Living longer, planning better: advisory under the test of longevity

Living longer changes the meaning of saving. The capital accumulated over working years must support what may be a longer retirement, meet overlapping family needs and leave room for healthcare and care-related expenses that are hard to predict. It is on this ground that investment advice is being asked to prove its worth: in its ability to connect financial choices to people’s lives, making risks understandable and goals achievable. The seventeenth edition of the EFPA Italia Meeting, held on 21 and 22 October at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, placed this transformation at the centre of the debate under the title “Planning better, living longer. It all starts from a point”.

Longevity changes the questions families ask

Demographic change gives the issue a concrete dimension. According to Istat, as of 1 January 2026 there are around 14.8 million people aged 65 or over, a quarter of the Italian population, while those aged 85 or over exceed 2.5 million. Forecasts based on 2025 indicate that the share of over-65s could reach 34.5% by 2050. At the same time, households are likely to become smaller and the number of people living alone will rise: a combination that makes the organisation of care, as well as its financing, particularly important.

During the round table “Reading Italy”, with Giorgio De Rita, secretary general of Censis, Nicola Ardente, board member of EFPA Italia, and Giuseppe Milanese, president of Osa, attention focused precisely on the relationship between ageing, welfare and private resources. One of the most interesting insights concerns the gradual way in which autonomy can decline. Before full dependency sets in, difficulties may arise in getting around, managing the home or accessing services. These are less visible needs than a major health event, but they can steadily alter the household budget and require lasting organisational solutions.

This leads to a consequence for wealth planning: considering emergencies alone risks leaving a significant part of everyday life uncovered. More frequent domestic help, adapting a home, or a family member reducing working hours to provide care all affect available resources even without hospitalisation or a serious illness. In analysing a family, therefore, wealth must be viewed together with the support network, the housing situation and the actual availability of people who can step in. The same capital can offer very different levels of security depending on these conditions.

From accumulation to the ability to cover expenses

Longevity also requires a rethink of the way retirement is described. The moment work ends opens a phase in which assets must help cover spending, while remaining resilient over time. The Flossbach von Storch workshop examined this outlook by asking what return is needed to sustain a longer life. It is a question that becomes meaningful when linked to the desired standard of living and the resources already available, rather than treated as an abstract search for the best performance.

In planning terms, this brings the issue of decumulation into focus, that is, the progressive use of capital. The question is how much to withdraw, how often and from which resources, taking retirement income and foreseeable needs into account. The sequence of market ups and downs can also matter: being forced to sell investments during a downturn to cover current spending makes portfolio management more delicate. This is one reason why a strategy built during the accumulation years deserves to be reassessed when income and the balance between contributions and withdrawals change.

On the care side, Milanese stressed the importance of home services, prevention and active ageing. Long-term coverage can help provide a response, but its role must be assessed on the basis of the actual benefits: which conditions allow access to the benefit, which needs are covered and which remain the family’s responsibility. Capital, insurance coverage and access to local services each play different roles. Credible planning must connect them, avoiding the mistake of taking the purchase of a product for a complete solution to the problem.

The value of advice must become visible

The other major issue raised in Florence concerns the ability of professionals to explain what the client receives in return for the cost incurred. In his remarks, EFPA Europe president Emanuele Maria Carluccio linked the European evolution of investment regulation to the need to make the value of advice explicit, pointing to fee-based remuneration as a possible path for the profession. This position opens up a debate on the content of the service: what activities are performed, with what continuity and in response to which investor needs.

The Retail Investment Strategy reinforces attention to the relationship between product costs and benefits, transparency and conflicts of interest. However, it is important to distinguish this direction from any general and mandatory move to fees: the European agreement also includes tighter rules on commissions and distribution incentives. Likewise, July 2029, mentioned during the Meeting as the implementation horizon, must be read in light of the completion of the legislative process and the final provisions. The European Parliament factsheet consulted still places the plenary vote tentatively in November 2026.

The editorial and professional point remains current, however: making costs transparent is essential, but it is also necessary to describe precisely the work that justifies them. For a family, the value of advice may lie in identifying an overlooked future need, checking whether spending is sustainable or coordinating investments and protection. These are activities that must be recognisable in the relationship with the client and verifiable over time. The debate on remuneration therefore becomes more concrete, because it shifts from how payment is made to the quality and scope of the mandate.

More skills, with technology serving decisions

This is the context for the announcement of a year-long programme that will allow professionals already holding the EFA certification to also obtain the EFP certification. Expanding skills is particularly interesting if it makes it possible to read financial, family and pension needs together, including recognising cases in which other specialists need to be involved. The complexity of personal situations in fact requires coordination skills and clarity about the boundaries of one’s role, as well as knowledge of the tools.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s deep dive into Big Data analysis also fits within this transformation. In assessing its professional implications, the availability of more advanced analytical tools can make the comparison between scenarios and portfolios more sophisticated, but responsibility still rests with the adviser to understand the person’s priorities and explain the choices. A care need, financial support for children or the desire to keep one’s home must be translated into understandable financial terms: it is in this step that information becomes a service.

The most interesting legacy of the Meeting is therefore the relationship between the length of life and the function of wealth. A family may have substantial resources and still struggle to use them when needed; it may focus on passing assets on to heirs without properly assessing its own future needs. Longevity requires these questions to be faced early, while there is still time and freedom to choose. For advice, the test will be turning a longer life horizon into an economically sustainable plan in which return, protection and independence find a concrete balance.