Allen McLellan, associate dean and assistant professor at the American College, said the dwindling retirement advisor population is definitely a cause for concern — one that will grow more and more evident with each passing year.

"It's not something that kind of explodes on the scene immediately," he said. "It's something that'll play out over the next decade or 15 years. The reality is that many of the advisors are also baby boomers themselves, so they're aging right along with the baby boomer cohorts."

And since the first baby boomers have started to turn 65 this year, retirement advisors are right there with them.

Recruitment issues

Along with aging advisors, there's also a noticeable lack of younger people entering the retirement advisor work force. Frank Woodruff, CEO of Sapient Financial Group, thinks the problem is two-fold.

"I think for most of the industry, it's a very heavy commission-based compensation," he said. "It takes several years for most people to make a good or above-average income, and it's just a small group of people who are entrepreneurial enough that they're willing to come in and struggle through the first three or four years. Because of that, it's a natural that people who have a bit more resources will come in and do it as a career change."

And generally, people with the proper resources are in the second careers, and have had time to save up.

Another way that Woodruff says people often become retirement advisors is by meeting with retirement advisors themselves, exploring their own retirements, and seeing how important a career as an advisor can be. For most people, that doesn't come until they're in their 30s, though, Woodruff said.

McLellan says something as simple as focusing on mentorship and recruiting in the right places could help grow the younger generation of retirement advisors.

"In recruiting, I think two sources are going to be more important for companies," McLellan said. "Military veterans, because they have really gone through some extensive training, maybe not in finance but in working as a team, and they're often looking for a new career path. And two, recruiting young people who have real life experience in retail or other sales, because they will have acquired skills that are easily transferable.

"So take that young person, you give them the skills, and make that commitment to them and pair them up with an older advisor."

McLellan adds that companies may also want to consider bringing retired advisors back in on a consulting basis to work with new advisors, making the transition easier on clients who may leave along with their retiring financial advisor.

Changing the future of retirement planning

Until the population of retirement advisors is built up, though, those currently in the field should expect their demand to increase drastically over the next several years.

Woodruff said his company is already seeing the effects of increased demand.

"It's easier for us to keep our schedules busy with interviews," he said. "I think we're much more valuable now and I think we're better accepted. Before, people were thinking they could do it themselves, but the DIYers have a pretty poor track record."

McLellan has seen the start of the upswing of demand, but he thinks it's just the beginning.

"I believe we'll see another golden age of financial planning where there will be far, far more prospects available then there are advisors," he said. "Advisors really need to prepare for that by having the knowledge and the training. I think you're already seeing the beginning of the that; the really good financial advisors right now have almost more clients than they can handle."

One thing's for certain, though: if more advisors don't enter the market to take place of the retirees, it will change the way retirement advising is done.

"I think the general population is going to have to hunt harder and it's going to be more difficult to find good advice, simply because of the sheer smaller number of people," Woodruff said. "Hopefully, the industry can build new financial distribution systems and resources where people can more easily access their information, basic planning skills, etc., and then find people who can coach them when the crucial decision making time comes."

But McLellan doesn't think the dwindling population of advisors is all bad. In fact, for someone just entering the profession, he thinks there is tremendous opportunity.

"Knowing what I know now, I would love to be a 25- or 30-year-old advisor in the situation that we're now seeing," he said. "I think it just cries for competent and trustworthy advisors who can help their clients navigate the minefield of estate planning retirement preparation, even insurance and long term care."