Picture this: It’s 2011, two years into my career as a financial advisor. I’m sitting across from Margaret, a 62-year-old teacher whose portfolio had just gained $100,000 in six months. I slide the quarterly report across the mahogany table, barely containing my excitement. “Margaret, look at this performance!”
She glances at the numbers, nods politely, then asks: “But will I have enough to retire with a purpose?”
That question haunted me. Here was a woman whose wealth had grown significantly, yet she felt no closer to financial peace. The numbers were spectacular. Her anxiety remained unchanged.
I realized something profound that day: I was measuring success all wrong.
And 14 years later I still have that moment in time engrained in my brain. And it was that moment that spurred me to undertake a comprehensive national study exploring what affluent Americans genuinely desire from financial advisors.
We went and gathered insights from those that have over $100K of investable assets (not including values of houses). These individuals have worked diligently, saved successfully and many work with advisors. These individuals are our current clients and prospects or our future clients and prospects.
And what they shared will help us ensure that nobody ever had a Margaret situation again.
The Great Paradox of Our Time
Today, our industry faces a fascinating contradiction. Technology promises to automate everything we do, yet our recent national study of affluent Americans reveals something unexpected: 89% still believe human advisors provide more value than technology alone. But here’s the twist—they also expect us to be tech-savvy. In fact, 80% of affluent clients say keeping up with the latest technology is crucial to being a “great” advisor, and a staggering half of those with over a million dollars invested would switch advisors if they lagged technologically.
They want both the algorithm and the empathy. The spreadsheet and the soul.
What We Discovered About Fear
When we asked about their deepest financial concerns, it wasn’t market volatility or tax rates that kept them awake. Instead, we heard whispers of something more primal:
“Will I feel secure in retirement?” “Can I sustain the lifestyle I’ve worked for?” “What if I outlive my money?”
Notice the language—they didn’t ask about numbers. They asked about feelings. About purpose. About legacy.
Nearly 60% placed “financial freedom” among their top life priorities, but when we dug deeper, we discovered they couldn’t define what freedom actually meant to them. They had accumulated wealth without understanding why.
The Billboard Test
Here’s something that reveals the psychology of wealth: Imagine your advisor helps you gain $100,000. Would you celebrate publicly? Would you buy a billboard to celebrate them?
70% of affluent Americans with $100K – $250K wouldn’t publicly celebrate their advisors, despite nearly doubling their money. The same goes for 70% of million-dollar clients. It was another indication of individuals not celebrating gains nearly as loudly as they mourn losses. Yet, many advisors continue to hinge their value on their performance success.
Success feels private, almost guilty. Failure feels universal and shameful.
This tells us something profound about human nature: wealth without purpose feels empty, even when it’s growing.
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Our National Study UncoveredWe didn’t just analyze the numbers—we listened between the lines. This week’s FutureProof Advisor Podcast episode breaks down the emotional undercurrents behind the data: the quiet disconnect, the shift toward purpose, and what high-net-worth clients are really asking for. If you’re serious about future-proofing your value, this is the episode to hear. |
The Purpose Gap
Perhaps most telling was this finding: 88% of affluent Americans believe their financial advisor should help them understand their life’s purpose. Yet over half of those already working with advisors admit they wish they better understood what they’re actually working toward.
We’ve created a generation of wealthy people who feel purposeless about their wealth.
Think about that for a moment. Margaret, sitting across from me in 2011, wasn’t just financially anxious—she was existentially lost. She had accumulated resources without clarity about what those resources were meant to serve.
What This Means for You
We’re currently navigating a critical period in wealth management—defining a new moat around our value. I firmly believe this moat lies in purpose planning. When I began in wealth management, I believed financial success was simply numbers on a page. But numbers without understanding purpose or empathy don’t offer fulfillment or true financial freedom.
Our job is not merely to manage money but to help manage lives—to connect wealth to meaning, to link assets with aspirations. It’s what affluent Americans clearly crave. Our national study confirms it.
The most successful advisors of the next decade won’t just be investment managers or tax strategists. They’ll be purpose archaeologists—people who help clients dig beneath their balance sheets to discover what they actually want from their wealth.
Because here’s what Margaret taught me, and what our study confirms: Financial freedom isn’t about having enough money. It’s about having enough clarity about what “enough” means to you.
The future of wealth management isn’t about managing money better. It’s about managing lives more purposefully.
To dive deeper into these findings, you can download our full study here.