Industry, government and academia work with aggregates of large numbers. These numbers come to them as breakdowns of income, ethnicities, religiosities, chronologies, vocations, geographies, health, marital status, children, and on and on and on and on. As aggregates, not only are their numbers large but they are also faceless, their theories simply lacking human touch or nuance. Since they work in large numbers encompassing entire populations, we will call this group Denominators; for sure, they sit at the Big Kids’ Table.

In evident and significant contrast are those working directly with individuals and families. We will call this group “Numerators.” The Numerators’ starkly contrast with the Denominators’ three sectors. They include financial planners and our ilk, namely the sundry CPAs, attorneys, bankers, social workers, psychologists, trust officers, wealth managers, coaches and pastors working directly with individuals and families, understanding both money and their fiduciary responsibilities.

Numerators know firsthand what is relevant, impactful and hopeful for individuals, at least with respect to their clients and markets. They understand money and take their fiduciary responsibilities seriously. Most importantly, Numerators have something of significance to contribute to the miscellaneous public policy conversations that are taking place. Numerators should have a place at the Big Kids’ Table.

Ironically, Denominators rarely talk to those working with individuals one-on-one as fiduciaries. Unfortunately, until those who work with individuals one at a time as fiduciaries sit with them at the Big Kids’ Table, it is a virtual certainty that much of their work will consistently miss the mark.

For all of the Denominators’ efforts, there will be no subtle distinctions in their daily work. None of this daily work will address individuals as individuals but rather only as ideally meaningful abstractions for such “big number issues” as sales and quotas, product and legislation creation, actuarial parameters and anticipatable cash inflows and esoteric research.

The Big Kids’ Table has been exclusive. For all the high-volume hoo-ha of our daily media, it has been rare to hear anyone speaking with power to the multitudes of money issues impacting real live folks. Shouldn’t this be within the wheelhouse of the financial planning profession and those self-proclaiming fiduciaries working more or less in parallel?

As self-presumed lairds of the manor, both industry and academia assume their lesser ranks include financial planners. Yet they twist its mission and purpose to serve their commercial purposes.

For its part, government doesn’t really even think we exist. Witness our awesome collective power for such personal financial issues, the “Affordable Care Act,” Dodd-Frank or the continued clumsiness and patent abuses within the Internal Revenue Code, complaints of the average citizen notwithstanding. Sarcasm. Our current power is mind-boggling in its nullity.

Question: Is this really a problem? Do we want a seat at the Big Kids’ Table? Do we believe in the power of financial planning and personal financial advice with sufficient conviction to risk stepping out into the big, hairy, scary, public arena on our own behalf? Or are we content to have our particular and vital issues addressed solely and exclusively by self-interested proxies from industry, academia and government? Seriously.

As I have done so often before, I suggest the world needs our skills and our perspectives. I further suggest it is high time to presume that we are worthy participants in the public arena. Indeed, we are not only worthy, we have the rights, duties and responsibilities to take more active roles. We have earned seats at the Big Kids’ Table.