As a financial advisor, you have the opportunity to choose a niche that speaks to your interests and expertise. And retirement planning is an area that’s always in demand, as clients look for advice on developing a realistic roadmap for the future. Not to mention, it’s a potentially lucrative area of focus, as well. If you’re ready to switch gears professionally, here’s a look at how to transition to a retirement planning career.
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How to Transition to a Retirement Planning Career: Step By Step
Retirement planners assist their clients in creating strategies to achieve their retirement goals. That includes:
- Developing consistent plans for saving and investing
- Offering advice on specific investments
- Tackling income planning and talking through supplemental income streams, such as annuities
- Creating a drawdown strategy for retirement assets
- Maximizing Social Security benefits
- Guiding them through the basics of estate planning
With that in mind, if you’re ready to make a change, here’s how to transition to a retirement planning career.
1. Decide What Kind of Clients You Want to Target
Retirement planning is a broad topic, and different clients have different needs. What you have to consider is who you want to help with retirement planning. This decision can influence how you make the transition and market your services to prospects.
For instance, let’s say you want to attract doctors and other healthcare professionals to your practice. The following are some of the questions you might want to ask yourself:
- What do you bring to the table that makes you qualified to work with those types of clients?
- How well do you understand the unique challenges they face?
- What specific problems can you help them solve, or what concerns are you equipped to address?
- Why should they choose you over another advisor?
Asking yourself these kinds of questions can give you perspective on what to expect as you make the transition to retirement planning.
2. Develop Your Offerings
Once you know what kind of clients you want to work with, consider what you’re going to do for them.
For example, will your services include:
- Goal planning
- Retirement income planning
- Early retirement
- Investment advice
- College planning
- Estate planning
- Social Security planning
- Insurance
- Succession or continuity planning (if your ideal clients are business owners)
Maybe you’re already doing some of these things for your clients. Or maybe this is all new territory for you. Either way, it’s important to be clear on what services you plan to offer, and how that will help your ideal clients bring their retirement plans to life.
3. Check Your Credentials
Adding one or more retirement planning designations to your resume can add to your credibility, which could make it easier to attract retirement planning clients. Here are some of the professional designations you might consider pursuing:
- Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®). A CFP® designation is not specific to retirement planning, but it does indicate that you have extensive knowledge in that area. CFP® marks are widely recognized, which can help to build trust with prospective retirement planning clients. You’ll need to complete the CFP® exam, which is administered through the CFP® Board.
- Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP). The RICP designation is for advisors who plan to specialize in retirement income planning and longevity planning. It’s designed for individuals who already hold or plan to obtain a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) designation.
- Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC). The CRPC designation is similar to the RICP credential, with a few differences. Earning an RICP designation typically requires more extensive preparation and continuing education. Both a CRPC and an RICP would be able to offer retirement planning advice to clients.
- Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC). Certified retirement counselors offer advice on retirement planning. At least two years of experience in that area are required to obtain this certification.
- Retired Management Analyst (RMA). RMAs work with clients to create tailored retirement income plans. These individuals have previous financial experience and may hold a CFP® designation or be a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
The types of retirement planning services you plan to offer can help you decide if earning a new designation is necessary and, if so, which one to pursue.
4. Examine Your Current Client List
Assuming you already have some clients under your belt, they’re the best place to start when transitioning to retirement planning. Review each client’s account and ask yourself what you’re doing now to help them reach their goals, as well as what you could be doing better.
More importantly, ask your clients. For instance, you can create a client experience survey asking them to rate their satisfaction with your retirement planning services. You might include a section at the end where they can add comments about the types of services they’d like to see you offer.
If you think they may have friends or family members who could benefit from retirement planning advice, you could also tap into your current clients for referrals. You might ask for referrals directly, or encourage referrals indirectly by showing your appreciation and delivering top-tier service.
5. Craft Your Marketing Campaigns
Referrals are a boon for any advisor, but if you’re transitioning to retirement planning, you’ll likely still need a solid marketing plan. So what does that look like? The following tips can help you refine your marketing efforts to target prospects who are looking for retirement planning advice.
Explore LinkedIn
LinkedIn attracts a largely professional audience, which may prove invaluable for connecting with prospects who need a retirement planner’s help. Updating your profile to include relevant keywords and using built-in tools like Sales Navigator could help you attract professionals who are searching for advisors through the platform.
Develop Funnels
Sales funnels guide prospective clients through your sales process and, ideally, convert them into clients. A good financial advisor sales funnel begins with a solid lead magnet, which is a free resource you offer in exchange for a prospect’s email address. If you’re not using funnels or email marketing to promote your business, you could miss opportunities to reach your target audience.
Host a Seminar
Seminar marketing is one of the best ways to show prospective clients more about what you do and how you can help them address their biggest pain points.
For example, you might host an online seminar about FIRE planning if you’re targeting investors who are interested in early retirement, or dive into the ins and outs of balancing investing with student loan repayment if your ideal clients are high-earning doctors with medical school debt.
You can create multiple seminars around multiple topics, and use your customer relationship management (CRM) platform to track them. Seminars can help break the ice and get a conversation started, without prospects feeling like they’ve been hit with a hard sales pitch.
Update Your Website and Branding
Your website may be the first place prospects come into contact with you, so it should telegraph your services and expertise as a retirement planner. If you have a website, consider whether it needs a refresh to drive that point home.
For instance, you might update your bio or tagline to include keywords or phrases that someone who needs retirement planning help might be searching for. You could also consider rebranding altogether to reflect the new direction your business is taking.
Bottom Line
If you want to expand your horizons professionally and focus on a topic you’re passionate about, learning how to transition to a retirement planning career could be for you. The steps above can help give you a blueprint for developing a transition plan that sets you up for success. And the tips can help you further refine your marketing to connect with your ideal client.
Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business
- One of the biggest hurdles in starting or growing an advisory business is simply getting your name out there. That’s where marketing matters — the stronger your plan, the easier it becomes to get on a prospective client’s radar. If you’re looking for a way to supercharge your efforts, you might consider partnering with an advisor marketing platform. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service that financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
- If you know other advisors who have transitioned to a retirement planning career, you might talk to them about how they did so. They may be able to offer insight into what to do and what to avoid as you embark on a new direction in your career.
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