The Human Element: Why AI isn’t ready to manage your retirement
By When I was growing up, I remember my dad giving me a ton of advice. Really amazing one-liners. “Go ahead, make my day” was used many times during my teenage standoffs with my father. All those years of my youth, I never questioned how my dad always knew what to say in the tensest moments of life. Eventually, I realized he had hand-picked from his favorite movie quotes!
In that spirit, of remembering my dad, I’m going to reference the movie quote that inspired this blog post.
In today’s world, we have more information at our fingertips than ever before. When I meet with a new client family, I know they are often well-informed and capable of “doing their own research” when it comes to financial planning.
But just because we have access to all the data in the world, it doesn’t mean that we know how to build and execute a plan designed specifically for us. I’ve been told that artificial intelligence may one day eventually replace me as a financial advisor. But I also know from my interactions with ChatGPT that we’re nowhere near that point. For the majority of our client families, their retirement planning can’t be put on hold while they wait for AI to catch up.
When you ask ChatGPT what to look for in a financial advisor, you’ll get all kinds of results about fiduciary responsibility, credentials, transparency, and technology. But what it does not capture is the value of personalized advice. It overlooks the human factor of asking questions, listening intently, and building a plan tailored to an individual’s unique situation to help them prepare for the next stage of retirement while supporting them in staying accountable to that plan.
Financial plans are complex strategies, and there is rarely a one-size-fits-all approach that will work for most families. You can pull all kinds of numbers and plug them into an algorithm, but the human connection is still necessary. It takes a deep personal understanding of where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re headed. That’s something that our current client families say we do well at Family Financial Partners, and we’re proud of the relationships we’ve built with our client families.
Success begets success. AI might be adding chips for faster computing speeds, but we’re adding humans to our team in 2025. We want to have even more capability to provide the level of service you expect and bandwidth to help your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers who need the help of a financial advisor. If you’re happy with the work we do for you, don’t keep us a secret. Share our story with those loved ones.
And if you’ve been on the fence about whether to start working with a financial advisor, schedule just one initial planning meeting with us. It costs less than an AI subscription, and it could start you on your own path toward financial freedom.
Help me help you.
Article by David Smyth, Senior Partner and Wealth Advisor at Family Financial Partners — a financial services firm in Lexington, Kentucky.