Am I stuck? Rethinking career mobility at every stage

Over the years, I’ve had many conversations with advisors that begin with the same phrase: “If I were ten years younger…”

It’s typically followed by a reflection on a move the advisor wishes they had made years ago but won’t consider now. Many feel the window for change has closed and that retiring at their current firm is the best option, as it represents the path of least disruption.

There are two important lessons here worth unpacking, one for advisors earlier in their careers and another for those nearing retirement.

Up-and-comers: Don't pay the procrastination tax

First, for younger advisors: Don’t kick the can down the road on important career decisions. A strategic move is often easier when you have time and flexibility.

The right move can turbocharge your business, while staying the course, which may seem like the safer option, carries meaningful risks like these:

• Business growth slows or plateaus. Bureaucratic environments and limited access to high-end resources or marketing channels can constrain differentiation, suppress creativity, and ultimately hinder growth potential.
• Clients become frustrated. Operational inefficiencies, service breakdowns, and delays across the firm can negatively impact the client experience, sometimes resulting in lost relationships despite advisors’ best efforts to shield clients from these issues.
• Restricted by sunset agreements. Participation in sunset or succession programs can bind advisors to long-term commitments, reducing autonomy and creating contractual obligations that are difficult to exit.
• Missed opportunity to maximize enterprise value. Staying put may mean forgoing significant financial upside, including transition packages, enhanced long-term economics, and the ability to monetize the business at more favorable valuations.

Seasoned veterans: There are still options on the table

Secondly, for senior advisors, the dynamic is different but equally important. You are rarely as stuck as you think. If you are facing challenges that impact your ability to serve clients at the highest level and make you question whether your current firm represents the right legacy for your business, making a strategic move in the lead-up to retirement is still a viable option.

In today’s competitive recruiting environment, firms are more creative than ever before in addressing the needs of both senior advisors and the next generation on their teams. You do not have to compromise and retire from a firm that is no longer the right fit. There are solutions to many of the challenges advisors face:

• Deferred compensation creates heavy golden handcuffs. Deferred compensation reimbursement is now a component of most transition deals. Many firms reimburse a set percentage, with one notable outlier replacing 100%.
• Deal terms are now 9–10 years or longer, often exceeding a senior advisor’s desired time horizon. Firms are increasingly willing to customize deal structures and timelines. Whether it’s shortening the deal term, transitioning to part-time, or negotiating terms that allow entry into a retirement program after five years, there are viable paths forward, particularly when a team is in place to take over the business.
• Despite frustrations, the senior advisor lacks the energy or appetite for change, making a firm sunset the path of least resistance.  In these situations, the burden often falls to the team to conduct thorough due diligence and clearly demonstrate that a move would meaningfully benefit clients, the team, and the business, while also improving the retiring advisor’s economics relative to the in-place sunset option.
• Independence feels unrealistic for advisors approaching retirement, given the limited runway to scale and sell the business. If there is a strong next generation interested in independence, structuring a retirement buyout is achievable. Capital is available from specialized lenders, supported RIA platforms, and minority investors. A valuation based on current market multiples, combined with long-term capital gains tax treatment rather than ordinary income, can yield significantly greater realized value than a traditional firm retirement program.

The bottom line is this: Advisors are rarely without options, regardless of career stage. While thoughtful planning remains essential, opportunities often exist, even when the window feels narrow.

Wendy Leung is a senior consultant at Diamond Consultants, where she regularly counsels top advisors and teams transitioning between wirehouses and regional firms, as well as breakawayrs making the move to independence