Horizons was a special event nestled on the coast outside of San Diego, where retirement income-focused advisors and financial services professionals gathered to connect as a community. Attendees came together to learn from one another, share best practices, and future-proof their businesses. This type of community is essential for staying ahead of industry trends, sharpening our skills, and providing the best service to our clients. Since retirement income planning is complex and still in its infancy, such collaboration is invaluable.

We are constantly developing new research around income distribution strategies, retirement income tax strategies, and financial products to serve today’s and tomorrow’s retirees. I expected to gain insights into various tactical retirement income distribution strategies and best practices from my friends and professional colleagues, including Wade Pfau, PhD, CFA, RICP®, Eric Ludwig, PhD, CFP®, Lindsey Lewis, MBA, CFP®, ChFC®, Carolyn McClanahan, PhD, Jeffrey Levine, CFP®, CPA/PFS, ChFC®, RICP®, CWS, AIF, BFA™, MSA, and Don Graves. As expected, they did not disappoint. I learned about innovative reverse mortgage strategies, money management tips for women in retirement, new insights from retirement income literacy research projects, and the importance of aligning distribution strategies with a client’s risk profile.

What Client Service Has to Do With Retirement Planning

What might surprise you is that my major revelation about the future of retirement income didn’t come from anyone in the retirement field. Instead, it came from American restaurateur Will Guidara. He is well-known for his books on client service, his co-produced show “The Bear,” and his remarkable tenure at Eleven Madison Park, a top restaurant in New York City. Over the past decade, I have had excellent experiences, attended hundreds of talks, traveled the world, and led advisor teams at some of the largest firms. However, I have rarely felt as inspired as I did after hearing Will’s speech. He told a room full of advisors and retirement income enthusiasts that the future wouldn’t be found in our calculations, research, products, and strategies, but something more human — exceptional service.

Will told a story about how at Eleven Madison Park they strived to deliver extraordinary client experiences. They did this through focus, being present, and truly listening to their clients. One day, they overheard that a couple that was dining with them had just been married, but due to some family dynamics had to cancel their wedding. The team got together, cleared their back space, figured out what would have been their first dance song, and set it all up. At the end of the evening, they took them to the back for their first dance. This was a truly special moment that cost almost nothing but time and listening. It elevated the experience to a crazy level and changed lives.

Retirement income strategies and best practices are essential to our work. Just as outstanding food is crucial for maintaining the status of a top restaurant, it serves as the foundation of our services. However, to truly stand out and be number one, we must go beyond just a good product; we must offer exceptional service.

How to Deliver Excellence in Retirement Planning Service

While delivering excellent service may seem straightforward, it can be quite challenging in today’s fast-paced world. Great service involves genuinely listening to clients and ensuring each person feels seen and heard. Remember, financial planning, investment management, and retirement income are all part of the financial services industry; at our core, we are a service industry. When a client says they are worried about market volatility we must stop and listen for the why. Did their parents lose everything in a market crash? Do they have children with special needs? If we listen to the why behind the strategy we can also deliver a better experience for clients.

Often, we forget that our primary purpose is to serve our clients. While goal-based planning was a positive step forward, many firms strategically collide to provide almost identical services and products, enhanced by scaled technology and a consistent narrative about efficiency. As a result, we risk losing the essential human element and connection. This ongoing pursuit of the efficient frontier threatens to take us away from providing the exceptional service our profession should strive to deliver.

As I headed home from Horizons, I felt inspired to prioritize service. I want my team to be constantly service-oriented. It’s important to me that every client feels their retirement income plan is the most significant. I want people to feel acknowledged and understood rather than being lectured. It’s essential for them to know that their plan is uniquely theirs. The future of retirement income planning is not just about the next strategy or product; it’s about delivering exceptional service that allows all Americans to feel heard and valued.

I want to challenge you to think about how you can enhance your service. How can you go beyond the mere delivery of our strategies and products to a new level? Where do you make people feel valued and heard? Do we celebrate everyone’s retirement? Do we recognize financial milestones with our clients? In a commoditized world of investments and advice, the only way to stand out and provide the exceptional planning clients deserve is to refocus on the client experience by delivering outstanding service.

More From The College

• Get the tools to meet your client’s retirement planning needs with the Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) Program
• Become a better planning partner by sharing The Retirement Course™ with your clients
  
   

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The value professional designations offer to financial professionals is critically important. After all, statistics like a 13% higher growth in earnings among College designees over the last three years compared to those with no designations¹ are likely encouraging for anyone considering the pursuit of a designation from The College.

However, after a financial professional has earned their designation, it is equally important that they be able to speak to the benefits a designation offers to their clients. Fortunately, the 2024 Designation Outcomes Study, conducted in partnership with FUSE Research Network, provides some insight and direction on how to demonstrate your increased value.

How Designations Benefit Clients

According to the data gathered in the 2024 Designation Outcomes Study, business practices and relationships between financial professionals and their clients improved significantly¹:

• 74% of College designees reported improved client conversations
• 70% of College designees reported an improved ability to assist their clients in meeting goals
• 65% of College designees reported higher client satisfaction

Financial professionals with designations from The College not only demonstrate increased knowledge to assist clients, but also better skills to foster strong relationships with their clients. These improved relationships may originate, in part, from a financial professional’s ability to speak to a specialized field in which a client requires assistance.

This claim is supported by data found in a Cerulli study. The study posits that enhanced engagement with clients’ financial situations, such as offering specialized services, leads to stronger client relationships, improved client retention, and generally correlates to an increase in a practice’s assets under management and average client size.²

Designations Helping Clients Plan for Retirement

Being able to speak knowledgeably about important topics such as retirement while helping clients achieve improved outcomes in a planning area that can be challenging, even for skilled financial planners. For this reason, many clients find better results when working with a specialist, such as a Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®). A RICP® possesses expert-level retirement knowledge that can help clients achieve improved retirement outcomes. This knowledge likely contributes to RICP® holders outpacing their peers when it comes to improved client relations¹:

• 83% reported improved client conversations
• 81% reported an improved ability to assist their clients in meeting goals
• 69% reported higher client satisfaction

These numbers suggest a very strong correlation between the RICP® designation and improved client relationships.

Designations Leveraged to Plan for Underserved Communities

One other such specialization, special needs planning, requires financial professionals to have a strong understanding of their clients’ individual situations. Offering services to this traditionally underserved community results in a strong bond between financial professionals and their clients. As such, the Chartered Special Needs Consultant® (ChSNC®) also boasts impressive numbers relating to client relations¹:

• 75% reported improved client conversations
• 72% reported an improved ability to assist their clients in meeting goals
• 63% reported higher client satisfaction

Similarly to the RICP®, the ChSNC® designation serves as an indicator of expert-level knowledge to clients looking for financial planning relations to their specialized field.

Designations Allow Clients to Build a Lasting Impact

Another designation we see this trend with is the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® (CAP®). Holders of the CAP® designation offer extensive knowledge of philanthropic planning and are qualified to help clients with goals they may be especially passionate about such as charitable giving, legacy planning, and nonprofit planning. As such, numbers indicate that the work of CAP® designees is greatly appreciated by clients¹:

• 81% reported improved client conversations
• 76% reported an improved ability to assist their clients in meeting goals
• 68% reported higher client satisfaction

Like other designations, earning the CAP® correlates with significant improvements in a financial professional’s relationships with their client, as the financial professional works with their clients to help them realize their legacy.

How Designations Power Success

All these statistics point to a major trend among all College designations that grows more pronounced among more specialized designations. Improved conversations, higher client satisfaction, and more suggest that clients appreciate the care they receive when working with designation holders and act accordingly, offering their financial professionals greater trust and staying with them longer — benefitting both their wellbeing and your bottom line.

Learn more about the benefits financial professionals and their clients can receive in our 2024 Designation Outcomes Study results.

More From The College

• Explore the RICP® Program
• Explore the ChSNC® Program
• Explore the CAP® Program

In early 2025, we find ourselves in a familiar place. Several major indices have recently entered correction or bear market territory, and investor anxiety is once again on the rise. For financial advisors working with retirees, these moments bring a familiar tension: How do you keep clients from abandoning their long-term investment plans in the face of short-term fear?

That question drove my research into investor behavior during market volatility. I analyzed a nationally representative sample of older investors using Health and Retirement Study data collected during the COVID-driven bear market in 2020. What I found confirms what many advisors have seen firsthand—and it also points to a practical solution.

The Hidden Risk: Sequence of Returns

One of the greatest threats to retirement success is not a market crash. It’s what a retiree does in response.

When investors reduce equity exposure during a downturn, they may feel like they’ve made a smart move. In the short term, that might even be true. They avoid further losses and experience a sense of control.

But being "short-term right" can lead to being "long-term broke." This behavior compounds the problem of sequence of return risk. For retirees who are withdrawing from their portfolios, early losses combined with reduced equity exposure mean they are less likely to recover when the market bounces back. They lock in losses, miss the recovery, and lose the potential for growth. The math of retirement doesn’t forgive that easily.

The Real Predictor: Market Outlook

Much of our industry focuses on risk tolerance and time horizon. Those are important, but they don’t tell the whole story. In this study, the strongest predictor of whether an older investor reduced stock exposure during the COVID market crash wasn’t their personality, education, or even prior asset allocation. It was how they felt about the market’s direction over the next 12 months.

Put simply, when people believed the market would go up, they stayed the course. When they believed it would go down, they bailed.

This insight matters because market outlook is not a fixed trait. It can be shaped by advisors. This gives us a lever to protect clients from their own worst instincts.

What Financial Advisors Can Do

Here are several practical ways financial advisors can use these insights in real-world practice:

1. Ask about long-term market expectations.

When the market drops, don’t just ask if clients are okay. Ask them what they think the market will be like 12 months from now. Their answer can serve as an early warning sign. A pessimistic outlook signals a higher likelihood of behavior change. It also steers the conversation to longer-term expectations instead of near-term volatility.

2. Frame volatility as normal and expected.

Remind clients that volatility is part of the plan, not a sign the plan is broken. Use historical examples to show how markets have recovered and why staying invested matters.

3. Address the illusion of control.

Moving to cash may feel safer, but it’s often just swapping one kind of risk for another. Clients need to understand that avoiding short-term losses often means losing long-term returns. This can be illustrated with financial planning software solutions.

4. Be strategic with reassurance.

Not all clients need the same level of communication. The data shows that personality plays a role: clients who are more anxious or pessimistic need more regular, personalized touchpoints during volatility. Chances are, you know who those clients are.

5. Normalize market dips as rebalancing opportunities.

Clients who follow the market more closely are less likely to reduce risk. That suggests that education and familiarity can help. Position downturns as temporary and potentially beneficial for long-term investors.

Final Thought

You can’t change someone's personality, but you can influence how they feel about the future. That’s the real takeaway for advisors.

Especially during volatility periods like we’re seeing in 2025, a client’s market outlook becomes a leading indicator of future behavior. By identifying and addressing that outlook, advisors can reduce the odds of panic-driven portfolio changes, protect long-term outcomes, and provide more than just financial value—they offer emotional stability and decision-making support when it matters most.

In the end, good advisors manage portfolios. Great advisors manage behavior.

More From The College

• Watch or listen to Shares Podcast Episode 29: Retirement Planning in Volatile Markets
• Learn more about the Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) program
• Browse other courses and programs available at The College

In a workshop session at our Horizons 2025 conference, Director of College Research Kaylee Ranck, PhD, and Managing Director of the American College Center for Special Needs Joellen Meckley, JD, MHS, ChSNC®, discussed the topic of long-term care (LTC) and its impacts on retirement planning.

ThinkAdvisor’s John Manganaro moderated the session, designed to inform financial professionals of the potential threat that LTC costs can have on retirement plans, as well as offer tools for retirement advisors to protect against potentially excessive costs of care.

Why is Long-Term Care Important?

While many professionals may know anecdotally that LTC costs can be prohibitive, the latest research reinforces that reality. In their discussion, Meckley and Ranck presented some sobering statistics, including the annual median cost of a private nursing home room ($104,000 per year) and that 70% of people age 65 or older will at some point require long-term care — one-fifth of whom will need it for at least five years.¹

The burdens of LTC costs hit women especially hard as they are commonly caregivers, with women caregivers losing over $300,000 in lifetime earnings on average to deal with healthcare costs in retirement. Additionally, 60% of women caregivers experience disruptions to their work lives stemming from the long-term care needs of others.² Our 2023 Retirement Income Literacy Study results reinforce this point for women and caregivers across the board and drive home the importance of considering healthcare costs in retirement: nearly 80% of respondents said they currently had no plan in place to fund potential LTC needs.

“Women are often the safety net, providing care, absorbing the cost, and sometimes sacrificing career opportunities,” Ranck said. “Planning for long-term care helps redistribute that burden.”

LTC Strategies and Solutions

Ranck and Meckley added, however, that many options for retirement income planning can help mitigate long-term care costs. Insurance is one such option through either traditional LTC insurance policies, hybrid policies, or life insurance with LTC riders. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) can also provide a pre-tax source of healthcare-specific savings for retirees to draw on later in life. However, HSAs must be funded before signing up for Medicare and are only available to individuals enrolled in high-deductible health plans, making early planning essential.

Additionally, the duo also highlighted that incentives for more in-depth LTC planning exist for retirement advisors at the federal and state level. Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, individuals may use qualified account distributions to pay LTC premiums without an early withdrawal penalty. While state benefit options may vary across the country, a dozen states are currently considering further LTC tax legislation, and other options like the LTCi Partnership Program exist to protect assets from Medicaid estate recovery programs should the burdens of LTC costs become too high.

In the end, Meckley and Ranck emphasize there are two options for dealing with long-term care costs: to accept the risk through income-based or asset-based funding options like Social Security, pensions, and other savings vehicles; or to transfer the risk with an LTC insurance option. In either case, potential clients need a retirement advisor knowledgeable enough to provide these options — and a financial planning certification like the Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) designation can help you provide that specialized planning service.

"When clients wait until a crisis hits, the options narrow, and the emotional toll spikes,” Ranck said. “Planning proactively means preserving choices and a sense of control."

More From The College

• Explore the RICP® Program
• Visit the American College Center for Special Needs

In this episode of the Shares podcast, Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) Program Director Eric Ludwig, PhD, CFP® welcomes Steve Parrish, JD, RICP®, CLU®, ChFC®, AEP®, a fellow professor at The College and retirement planning expert, to discuss recent shockwaves across financial markets and how financial professionals can best respond — especially when talking with their clients nearing or in retirement. They explore strategies to ensure clients’ assets are secure, put them at ease with historical context, and more.

Steve Parrish, JD, RICP®, CLU®, ChFC®, AEP® is a professor of practice at The American College of Financial Services and a scholar in residence at the American College Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics in Financial Services. He joined The College in 2015, previously serving on the faculty of Drake University Law School, where he was an adjunct professor of estate planning and interim director of the Compliance and Risk Management Department.

Drawing on more than 45 years’ experience with companies such as The Principal Financial Group, Amerus Life Insurance Company, and his own advisory firm, Parrish is a recognized industry authority, spokesperson, and author. He continues to serve as an ongoing contributor for both Forbes.com and Kiplinger.com and is a contributing author to the 2023 e-textbook Retirement Plans and Retirement Planning. He received his BA, cum laude, from Saint Olaf College and his Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the William Mitchell College of Law.

Any views or opinions expressed in this podcast are the hosts’ and guests' own and do not necessarily represent those of The American College of Financial Services.

More From The College

• Secure specialized expertise in retirement income planning with the Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®) Program.
• Help your clients become better partners in planning with The Retirement Course™.

King of Prussia, PA — April 15, 2025 — In a significant step toward advancing financial literacy for Spanish-speaking communities, The American College of Financial Services is making its widely recognized program, Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth®, accessible in Spanish, equipping professionals and families with essential financial knowledge. Director of Program Development and co-lead for The College's representation strategy Valencia Gabay, PhD, CFEI®, led the effort to translate course content.  

As part of this initiative, Comercio TV has translated the video lessons in Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth® into Spanish, ensuring that Spanish-speaking individuals have access to critical financial education. The course will be available for free with this link: https://qr.codes/fb2klx

“This partnership reflects our shared dedication to empowering individuals with financial knowledge,” said The College’s Assistant Vice President of Financial Education and Wellness Timi Jorgensen, PhD. “Bringing Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth® to Spanish-speaking communities is a vital step in closing the financial literacy gap and providing educational tools that can create real, lasting financial empowerment.”

“This initiative is a significant step in making financial education more accessible to the Spanish-speaking community,” added Comercio TV’s Director of Content Strategy Freddy Arias Jr. “We are excited to collaborate with The American College of Financial Services to ensure that these valuable financial resources reach as many individuals as possible through multiple media channels.”

ABOUT COMERCIO TV

Comercio TV is a leading Spanish-language financial news network committed to delivering timely, relevant financial content to the Hispanic community. Comercio TV connects Spanish-speaking professionals, investors, and families with essential financial news and educational resources available via cable, satellite, and digital streaming platforms. Comercio TV's mission is to make financial education accessible to all.
For more information, visit www.comercio.tv.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

Founded in 1927, The American College of Financial Services is the nation’s largest nonprofit educational institution devoted to financial services professionals. Holding the highest level of academic accreditation, The College has educated over 200,000 professionals across the United States through certificate, designation, and graduate degree programs. Its portfolio of applied knowledge also includes just-in-time learning and consumer financial education programs. The College’s faculty represents some of the foremost thought leaders in the financial services industry. Visit TheAmericanCollege.edu and connect with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Discover all the ways you can expand your opportunities with us.

Contact

Sarah Tremallo
908-967-0381 / stremallo@jconnelly.com

Jared Trexler
610-526-1268 / jared.trexler@theamericancollege.edu

Building on the momentum of the American College Center for Ethics in Financial Services’ previous AI Ethics Summit, this year’s roundtable, Cross-Functional Operationalization of Responsible AI in Financial Services, brought together professionals across ethics, risk, compliance, and technology functions to address real-world implementation challenges. Conducted under the Chatham House Rule to encourage open and candid dialogue, the discussion explored both the barriers and opportunities of integrating AI responsibly within financial services organizations. To guide the conversation, attendees completed a pre-event survey identifying top challenges and opportunities in operationalizing responsible AI. Key themes included the need for AI literacy, cross-functional collaboration, adaptable governance frameworks, and a strong organizational culture that prioritizes transparency and accountability.

Three panelists, each representing ethics and compliance, enterprise risk, and data privacy functions at different companies shared practical strategies for aligning AI initiatives with business values and regulatory expectations. They emphasized the importance of embedding responsible AI principles into existing enterprise risk management systems, and in some cases evolving those systems as necessary. Leaders spoke to the critical role of executive sponsorship and cultural tone-setting in fostering trust and enabling thoughtful adoption of AI technologies. The conversation underscored a shared commitment to ongoing learning and cooperation, culminating in the creation of a practical playbook for responsible AI governance in financial services.

As a member of the Alliance for Ethics, corporate supporters benefit from receiving exclusive access to the full roundtable report. All other interested parties should please contact us at ethics@theamericancollege.edu to become an Alliance corporate supporter and unlock exclusive content and events!

More from The College

• To learn more about AI in financial services, you can explore further with research from the Center for Ethics in Financial Services.
• Stay informed about our latest AI research and initiatives—follow us on LinkedIn for updates and insights.