Financial Planners play a unique role in the lives of their clients. For clients losing their planner, at some point due to retirement or exit, can be a challenging, unsettling time.

Planners build up relationships over many years and I know from my chats with planners that many see their clients as friends and may have worked with them for two or three decades, or even longer.

The Financial Planning journey is one they make together, planner and client, and it’s often a strong bond.

With this in mind it was perhaps no surprise that a study suggested this week that nearly half of clients were concerned about their planner retiring, according to a study by Investec Wealth & Investment (UK).

Financial Planning Today has covered many stories of planners themselves working well past retirement age, 81 in one exceptional case.

Despite this many planners actually want to retire in their fifties, perhaps taking the advice they have given their clients themselves over the years about the benefits of early retirement.

While planners often have very strong and loyal relationships with their clients it’s often assumed that the client will move on when the planner retires. There is multiple evidence that this is not the case and, in fact, most clients understand the risks of only working with one Financial Planner and prefer a team looking after their financial affairs.

After all, if the planner is run over by a bus who will look after their money. Clients are, after all, mostly practical, professional and business-like.

The retirement journey for Financial Planners has, of course, become a more interesting journey in recent years with a queue of companies waiting to buy their business, or more likely their client book if they are smaller players.

This makes it more important that planners look after clients and keep them happy over the longer term, and nothing wrong with that, but I wonder how many planners ever discuss what would happen if they left the business or retired. I suspect few clients really understand what would happen if their planner headed off into the sunset.

These are, of course, tricky and commercially-sensitive questions to ask. Would clients ditch the firm if they though their planner was not going to be around for long? Possibly.

In any event, there is much to improve about their long term nature of the Financial Planning relationship and the handover to a new planner. Many planners tackle this question early on but I would guess many do not and that’s a shame.

The number of clients concerned about losing their planner to retirement is way to high and a better approach is needed. Perhaps less focus on fees and brass tacks and more focus on the relationship, coaching the client and removing any unease about planner exit would help improve wellbeing for clients.

• Our latest issue of Financial Planning Today magazine has just been published. Here’s link to view the issue with my compliments: https://bit.ly/2ZdVXWz. What do you think? You can drop me a line to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Kevin O’Donnell is editor of Financial Planning Today and a journalist with 40 years of experience in finance, business and mainstream news. This topical comment on the Financial Planning news appears most weeks, usually on Fridays but occasionally other days.  Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow @FPT_Kevin >Top Tip: Follow Financial Planning Today on Twitter / X @_FPToday for breaking news and key updates