Clients should receive a regular, basic standard of care, says Richtsmeier. Standards of care go beyond best practices to focus on outcomes. Today’s clients expect personallization, individualized advice and timely attention from the digital platforms they encounter – traditional advisors can’t afford to fall behind.
Finally, advisors must be willing to eat their own cooking, says Richtsmeier. That goes beyond investing in the portfolios they’re recommending to their clients – it means that advisors should also be consumers of financial advice, plan their own financial lives meticulously and practice the financial wisdom that they teach to their clients.
“Advisors should have advisors just like a doctor should have a doctor or a dentist should have a dentist,” said Richtsmeier.