High‐net‐worth clients want it all. Great service, valued advice, performance, and complete transparency. They want white glove treatment at a reasonable price. They want holistic advice that will help them achieve their goals and dreams. Therefore, wealth management is a journey that starts with the destination in mind. The most important part of the journey is figuring out where you want to end up, and how will you get there. It's not exclusively about what your number needs to be. As I said earlier, wealth management and financial investing are not interchangeable. The more assets, the more complex the planning will be. Therefore, having a professional team on the side of the client is key to maneuvering through this maze. The high‐net‐worth individuals in the United States are predominately over age 55. Over 90 percent did not inherit their wealth; they are self‐made and they worked very hard. In fact, according to AARP magazine, 86 percent log more than 50 hours a week. And they also save about 40 percent of their income. They are not mentally and financially ready for retirement, and they dislike salespeople, excessive taxes, and wasting time. What they want more of is time. On average they take six vacations a year, but they are not extravagant, with 77 percent flying economy. They also spend big on kids' education. Good health is important and they spend money on top doctors, good medical insurance, and fresh, high‐quality food, as well as a having a commitment to fitness. So, yes, they are very different in some ways but they are also just like everybody else. If you asked them how they became wealthy, they would tell you, hard work, education, smart investing, frugality, and taking risks. We have faced many tumultuous times in the past and I'm sure we will face more in the future. Therefore, the better an advisor can understand the client on the deepest level, the better chance the client will achieve his or her objectives. Helping clients determine whether they need $1 million or $10 million to live a comfortable retirement is a very small part of wealth management. New technologies can calculate the figures pretty quickly—they don't need a human being for those calculations. Additionally, new technology will transform retirement because new devices allow for remote work opportunities and staying connected to family and friends. Because people will live longer they will spend more years in retirement. Technology will give retirees more options and more possibilities.

However, helping them come up with the right life plan by starting with a deep discovery process gets you on the right path. One of the greatest human needs is to be understood. Because we operate in such a fast‐paced environment, it takes a mature advisor to ask the most compelling questions. Therefore, clients want wisdom, perspective, and valued advice, not just more information. This means you first have to find out what the client really values from your relationship, since it's not a one‐size‐fits‐all business. Your clients may not even know what they value so you may need to help them identify what's really important to them. And once you know what they value, you need to execute. If you can't deliver value, it's the wrong fit and you should move on. In general, clients want peace of mind, something that means different things to different people. And depending on how old your client is, the following will have varying degrees of importance.

As advisors you have the responsibility and power to impact people's lives. You are the life coach. Investment asset allocation is only a piece of a much bigger puzzle. Research tells us that clients want solid investment returns based on their risk tolerance, great service, and full transparency when it comes to fees, risk, and conflicts. In short, they want trusted advice. New regulations will demand more transparency. Helping people plan and retire successfully starting in their thirties or forties and knowing when it's “enough” is all part of a holistic consultative process. As Winston Churchill said, “The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” I have learned that only a small percentage of people retire on their own terms. And the ones that do that I have met over the years had a plan, had some good luck, and had a destination for the next chapter of their life. Clients, too, need to have a growth mindset. Therefore at the end the client wants unabashed client advocacy and stewardship. They want leading edge wealth management solutions that will exceed clients’ expectations every day.