Most advisors have heard the classic succession advice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start early.
Hire a junior.
Train them for 5, 10, even 15 years.
Hand them the practice when you\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It sounds responsible. It sounds \u201cdisciplined.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the real world, this approach usually fails and worse, it often costs advisors the one thing they can\u2019t afford to lose in succession: control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you hired a junior advisor 10 years ago and they turned into a capable, bankable successor, that\u2019s fantastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But here\u2019s what most advisors already know from experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most people don\u2019t make it in this business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The success rate for independent advisors is under 10%. That means if your succession plan depends on grooming \u201cthe next you,\u201d you\u2019re betting your life\u2019s work on a single-digit probability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it gets worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even within that small percentage who stay in the industry, only a fraction become truly bankable, meaning they have the leadership ability, risk tolerance, capital access, and desire to buy a practice at fair value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what started as a \u201csafe\u201d plan becomes a long-term gamble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s what grooming a successor really does:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It locks you into one outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re no longer building for optionality. You\u2019re building around a person, and that person is outside your control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even if you\u2019re the best mentor, the best leader, the best teacher\u2026 you cannot guarantee how someone else will turn out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can\u2019t control ambition.
You can\u2019t control leadership maturity.
You can\u2019t control whether they stay in the industry.
You can\u2019t control whether they\u2019ll ever be ready to write the check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in many internal succession paths, advisors behave as if they can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s how retirement gets delayed, not because the practice isn\u2019t valuable, but because the plan wasn\u2019t actually a plan. It was a hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n