Financial advisor shortage, Northwestern Mutual looks to fill gaps

BROOKFIELD, Wis. - We’re all on different financial paths in life, and sometimes it helps to have a guide. But it turns out, there aren’t as many out there as there used to be.

Career change

The backstory:

For years, Drew White felt at ease in front of a camera. 

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"Do you miss it? Do you miss broadcasting?" asked reporter Bret Lemoine.

"At times, yeah. But not at the end of the day," White said. "I was in sports, so it was a lot of nights, weekends and holidays."

White worked in La Crosse as a TV sports reporter before moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, to cover some of his favorite teams.

"Football and basketball were my two," White said.

When he decided to make a career change, he took a big swing in a field he had little experience in. For the last decade, White has been helping people manage their finances at Northwestern Mutual. His inspiration? Being a client first.

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"I saw the real value of the planning that we do," White said. "And my advisor, knowing my background and communication style, building relationships – those things are really important. He said, ‘Hey, I think you should do this.’"

But what is this? What does a financial planner do? White said most help you plan short and long-term financial goals. That includes retirement and estate plans and budgeting.

"The biggest thing we provide for others is clarity," White said. "The math and all the numbers are very important, but most people come in with just a lack of clarity. Where am I at? Where am I going?"

Dip in financial advisors

By the numbers:

Which brings us to a problem that’s currently plaguing the industry. There simply aren’t as many people like White in these jobs anymore. According to management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, the U.S. will see a shortage of up to 110,000 financial advisors by 2034. That’s a 37% dip compared to 2025 numbers.

"How did this happen?" Lemoine asked.

"That’s a great question," White said. "For a long time, the average age of a financial planner/advisor has been 50+. I think about it a lot like a sports team."

"If you’ve got a baseball team and a bunch of seniors that are playing – eventually, those seniors are going to graduate. What you need to be doing is backfilling the roster with the new recruits."

Adding to the issue, demand for personal, human financial advice over A.I. is growing at roughly the same rate as the number of advisors is shrinking. McKinsey & Company estimates 34% more Americans will need help with their money by 2034. The survey found a big reason for that, in part, is because of a "greater reliance on personal savings for retirement."

Addressing the problem

Why you should care:

In May, Northwestern Mutual hosted its inaugural "Investments Learning Day" at its Milwaukee headquarters.

The goal was to expose local students to a wide range of investment careers by having them talk directly with professionals. The company expects 40,000 investment-related jobs will open annually across the country. Getting kids excited about these jobs now will hopefully help fill some of those gaps.

"Having a 100,000 advisor shortage in the future just means less scale that can go out and serve the marketplace," White said. "That could potentially mean more taxes being paid, people not being able to retire when they want to."

White said his career shift has paid off not just personally – but for the clients he helps. A shift in the industry could bring more than just change.

"Ultimately, at the end of the day, we’re helping people get to where they want to go," White said.

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Bret Lemoine and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.

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