Many clients of CPA firms are Boomers who will be retiring in increasing numbers over the next decade. What does that mean? Obviously that means firms will be looking to continue to retain many of those retirees as clients,and it will also mean there will be a need to find a steady supply of new clients.
If the firm is already involved in financial planning, it has a better chance of retention and even the greater ability to attract retiring Boomers as clients. But advising retirees can be very different than advising someone who is building wealth. For example, just to name a few areas, extensive expertise is needed with regard to:
• Retirement distribution planning;
• When an IRA participant dies during payouts;
• Long-term care insurance;
• Picking (and paying) for the right retiree medical care coverage;
• Cash flow, longer life expectancy, and income streams,
• Insurers’ and retirement plan sponsors’ restrictive practices and policies,
• Holistic financial planning;
• Managing the investments in the retirement nest egg;
• Risk management and risk tolerance;
• Buying a home in a senior community that’s a homeowners’ association;
• How your state of domicile will impact your financial plan;
• Workplace retirement plan education; and
• Caring for the elderly.
The smart firms, in addition to developing the expertise, will perfect their marketing and form relationships with other professionals. You will also see firms open offices in states where many of their clients will be moving upon retirement. There will also be greater use of the Internet to communicate information so the retiree is more comfortable with virtual communications, thereby encouraging retention.
The tremendous financial opportunities with regard to the immense number of future retiring Boomers are obvious. Firms have to figure out how to take advantage of it. And if they decide they don’t, they will have to decide how they will be replacing, at a quick rate, their retiring and departing Boomer clients, and whether it will change the nature of their practice.
