Executive brief highlights emerging trends, motivations, and challenges shaping the profession’s talent pipeline
DALLAS, Nov. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — As the financial advice profession faces record retirements and an urgent need for new talent, Amplified Planning, in collaboration with Schwab Advisor Services, has released a groundbreaking executive brief: Building the Future of Advice: Data-Driven Talent Strategies. This guide for wealth management firms that want to recruit, develop, and retain top talent can be accessed here: https://amplifiedplanning.com/research/
This research is based on insights from surveys completed during The 2025 Externship, which hosted over 2,000 aspiring and new planners from June to August. With nearly 1,800 survey respondents, the research highlights what motivates the next generation to join—and stay—in the profession. This research also identifies the barriers that planners face on the way in, as well as practical advice for firms to implement successful retention, recruitment, and talent development programs.
“Firms are realizing that their ability to grow is directly tied to their ability to attract and develop talent,” said Hannah Moore, CFP®, Founder of Amplified Planning and Creator of The Externship. “Our research shows that while generational differences get most of the attention, the real story is in how people enter the profession. Students, career changers, and current financial service professionals each bring unique motivations, skills, and expectations—and firms that recognize this can build stronger, more sustainable teams.”
Three Distinct Pathways into Financial Planning
The research revealed that a new or aspiring planner’s entry point into the profession is the strongest predictor of what motivates them and what they seek from employers—not their age or generation.
- College Students often discover the profession through coursework or peers and are eager for mentorship, structure, and clear career paths.
- Career Changers are drawn to financial planning through personal financial experiences or life transitions.
- Financial Service Professionals already working in related (but non-planning) professions seek more meaning, holistic advice opportunities, and alignment between job titles and responsibilities.
While all three groups are critical to the profession’s future, career changers now represent a large pipeline of talent, a trend that The Externship has seen grow stronger since 2022.
What Motivates the Next Generation of Planners
Across all backgrounds, one theme stands out: purpose and impact drive new entrants to financial planning.
New talent overwhelmingly views financial planning as a way to help people and to educate, empower, and improve clients’ lives. Many see the profession as an opportunity to break generational financial cycles and support underserved communities.
“I always look forward to the relationships I build,” said one Externship participant. “It’s not just about managing assets—it’s about walking alongside clients and helping them shape their lives.”
An Emerging Trend: A Shift Toward Holistic Planning
While motivations to “help people” remain the top reason new talent enters financial planning, 94% of Externship participants interviewed in focus groups said they want to focus on holistic financial planning, not just investment management.
This finding underscores a defining shift in how new and aspiring planners see their role. Many view financial planning as a way to guide clients through every aspect of their financial lives—retirement, debt, tax, and estate—not just portfolios or market performance.
“This new generation of talent wants to help clients holistically, not just manage money,” said Suzanne Siracuse, industry consultant and collaborator on the research. “That shift represents a powerful opportunity for firms to redefine how they deliver advice and how they attract the right people to deliver it.”
Barriers to Entry Still Run Deep
Despite their enthusiasm, the research brief highlights that many aspiring planners face steep barriers to entering the profession that include:
- Finding job opportunities that match their experience or values.
- Low starting compensation.
- Lack of clear career paths.
- Insufficient technical and client-facing training.
Additionally, career changers often feel their prior experience is undervalued, while students struggle to find true entry-level roles.
Advice for Firm Leaders
According to the 2025 Schwab RIA Benchmarking Study, most RIAs recruit from personal and professional networks, schools, and other advisory firms. Yet, with nearly 70% of new entrants coming to The Externship from other sources beyond traditional financial planning programs, the brief calls on firms to rethink their recruiting strategies—looking beyond industry circles to attract career changers and professionals with transferable skills.
“Understanding a candidate’s entry point into the profession is more insightful than simply knowing their age or experience,” said Moore. “Their entry points not only determine how individuals discover financial planning but also how they evaluate firms, define success, and decide to stay.”
“According to the research, some aspiring advisor candidates are more planning-focused, driven by mission and client relationships, while others are investment-focused, energized by analysis, markets, and AUM growth,” said Leslie Tabor, Director, Advisor Services Business Consulting & Education, Charles Schwab. “Firms that clearly define which kind of advisor they’re hiring—and design roles accordingly—will see stronger retention and alignment.”
The findings underscore that a “one-size-fits-all” approach to recruiting and retention no longer works. Firms that understand the motivations and barriers of each talent group can build intentional strategies, creating defined career paths for students, re-entry programs for career changers, and meaningful planning roles for professionals shifting within the industry.
“This research reinforces what we’ve long believed: the firms that will lead the next decade of growth are the ones investing in people as much as in performance,” continued Tabor.
Keep Next Gen Planners in the Profession
Retention, the report emphasizes, depends on more than compensation. The majority of participants ranked mentorship, firm culture, structured training, and clear career progression as the most important factors in choosing where to work.
New planners want to know where they’re going, how to get there, and that someone is invested in their success. Firms that “walk the talk” on culture and values—offering real coaching, collaboration, and transparency—will be the ones that build loyalty and longevity.
About the Research
Building the Future of Advice draws from Amplified Planning’s quantitative and qualitative research conducted in 2025, including:
- A nationwide survey with nearly 1,800 Externship participant responses
- Focus groups with students, career changers, and financial services professionals
- A comparative analysis of trends from 2023 to 2025
The report identifies clear opportunities for firms to modernize recruitment, improve retention, and align firm culture with the motivations of new talent. The report also provides action items firms can take and showcases case studies from RIA firms that have successfully implemented programs that are supporting talent retention, development and recruitment.
About Amplified Planning
Amplified Planning equips aspiring and new financial planners with real-world experience, mentorship, and the tools they need to succeed—while helping firms build scalable, sustainable talent pipelines. Its flagship initiative, The Externship, is the largest virtual training experience in financial planning, providing thousands of participants each year with direct exposure to client meetings, the financial planning process, and the professional standards that define great advice. Amplified Planning also has firm training solutions, including The Accelerator, a 3-month cohort, and CORE, a monthly training experience.
Learn more about Amplified Planning’s training offers at www.AmplifiedPlanning.com/firms. Access the full executive brief at www.AmplifiedPlanning.com/research.
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