Recommendations That Advisors Can Give to Clients Now

When the economy feels uncertain and market volatility increases, it’s natural for your clients to have questions about what comes next. Certified Financial Planners™ (CFPs®) report that 53% of their clients are cautious, while only 36% are optimistic, according to the CFP® Board’s 2026 CFP Professionals Financial Outlook Survey.¹ What are financial advisors telling clients to do now? The current advice landscape includes discussions about inflation, market stability, interest rates and, perhaps unsurprisingly, politics.

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What Advisory Clients Are Concerned With Now

Financial planning clients are bringing a laundry list of topics to their advisors for discussion, but some take up more of the conversation than others. Here’s a snapshot of the issues CFP® professionals report clients talking about the most, heading into 2026:

• Political environment (46%)
• Inflation/prices (39%)
• Ability to retire comfortably (35%)
• Economic conditions (34%)
• Market movements (34%)
• Rising health care costs (33%)
• Tax code changes (25%)
• Tariffs (13%)
• Interest rates (12%)

Other issues getting some attention include the job market, housing costs, family planning, college expenses and wage growth.

Most of the concerns on the list are expected. For instance, it’s not unusual for clients to be concerned about the cost of living or how the market’s doing. Politics taking the top spot, however, suggests that a considerable number of clients may be focused on the financial impact of the current administration’s policies, in the near and long term.

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What Are Financial Advisors Telling Clients to Do Now?

Clients expect you to offer advice that’s tailored to their needs, goals and concerns. With that in mind, it’s difficult to make blanket assumptions about what every advisor is telling their clients to do now. However, if you consider the CFP® Board survey, some common threads shine through.

Take Tax Planning Seriously

The number one recommendation CFP® professionals have for their clients heading into 2026 is to focus on tax planning and optimization. Sixty-nine percent of respondents emphasized the importance of a sound tax strategy.

The survey didn’t include more specific recommendations, but you may use this as a guide to talk to your clients about:

• Asset location vs. asset allocation, and how to utilize each one for maximum tax benefit
• Changes to the federal tax code that begin in 2026, including an increased standard deduction, the now-permanent increase in estate planning exemption limits and the updated gift tax limits ²
• Increasing contributions to tax-advantaged retirement accounts, such as 401(k) plans or IRAs
• Tax changes affecting state and local tax (SALT) deductions and 529 college savings plans

At the portfolio level, you may want to discuss tax-loss harvesting and tax-efficient investments, such as municipal bonds.

Revisit Your Financial Plan

An annual review of a client’s plan is an opportunity to measure how much progress they’ve made, adjust for life changes and add new contingency plans. Sixty-two percent of CFP® professionals say they’ve recommended that clients review their financial plan, or develop one if they haven’t yet done so.

Here’s a simple checklist you can use to walk clients through an annual review:

• Review any major life changes, such as the birth of a child or a divorce, that directly affect your client’s finances.
• Track all income and expenses for the year to gain a clear picture of the client’s cash flow, so they can understand where their money has gone.
• Check how much progress the client has made toward each of their financial goals. If they have no goals, help them to set some.
• Calculate the client’s net worth and how much it’s increased (or decreased) since your last review.
• Look at their emergency fund and ask them how comfortable they are with its current level.
• Go through their insurance policies to ensure they have the right coverage, and look for gaps that may need to be filled (e.g., disability insurance, long-term care insurance, etc.)
• Review their tax withholding to ensure they’re selecting the correct amount on their W-4.
• Review and update the client’s estate plan, if necessary.

You don’t necessarily need to conduct reviews at the beginning or end of the year. However, there are some advantages to doing so. A January review is a chance for clients to set new goals and lay out an action plan to meet them. A November or December review, on the other hand, leaves enough time for year-end strategic tax planning.

Ramp Up Retirement Savings

Forty-four percent of CFP® professionals say they’re recommending that clients focus on retirement. In these discussions, they’re advising clients on how to prepare for retirement, plan their investments, preserve their wealth for future generations and anticipate increased health care costs later in life.

Here are some of the questions your clients might have about retirement planning in the current environment:

• Will Social Security benefits be cut in 2033, as has been reported? ³ Should I take the benefits sooner, rather than later?
• Reports also say that Medicare will face cuts; is this true? ⁴
• Inflation is pushing long-term care costs higher. How can I (or my spouse and I) plan for that without draining our retirement nest egg? ⁵
• What is the senior deduction included in the One Big Beautiful Bill, and how might it affect me when I retire?
• Are there any major changes expected for 401(k) plans or IRAs in the coming years?
• How much of my retirement portfolio is safe in stocks? Should I move more of my savings into cash or bonds until market uncertainty passes?
• Based on my current plan, do you think I’ll be able to retire on time?

Retirement planning software can be helpful when having these discussions.

For example, your software may include visualizer tools that can illustrate to clients what might happen in their portfolios if they do X, Y or Z. Or you may have access to Social Security benefits planning tools to help clients accurately estimate what they might receive.

Stay Invested

When the market fluctuates, it may be tempting for risk-averse clients to cut and run. Much of the chatter about the markets through 2025 has centered on the potential for an AI bubble to burst, overvaluations in the tech sector and a housing crash that may be looming on the horizon.

Despite those concerns, more than a third of CFP® professionals (38%) say they’re recommending clients hold on to their stocks for now. If your clients are feeling cagey about stocks, talk them through what they’re feeling and actively listen to what they have to say. Validate their concerns, then offer some historical context about how market cycles move.

Review their long-term plan with them if you haven’t done so already, highlighting its strengths. Talk to your clients about what they can control where the markets are concerned, and offer some strategies for dealing with any feelings of stress or anxiety. For example, you may encourage them to take a break from the market news cycle or checking their portfolios if those actions trigger anxiety.

If a client is determined to move at least some of their holdings out of stocks, give them options that can help them still move forward with their goals. For example, 10% of financial planning professionals in the CFP® Board survey say they recommend that clients move some of their money to capitalize on higher interest rates. At the end of the day, your clients should feel good about their response to volatility and comfortable with the choices you’ve helped them to make.

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Bottom Line

What are financial advisors telling clients to do now? There isn’t a single answer, as every advisor and every client base is different. Understanding who your clients are, what keeps them up at night and what they hope to accomplish financially can help you develop recommendations that meet them where they are right now.

Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business

• Digital marketing is only one way to bring in new potential clients. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service 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.
• Financial planning software can help you anticipate your clients’ needs through changing market conditions. When reviewing financial planning software options, consider the range of features offered, the level of support provided, and the cost. Also, consider how comfortable you are using artificial intelligence, as more software providers are integrating AI features and functionality into their programs.

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