Many financial professionals see the annual calendar change as a time to look for future opportunities. For forward-thinking financial planners in 2026, a renewed focus on client education could help unlock existing and new value across their practice. Multiple factors currently make client education more than just beneficial; it’s one of the more future-proof strategies a planner can deploy. Here’s exactly why.

Client Education Drives Empowerment and Trust

Financial education helps transform client relationships from transactional to collaborative. When clients understand the “why” behind their financial plan, they stop second-guessing every market fluctuation and start believing in the strategy behind it. Education builds a real connection with a client, and reduces emotional decision-making and biases, which can lead to costly mistakes like panic selling.

Client Expectations Are Evolving to Include Education

More clients expect financial empowerment as much as performance. That opportunity is ripe for planners to engage with clients and help them understand the “why” behind each decision, compounding client trust. Knowledge tends to soften client biases, stabilize reactions, and their confidence in your guidance grows. Helping clients learn about their financial life isn’t just a service layer; it can be the mechanism that transforms client relationships into durable partnerships.

High-net-worth Clients Are Especially Receptive

One recent study by the Financial Planning Association found that 84 percent of high-net-worth (HNW) respondents were very or somewhat interested in improving their financial skills.¹ These individuals also exhibit higher financial satisfaction, lower stress, and a stronger internal locus of control; traits linked to confidence in solving problems and achieving goals.

Younger Clients Must Learn or They Will Not Participate

Younger clients, especially investors, are increasingly expecting their planners to serve as educators and life-planning coaches, not just trade-execution desks. Research indicates younger investors value guidance that builds financial literacy and aligns with personal goals more than traditional sales-driven advice. They expect advisors to provide education as part of a personalized experience, not just portfolio management. Meanwhile, younger cohorts also tend to overestimate their financial acumen, signaling a knowledge gap that cries out for structured guidance.

Education Helps Clients Change Behaviors

This shift aligns squarely with broader market trends. Younger investors in particular want clarity, transparency, and a planner who can act as a guide through complexity. They are no longer satisfied with opaque charts or model portfolios; they want real explanations delivered in a way that respects their intelligence and gives them agency.

Research confirms this: clients who feel informed are more confident and engaged. A recent study found that financial education has a positive causal treatment effect on financial knowledge and financial behaviors.²

Knowledgeable Clients Can Foster Better Outcomes

Some planners are leaning into education and seeing measurable rewards. Practices that host workshops and learning sessions are more likely to see higher digital engagement and deeper marketing opportunities.

However, today’s most forward-thinking advisors aren’t lecturing. They’re translating. They’re educating in moments, not modules. Quick, painless, real-time insight is now a differentiator, and it’s becoming the cornerstone of the modern client experience.

How To Develop an Approach to Teaching Clients

Timing Matters: When to Educate

Client education can be woven into nearly every interaction, but timing and cadence are critical. Here are three strategic touchpoints:

• Onboarding: Use the initial planning phase to explain your process and philosophy. This sets expectations and builds trust early.
• Significant market change: During changes and periods of volatility, client education is a stabilizer. See it as an opportunity to explain, in context, the rationale behind your strategies to avoid emotional triggers.
• Life transitions: Major events, such as retirement, inheritance, and business or professional changes are typically prime opportunities for deeper financial literacy.

Real-time education should be quick and painless. Planners leveraging digital tools can provide on-the-spot explanations during meetings, turning complex concepts into digestible insights.

Practical Ways to Implement Education

The most effective way to introduce education is by embedding short learning moments into meetings. While using visual tools (think charts and calculators) is always ideal, offering personalized resources is what counts. Encourage questions, explain the “why” behind recommendations, and provide follow-up materials. Empower clients through interactive planning that turns complex concepts into actionable, understandable steps.

Here are three ways to make teaching a part of your practice:

• Leverage technology: The advantage goes to those planners using a client portal to engage with clients. Encourage clients to ask questions and perform tasks using the portal to enhance digital fluency.
• Personalize learning: Tailor content to client needs and learning styles and instantly uplevel each client experience. Use specific visuals, interactive tools, and plain language to simplify complex concepts.
• Curate content and resources: Sending content regularly is best, however, sending bite-sized videos, infographics, and calculators even once or twice annually can begin to engage existing and potential clients.

Financial Self-efficacy and Its Role in Money Management

Research reveals that individuals with strong self-regulation skills tend to exhibit higher financial self-efficacy, which in turn enables them to apply financial knowledge more effectively in real-world situations.³ In other words, confidence acts as a bridge between knowing what to do and doing it. This relationship suggests that the ability to regulate one’s behavior in everyday life can significantly influence how confident a person feels about handling financial decisions.

Make 2026 the Time to Teach

By the end of 2026, and certainly beyond that, successful planners will not just manage wealth—they will manage understanding. Some may even see themselves as educators first; planners second. And in doing so, they could unlock the ultimate strategic asset: client trust.

Learn more about building client trust in this blog, The Intersection of Trust, Collaboration, and Technology in Financial Planning.

¹ An Exploratory Study of the Wealthy’s Investment Beliefs, Preferences, and Behaviors, Matthew Sommer, Ph.D., CFA, CFP®, and Sonya Lutter, Ph.D., CFP®, March 2025

² Financial Education Affects Financial Knowledge and Downstream Behaviors, Tim Kaiser Annamaria Lusardi Lukas Menkhoff Carly J. Urban, April 2020

³ Financial Self-Efficacy: Mediating the Association Between Self-Regulation and Financial Management Behaviors, Palmer, Lance, November 2021

DISCLAIMER: The eMoney Advisor Blog is meant as an educational and informative resource for financial professionals and individuals alike. It is not meant to be, and should not be taken as financial, legal, tax or other professional advice. Those seeking professional advice may do so by consulting with a professional advisor. eMoney Advisor will not be liable for any actions you may take based on the content of this blog.

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