The quick annuity commission, and the AUM fees that keep paying for years, from one client on one month of spend.
This is the real average from a prospect's first call to the day they sign, not the number you'd hope for. If some sign in 60 days and others drag out to 180, your true number is in the middle, use that. It doesn't change what a client is worth. It only changes when the money shows up, which is why the annuity commission lands a few months out, not on day one.
You don't pocket the whole fee. Gross margin is what's left after the direct cost of serving that client, your advisors' and team's time on their account, the software and support tied to them, but before rent, marketing, and your own pay. At 75%, every $10,000 in fees leaves about $7,500 to cover everything else and turn into profit. We use the margin, not the full fee, because that's the part that's actually yours to keep.
That's a 60-year-old client kept at about 94% a year. Roughly 3% leave on their own, and age and the handoff of money to heirs add a few more points, so about 6% of clients lost a year, which comes out to ~16.7 years. It's on purpose shorter than how long a 60-year-old actually lives, and it assumes the money never passes to the next generation, so it doesn't oversell. Change the number above and the years update with it.