Advisors: May the odds be ever in your favor
Posted On September 4, 2014
For every two retiring financial advisors, only one is joining the ranks. And despite the rise of e-trading and self-directed investing, that ratio is not for a lack of jobs. Young professionals with financial degrees are simply choosing other career paths. I’ve written about this hot topic multiple times, but am always interested in others’ perspectives.
Cyrhil Tuohy wrote an article that I thought brought an interesting twist to the conversation. In his piece for InsuranceNewsNet.com,Wanted: Financial Advisors For Generation X Tuohy brings together the dearth of younger advisors with burgeoning need from Generation X – the generation next in line to control the wealth (if Millennials don’t skip over them, as they are known to do). At present, Gen X doesn’t represent an entirely appealing clientele – they are horrible savers, skeptical of being “sold” and overly confident about their own ability to manage their finances. But they need help. As the article shares, “Gen Xers estimate they’ll need to save about a million to retire comfortably, yet the median retirement savings in household retirement accounts is only $70,000.” For a variety of reasons, Xers aren’t likely to look to Boomers for help. There are relatively few Gen Xers in the business, which leaves the Millennials to fill in the gap.
If Gen X is the next target audience and Millennials are the potential new advisors, firms need to figure out how to attract both AND how to get the two to work together.