I no longer fear the future. Despite all the hand wringing and teeth gnashing over the source of advisors to come, a dinner at a Vietnamese fusion joint in San Francisco (it's a Gen Y thing) went a long way in reassuring me we'll be just fine.
The dinner (a roundtable—literally—of the young Turks of the advisor business) featured Michael Kitces, Bill Winterberg, FPA Executive Director and CEO Lauren Schadle, FPA 2013 FPA President Michael Branham and past FPA NexGen President Sabrina Lowell. If we could somehow bottle the passion and enthusiasm of those at the table that night and use it to recruit, we'd have something.
What struck me most, and a big part of my relief, was that none originally set out to be the independent, fee-based advisors they are today. Rarely do young people set out in the same profession in which they end up—I was going to run ski areas until I realized I loved the sport and hated the business—but it's different when you end up in a career you didn't even know existed.
