Retirement Planners

Employment for personal financial advisors (including retirement planners) is expected to grow by 17 percent from 2023 through 2033, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Demand for financial planners is growing in part because people are living longer due to advances in the medical and health care fields. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in 2010 there were 35 million people in the United States who were age 65 or older. By 2030, nearly one in five U.S. residents is expected to be 65 or older; and by 2050, it's projected that there will be 82 million people over 65 years old. In addition, the number of people age 85 or older may more than quadruple by 2050 (increasing from approximately four million in 2000 to 19 million in 2050). Thus, the retirement planning field should grow as more and more people require these services.

Job opportunities for financial planners are also growing because the government's Social Security system is often not enough to meet the financial needs of seniors as they continue to live longer and more productively, and because decreased funding for corporate and government pension plans has prompted more people to seek the services of retirement planners. People are increasingly dependent on savings plans and investments to help maintain a comfortable standard of living through their retirement years. Many people have lost money, including their retirement savings, in recent economic crises. Some retirees were forced to return to some form of work to increase their earnings. As a result, the focus on sound retirement planning has intensified. Financial planners, especially those who specialize in retirement plans, will be in high demand for their advice and recommendations on the best way to build and manage retirement funds. Job opportunities for certified retirement planners, whether affiliated with a company or self-employed, will be plentiful.

The DOL says that the "availability of “robo-advisors,” computer programs that provide automated investment advice based on user inputs, may partially temper demand for personal financial advisors. However, the impact of this technology should be limited as consumers continue turning to human advisors for more complex and specialized investment advice over the projections decade."