Has “fiduciary” experienced the same career arc as the Kardashian clan? (See “Does 'Fiduciary' Matter Anymore?” FiduciaryNews.com, July 9, 2019).

Statistics suggest it has.

And that's also a good thing.

Only not for the reason you think.

“Fiduciary,” you see, occupies a different place in our lives than the Kardashians. “Fiduciary” has utility. In that sense, if we're going to liken it to a product, it'd be more like the personal computer or, more recently, the smart phone. When these gadgets first debuted, we couldn't read enough about them.

Yes, in those ancient days, we read about them. We didn't watch videos or listened to talks expounding on their uniqueness. Why? Because smartphones had yet to achieve the pervasiveness they have presently. That critical mass of users has made podcasts and YouTube the norms they are today.

Ironically, except self-help demonstrations pertaining to the latest (and sometimes not-so-latest) apps, these videos and podcasts rarely talk about smartphones. Oh, yeah, maybe a (very) brief flurry of shows pop up to coincide with a new release of a popular brand, but we're seeing less enthusiasm even for that.

And that's a good thing.

Smartphones (and personal computers) have become part of our lives. They aren't novelties. It'd be hard to even call them luxuries.

No, they're necessities.

Ever misplace your cell phone, even for only a day? Forget keeping up with your Facebook friends. The truth is, you can't do work. Cell phones have become necessities because they have made our jobs – and our lives – more efficient. These omnipresent communicators have unleashed a personal freedom unlike ever seen before in the history of mankind.

And that, too, is a good thing. It acts as a positive counterbalance to all that time-wasting caused by constantly monitoring your Facebook account. (Seriously, do cool people even do Facebook anymore? I'm not sure if the Kardashians are even using it as much as they once did.)

So, perhaps, it is with “fiduciary.” The concept of always selflessly acting in the best interest of someone else has long been considered an admirable trait. As soon as the marketplace understood how that attribute could be applied to their personal finances, there was no looking back.

There was an initial fascination phase. Everyone wanted to understand the idea of “fiduciary” and why it had been kept hidden from them for so long. This was a period when it seemed every other headline contained the word “fiduciary” in it, when talk shows couldn't stop talking about “fiduciary,” when even mainstream comedy shows like HBO's Last Week with John Oliver famously featured a segment on “fiduciary.”

Fascination eventually evolves into commonplace, and so, too, has it become for “fiduciary.”

And that, thankfully, is a very good thing.

READ MORE:

A 3-word fiduciary rule — Carosa

The 'Fiduciary Rule' versus the 'Rule of Fiduciary' — Carosa

Do you have the 'knows' to be a fiduciary? — Carosa