drove home. From time to time, you might order something from a catalog – a power tool perhaps, or a pair of pajamas. Back then, most of us simply could not conceive of another way to shop.

But while you and I were schlepping to Sears to buy a new vacuum cleaner or a six-pack of socks, a former hedge fund executive named Jeff Bezos was working out of his garage, starting the company that would become Amazon.com.

A couple of decades ago, electric cars existed only in science fiction. Today, tens of thousands of hybrid gas/electric cars are on the road, and pure electric cars are a reality. Elon Musk, probably the best-known champion of electric cars and the founder of Tesla, is also spearheading an effort to develop civilian space travel capabilities. Richard Branson, of Virgin Airlines fame, is doing the same.

Discount online brokerage revolutionized the financial industry in the 1970s, and software-based investing is pushing the envelope even further today. Look at what Steve Jobs did in only a few years with the iPad and iPhone. The world is changing at an ever-accelerating pace.

Take a step back and you’ll see that the list of services and goods that have moved from fantasy to reality in the past decade is impressive. That’s why I believe that, even though the advisory world of today seems to be locked into the same old flavors when it comes to pricing, new items will soon be on the menu. That change will likely be here before most of the industry is able to react.

The change that is coming to financial services pricing isn’t as sexy as space travel. It won’t give you an ice cream sugar high or even satisfy your cravings. But as a practical matter, it will make a huge difference in your family’s financial wellbeing.

See full article on Three Trends That Will Change the Game for Advisors by Steve Lockshin, Advisor Perpective

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