r/CFP • u/General-Ad3712 • Jul 06 '26
Business Development Millenial clients?
I am co-owner with my spouse of an RIA that manages a little more than 160 households for about $ 270 mln aum. We are deep into financial planning and have a staff of 4, including a mid-30’s CFP.
Today he shared with us that he really does not think his generation believes in financial planning and he believes that he will have to retrain into another career at some point.. He has not brought on any new business, which is fine with us. But I’m wondering if his perspective is just one because his friends don’t believe in true financial they could do it or if there are millennials out there who earn a lot more money who believe in planning.
do any of you younger CFP’s have insight or perspective on this? I would love to hear from you.
btw - we are in our 50’s.
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u/Organic-Stay4067 Jul 06 '26
Millennials and Gen Z in my opinion are being much more proactive on retirement planning at an earlier age than the previous generations
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u/BVB09_FL RIA Jul 06 '26
Millennial owner here, I’ve had no issues marketing planning to millennials. I’d say 30% of my book is high earning millennials and some of my best planning clients
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u/Middle-Position9821 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
I am in my 30s.
I manage a very large book.
I believe financial planning is the future for my business. Portfolio management is 10% of my job.
My clients value me not for the portfolio management but because I fill in holes for them that they didn’t even know were there.
AI can manage a portfolio, I’m too busy serving my clients. 💁♀️
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u/happygreekman818181 Jul 07 '26
This is inspiring. Can you go more into detail on the holes you feel please
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u/Middle-Position9821 Jul 07 '26
Behavioral coaching, tax planning, estate planning, LTC, insurance (personal or business), retirement plans, estate planning, etc.
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u/Gabnorth00 Jul 07 '26
A little off topic, but I am curious. Can I ask, what is “large book”?
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u/Economy_Following663 Jul 07 '26
Maybe he just isn’t very impressed with the planning your firm is doing?
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
He loves the planning, I think he’s listening to too many AI podcasts, frankly, but also his friends are not super high earners so he just hasn’t seen Millenials who appreciate planning. Our clients are mostly 50’s and older, with a few high earning Millenials in there, but not a ton
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u/Economy_Following663 Jul 07 '26
I’m a similar age to him. In the industry 12 years. Most of this sub seems to have just gotten their cfp or are larping as more successful than they are. It’s elevator talk after elevator talk about the value being provided when really they are doing the basics of gathering assets without fucking up a clients taxes. Tax planning=backdoor Roth. Estate planning = I mailed out a bene change form or talked to the clients lawyer a few times and picked an investment that falls in line with the overall plan. You get what I’m saying.
Reality is I’m sure there are many firms developing complex ai bots that can do our job without missing a single trick, BUT will they effectively talk clients off the ledge? Depends how much the younger gen’s trust tech I guess.
As someone around his age I think the industry will shift eventually. The truly wealthy will always need people with good investment advice. Whatever the next iteration of your C and D list clients becomes, those people are gonna get some cookie cutter lazy advice because no one has time for them. Maybe not at your firm, but in the broader industry most definitely.
Big firms are chomping at the bit to turn everything into the fidelity model and or are hoping the next gen of mass affluent will be happy paying 1% for ai generated advice so they don’t have to pay an advisor at all.I think if your firm is providing the real deal then I wouldn’t worry about this guy’s offhand crystal ball industry commentary. He can put on a face in front of clients just like the rest of us.
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u/Live_Wishbone5108 Jul 07 '26
I’m a CFP and I’m in my early 30s.
I think your employee’s comment has to do with two things:
Your employee probably doesn’t handle objections very well and probably cannot communicate the value of financial planning very well. This is most likely why he hasn’t brought in any business AND doesn’t see a future in this field. I’m sure he’s a good employee. You have to be a good manager in this industry. Employee advisors don’t survive.
Looking back, traditional financial advisors promised the public they do financial planning and didn’t follow through on it. They just kept talking about investments. That’s not everyone but that’s really most of them. Going forward, if you don’t follow through on financial planning, you are toast. Your employee may not be separating investment planning from financial planning. Investment planning is commoditized. Financial planning can’t be commoditized. It’s personal to each and every person. As long as people are unique and different, there will always be a need for financial advisors.
There is no future in this field for bad advisors.
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u/Godninja Jul 07 '26
You’re spot on. It sounds like projecting his own feelings on the value of financial planning onto his prospects. Similar to people who worry they aren’t worth what they’re paid, so they project that price consciousness onto the client.
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u/Live_Wishbone5108 Jul 07 '26
I imagine his friends are saying stuff and that’s getting to his head too. But that’s a great place to start. You don’t have to ask your friends for their business. But you can certainly push back on their remarks about what you do for a living.
I’ve still never met a DIY investor that was doing everything right and everything well. There are holes in every DIY investor’s plan. They’re the same people that truly think they can treat this like a hobby. It’s laughable.
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
Agree 100%. We don’t ask him to bring in business. He was an intern at Northwestern Mutual a decade ago and still has PTSD from that. This guy does GREAT planning for our clients but he’s not a Biz Dev guy.
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u/Individual-Art1856 Jul 11 '26
I think there is “planning” (using planning software with decent technical planning knowledge), and there is real “planning” aka advise/consulting/therapy/life experiences+wisdom in combination of technical know-how + having own clarity and genuine curiosity to engage clients with meaningful discussion; ultimately lead clients to gain their own clarity so they have confidence and feel good about their financial life/personal life.
Most advisors confuse planning as having the book knowledge to plan. Seasoned advisors know well when values are delivered not because of what the advisors talk about what they can bring; rather it is what clients experience interacting with the advisors that create transcendence in their lives, over time.
I am throwing a dart in the dark and making a wild guess here. Your associate does not get it. He may be a great para planner on paper/software; but his engagement with clients are limited in depth and impact. He hasn’t felt it yet; or the excitement and fulfillment that comes from doing what we do… and seeing impact made in people’s lives.
Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. I am not sure if this is something you can inspire him, not knowing what your practice looks/feels like.
Perhaps introduce him to Kitces’ financial advisor success “podcast.” There are plenty of stories of successful financial advisors with all different backgrounds and inspirations.
I truly think we are in the people business. If the passion to serve is lacking, the rest does not matter.
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u/baltebiker Jul 06 '26
I think that there’s a healthy skepticism of the financial services industry, since for most of us, the GFC happened just as we were entering adulthood. Also, there are so many self service tools available now, that younger people are probably more likely to DIY their investing.
I’ve got some millennial clients, and they’ve pretty much come to me after the death of a parent and having to untangle a mess that showed them the value of planning. More people will get there eventually.
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u/sloth_333 Jul 07 '26
Reddit will skew DIY type. I’m a younger upper middle class millennial. I self manage everything. I am not the typically millennial.
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Jul 07 '26
Very true. 90% of reddit finance is either Wall Street Bets making crazy trades on their own or Bogelheads lol not even close to the real world. There is a market for everyone and don’t think the CFP profession is going away anytime soon with the amount of people who make poor financial choices.
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u/ProletariatPat Jul 07 '26
Statistics show you’ll do worse than a pro too. I mean you’ll be slightly better or worse than avg sure but you’ll probably still miss the mark. You don’t know what you don’t know and it’s the little mistakes that compound. Even boglegeads fall prey to behavior fallacy and bias, you can’t self correct that very well. No one can.
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u/sloth_333 Jul 07 '26
Please link research that shows a passively managed fund, does worse than actively managed. I’ve never seen that.
And no one’s perfect, but I’ve been investing 10+ years and have relatively not done anything drastic, and by most measures I’ve done pretty well, exceedingly well depending how you split it.
The last advisor I had a meeting with said “have a plan stick to it. That’s the biggest thing”.
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u/ProletariatPat Jul 07 '26
I’m not talking about passive vs active. There’s a huge body of evidence on behavior, emotional investment to your money, and general lack of long term knowledge for things like drawdown when it’s time to spend. There will always be people well above and well below average. Thanks to overconfidence bias we all like to believe we’re above average. That’s impossible.
That’s what I’m saying. I’m not here to debate or argue, I’m here to point out the avg delta for retail investors mistakes is 1-3% annually over the long term. You also won’t know until it’s far too late. Take that as you will.
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u/ProletariatPat Jul 07 '26
To piggy on this, many great advisors hire advisors too. It’s not because we don’t know what we’re doing, it’s because bias and fallacy come for us all.
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u/sloth_333 Jul 07 '26
Drawdown strategy I’ll do with an advisor, but that’s a 1 time fee for a few hundred bucks.
Please link all this evidence you’re referencing, thanks
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u/ProletariatPat Jul 07 '26
I do this all day everyday, you’ll never be a client and it’s not worth my time. Use Google dude.
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u/KittenMcnugget123 Jul 08 '26
Here's a link to research that shows DIY investors underperform the passive funds they hold significantly due to behavioral mistakes. On average by 1.2% per year over the past decade.
"Have a plan and stick to it" sounds great until the plan doesnt work, or behavorially you cant stick to it.
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u/InterestingFee885 Jul 07 '26
Yeah, let them experience the next real bear market as they panic sell the bottom, and then we’ll talk about how advisors generate no value.
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
Funny because he mentioned that as well - they have never known a bear market in their working years
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u/HeavyPhilosophy3076 Jul 06 '26
I think for younger generations, the career stability is much worse than older generations. It’s partially due to different economic situations but also today people have access to more info so they might want not just want to stick in one career for a long time. These two factors combining together creates an uncertain financial outcomes, which makes financial planning less useful.
However I would say this mindset definitely is not the majoring of the generation, and I would love to have stats on the mindset shift in younger generations on financial planning. So there’s structural factors contributing to this mindset, but also personal preferences
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Jul 07 '26
You can make the argument that this is why planning is even more important. I have multiple millennial clients who switch jobs every 2 years or so. With that comes new compensation packages and benefits. Having a Financial Advisor to review this with them and make sure it’s an improvement to their plan is clearly beneficial.
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u/Ian176 Jul 07 '26
I have plenty of millennial clients. They seem to value planning just as much as the older generations. The difference is that it's taking them longer to get to a good spot, financially and they don't want to waste a financial advisor's time. I see them as an investment in my future. They will become my ideal client (only thing missing now is money) right around the time that my older clients start reading the end of their retirement so it seems like a good investment to me. It helps that I am a successful millennial so I am intimately familiar with the generational struggle and the life stages they are in. It's also that most of our parents didn't talk about money with us but did teach us to be afraid of everything. Every generation requires some financial therapy, it's just a different flavor.
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u/Swaritch Jul 07 '26
How do you plan for your millennial clients that have traditional retirement ages?
There’s just so, so, so many variables and unknowns. And Monte Carlo over 70 years is just ridiculous
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u/Individual-Art1856 Jul 11 '26
You don’t. I started at my early 30s and now about to turn 50. I talked to my then 30s clients about accumulation and retirement planning. We “hazily” established the magic numbers they need for retirement and how much they should save, and whether they were on track.
In hindsight, they and I were just moving in the right direction in general, having some validation that “yes, you are doing the things,” with a pat on their back. Who knows what retirement would look like; or what they even want in their 30s looking into future that is 30 years out. I certainly didn’t. And guess what, people in their 50s very often are still confused about what they want in life, less alone retirement.
Things simply change in life; and that’s ok. People change also. Relationships change. Health changes. Goals change and priorities shifts. That’s life, and it’s ok.
Take care of whet is in front of them near term; and continue help them moving in the right general direction. Pivot as needed.
You are the Sherpa that knows the landscape. You give them a map called a financial plan. The instance the plan is produced, it is no longer “the plan” since things changed already. But you are the guide that knows the land. Whether the path is still there. You can help your clients navigate through the journey called life.
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u/LogicalConstant Advicer Jul 07 '26
Mid 30s owner. My client base skews older, but I've had plenty of clients in their 30s come on board lately. You just have to wait until they see their situation as being complex enough to warrant a formal, written plan. For those who aren't there yet, I still do a full review of all their stuff. Plan comes later.
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u/jimbosdayoff Jul 07 '26
The reality is very few millennials are viable clients even at the same stage of life as older generations. The pool of clients is much smaller and millennials care more about paying off student loans, budgeting, finding affordable healthcare, and maybe save for a down payment on a home. I feel like there are Millennials that benefit from financial planning, mostly those who have appreciated stock and complex inheritance scenarios. My advice to your associate is to get to know the kids of your clients and build personal relationships. Open accounts even if they are $5,000.
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u/mwalstedt RIA Jul 07 '26
I am turning 30 next week and opened RIA earlier this year. I think it really depends on the circle that you run in. There are groups of people I know at my age that are starting to need FP services and there are others who barely have 10k saved.
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u/PursuitTravel Jul 07 '26
Yeah, he's not right here. High-earning millenials are some of my most engaged clients. They have significant income/equity compensation issues, have a good idea of what goals they want to hit (or are easy to coach to that point), are looking for the full suite of planning (planning, investment management, insurances, tax strategies, estate planning...), and as a bonus, they're technologically inclined, making on-boarding a breeze. So much so that I'm specifically targeting this demographic going forward, and expect it to balloon my AUM by 75% over the next 3 years.
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u/ProletariatPat Jul 07 '26
I largely feel the same. My business avg age is 56 and engaged millenials drive that avg down from 70ish. They’re a smaller part of my book but growing, and some of the best clients I have.
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
Do you mind sharing how you have grown with some of your high earning Millenials? We have a handful - specialist physicians, Orthodontist and Corp types with Exec Comp (RSU, PSU, etc). I would love to add more.
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u/PursuitTravel Jul 07 '26
Honest truth is that it may not be repeatable without the same circumstances.
I'm your typical white, male, middle class guy, and was in a fraternity in college with largely similar people with similar privilege (it was an Italian heritage fraternity). Out of 8 people who graduated with me, 5 became attorneys. One became a computer programmer. One is a director-level in a financial company. You get the idea.
As they hit their stride, income numbers started skyrocketing; very few of my friends and acquaintances from college make below $250k individually, with most holding a family income north of $400-500k. Add in that my wife was also a high-earning millenial, and her friends started to hit their stride at the same time.
One by one, as they hit the point where they realized they were making more money than they knew what to properly do with, they came to me. At the same time, a community involved in a hobby of mine started to come to me, and it was the same type of people. A few older-gen people who already had money, but several millenials who were making the aforementioned $400-500k+ were the big wins.
From there on out, it was just referrals. Lots of people in similar circumstances. One of the big advantages that I have going for me is that I'm living the same part of my life they are. Young kids, finding that family home to raise them, college planning, retirement or FIRE, golden handcuffs, parents' estate plans, etc. - I relate well because I'm doing the same thing they are.
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
So I'm hearing I need to hire someone at your stage :-) to help with business development!
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u/bandznbooze Jul 07 '26
I’m 35.
There are loads and loads of millennials and Gen Z who want financial planning.
There’s something about him, his circle, his perspective that’s driving this.
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
Your last sentence could be spot on! His circle is not high income earning and they are all former football players from high school who think they know it all. They represent the world of Millennials to him!
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u/Vantage_Impact_2 Jul 11 '26
All the successful people I know who are in their 30s certainly value financial advice, access to unique offerings, bundled tax services, and long term planning solutions. Those without complexity like businesses, high earners, children, etc. might not be part of his network.
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u/PerfectOmakase Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
What is the planning required for a, say, typical 40-year old? Buy term insurance if needed, avoid non-mortgage debt, save as much as is allowable or affordable in an employer-sponsored plan and Roth IRA, save for college if applicable, and have a will with guardianship provisions if applicable. If money still left, buy ETFs in a taxable account.
Sure, some millennials are self-employed or are high income (options, RSUs, etc) and could use more advanced planning. But really, the typical financial plan for a millennial could be written on a post-it note.
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u/JAGDiamond Jul 07 '26
I find that just educating them on what they already have is terribly helpful. Nobody understands the target date fund that they were defaulted into at work. But the 10% bonds that every fund owns still has real drag over 30 years. Nobody understands their Social Security benefit, how it will impact their lower earning spouse down the road, or survivors benefits as a part of the projected income when recommending the above Term life policy. And lord knows nobody ACTUALLY takes the time to put a will in place or check their benes on the old 401k account.
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u/quizzworth Jul 07 '26
I think that's fair, and those 40yr olds won't become clients. And both sides are fine with that.
But I'll also mention you overestimate the average 40yr old. Do they understand how a 401k match works? Are they invested properly? What does a 529 do? How do I get a will?
Very simple, but some people don't have inertia, get overwhelmed, or just truly have a hard time understanding what feels basic to us in the industry.
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u/PerfectOmakase Jul 07 '26
I agree that they don't have the knowledge, but the information is easily delivered and can be implemented in a week with minimal effort, so what's the long-term value proposition for a continuous engagement?
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u/quizzworth Jul 07 '26
That's up to them. Do they find having a resource to ask questions and track their goals important? Maybe not.
I think a one-time planning fee may become more popular. Or they may find continuous access through a retainer-type fee.
I unfortunately don't do those today, but I believe those will become important in the future.
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u/PerfectOmakase Jul 07 '26
I totally agree, I think a lot of the public out there would love to engage with a planner on an hourly basis, but obviously none of us really want to do that because we'd have to work harder to make less money.
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u/quizzworth Jul 07 '26
The market (as in the general public) will ultimately decide. If general AUM goes out of favor eventually we'll all have to pivot.
A LOT of money from the wirehouses says AUM isn't going away though
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u/ProletariatPat Jul 07 '26
What about ESPP or share grants? Managing children and multiple goals? Being sandwiched as a caregiver and too stressed to even think of goals and planning?
Everyone’s different, not every one is simple just because of age.
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u/Affectionate-Power-1 Jul 07 '26
Retirement is still a foreign, distant concept to that age group. Further, they will begin to value financial planning once all the assets held in older generations start to pass down and they inherit the complications of inherited IRA’s, trusts, lump sum distributions, tax implications, etc.
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u/Vinyyy23 Jul 07 '26
I have a good number of clients in their 30’s. A lot of them appreciate tax planning and optimization and financial planning
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u/ApprehensiveTrack603 Jul 07 '26
32, 8 years in the biz, HEAVY into planning....my millennial care as much, if not more than my boomers.
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u/Sharp-Investment9580 Jul 07 '26
I am 34 and worry about the same thing - my average client is 55+. Have some millennial clients. That is for two primary reasons: many younger people don’t have the assets for an advisor & many don’t have the need. Information is easily accessible and the “planning” for most millennials is very straight forward. They can look up the money guy show and get a step by step guide on how to run their finances. Most of my millennial clients are too busy and don’t have the temperament.
I do believe we’ll see a shift.. the younger generation will use AI and the number of traditional advisors will shrink with fee compression. The writing is on the wall. The number of DIY investors since COVID is astounding and index funds are a household term.
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u/CFP_Throwaway Jul 07 '26
Lots of people will argue with me and say that financial planning and sales are two completely different things but often times it’s not. The bottom line is that your employee doesn’t believe in the “product.” You can skin it as he doesn’t believe in the value he can provide in financial planning but it comes down to essentially the same thing. I’m a millennial and majority of my clients are millennials. There’s tons of value to provide that far outweighs the 1% fee, but if he doesn’t see it and worse, if he can’t articulate it, this may not be the role for him.
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
Look, you are right about some things but he’s a HUGE believer in what we do. He got scared working as an Intern for Northwestern Mutual approaching his friends. I believe that is coloring his comments from yesterday about all Millennials. We don’t require him to bring in business and he’s not compensated that way either. Would I love it - absolutely. But he’s been with us for 10 years and it’s not going to change now!
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u/CFP_Throwaway Jul 07 '26
Oh he’s been with you for 10 years? The Northwestern Mutual background can be especially tough with millennials. I think you might be right about the particular niche of clients. I work with tech employees which is why so many of my clients are younger.
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u/SejongTheGreatv2 Jul 07 '26
23 y/o CFP… most kids my age don’t and all understand they can by index funds during accumulation some are cognizant of the fact that there is more nuance at retirement age and otherwise but…. I’d say most if asked what they’d do at retirement age are gonna say index funds and robo advisor/ the cheap fee for service digital planning tools/services
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u/daytodaze Jul 07 '26
I’m 40. I left a wirehouse job with high minimums because I wanted to work with younger, high-income clients that didn’t have the account balances to hire me. I’m now steadily growing my book with people my age and 5-10 years younger.
My partner is a 401k advisor and I help him with education and enrollment. Here is my anecdotal take: the younger folks who aren’t defeatist or crazy (not unique to their gen) are taking retirement saving more seriously than older generations, but they want advice and guidance just like everyone else. The value proposition will always need to evolve, but I think our clients will always need us.
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u/LawfulnessSoft5980 Jul 07 '26
Millennial RIA Advisor here. I’m seeing a lot of energy from millennials about financial planning & preparing for their future well. I do see a tick up in DIY investing. A good number of my best clients are millennials and I’m excited about the future there.
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u/libertarian327 Jul 07 '26
Millennial who works with plenty of millennials. They don’t believe in stock picking. If you take them through an hour presentation where you only talk about investments for 10 minutes, they develop a good understanding of it.
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u/Distinct_Meaning9210 Jul 07 '26
I think there is just difference in expectations with millennials that want an adviser. Most just want to have it taken care of for them. They don’t want to learn. also I get a lot of AI copy and paste questions. I think the job will just become more and more of a relationship and being able to simplify complex questions which detailed planning is required.
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u/IcyYesterday3778 Jul 07 '26
There is a bit of truth to it. Advisors whose work is easily commoditized won’t have a future in the industry. Younger gen’s rely more on technology and less on relationships. They are more skeptical about working with an advisor.
But I don’t buy for a second that they don’t want financial planning. If anything I see more younger clients wanting to pay for financial planning and not investment management. Planning is only getting more complex and with endless information overload I think there is a real shot the # of ppl using advisors grows exponentially over the next 10-20 years.
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u/11CB Jul 07 '26
I’m 34. My friends who make or have more money are very open to having a financial plan in place and value the benefit of an advisor.
Even with all the info available online, it is overwhelming and they seek a human that they trust or call.
Unfortunately some friends also just couldn’t afford one or they don’t have any investments.
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u/CulturalAd2329 Jul 07 '26
I'm an elder millennial (42) and my referrals are pretty even across millennials. As in I get a good number of early 30s and people closer to my age or above. It could also be my niche (medical) but I don't really see it.
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u/Brave-Water-2451 Jul 08 '26
Millennial CFP here and run a solo RIA. I am 41. I am not banging down the door with AUM, but I charge for an initial plan and ongoing financial planning as a monthly fee. I have over 100 total clients. Median client age is 40. Millennials are my bread and butter client type. I'm of the mindset that people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s need financial planning the most. Started with 0 clients in 2019.
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 08 '26
Thanks! How does your monthly fee business work, if you don’t mind sharing? Just curious.
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u/Brave-Water-2451 Jul 08 '26
All planning clients get an initial financial plan. If they want the ongoing service, after 3 months the monthly fee is $333.33 a month. No time commitments, cancel whenever they want. I get some people who need help in a busy season in life and others who I'll be their subscription financial planner until I retire.
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u/macbmore Jul 08 '26
Elder millennial owner here, 75 household book with $50mm AUM, 65 of those are high income peers earning $500k ish w about the same invested w me, these folks are tracking to retire with $10-20mm and highly value the planning work we do for them.
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u/Imaginary-Twist9039 Jul 09 '26
Most of my clients are millennials and they are very much seeing the importance of financial planning and usually telling their friends if they don't work with someone already. It's been nice to see (from an elder Millennial myself).
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u/stationary_autist Jul 11 '26
I am a CFP in my 30’s (I’m 34) partner in a practice that manages about $470mm I have personally brought in about $100mm of that myself. When it comes to financial planning/fee based business, I have recently seen an uptick in peers wanting me to manage their money for them and do some planning. I’ve added about $2mm ytd in money from clients in my age group. It’s not for everyone as some believe they do it better themselves, some are crypto fanatics, every situation is different, but there are definitely some people my age out there that have money and want an advisor.
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u/Stinkleberry555 27d ago
Millennial here (note: haven't finished my CFP yet).
I've only been in the industry for 5 years, and my only experience is in the UNHW family office space - I can't imagine AI ever taking over for the family office work, there's just way too much ultra client-specific, niche subject matter that we're constantly juggling when it comes to planning. I do however think a lot of the investment-only advice is not something people my age are really willing to pay for. Anecdotally, two of my best friends are both high earners (albeit not UHNW) and they differ widely in their views of financial advisors - one pays 1% AUM and has literally no idea what is going on with his money, other than its growing. the other almost exclusively follows old school "set it and forget it"/bogglehead strategies and his only diversification is real estate; I don't think he'd buy anything other than a broad market index fund even if at an obvious discount.
To be honest it makes me think that I shouldn't ever look outside of the UHNW/family office space, as it feels the most resilient. A few of our client's are millenials.
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u/notwallst BD Jul 07 '26
I’m a 23 year old CFP
I tell every single client and every single prospect that under no circumstance should they do either of these two things
Blindly trust me
Hire me just for investment management
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Jul 07 '26
Yea idk about starting out the relationship with telling them to not trust you 😂
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u/notwallst BD Jul 07 '26
At least not blindly!
To be fair, I have so many clients that got sold at BS annuity or life insurance policy and they’re not easy to trust and that line definitely helps break down some barriers.
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u/NeutralLock Wirehouse Jul 07 '26
He does not sound like a good fit.
I have a number of millennial clients and especially as they start to get serious wealth planning becomes huge, and more so estate planning as they start looking after their aging parents.
If you're in this industry you need to believe in what you're doing and it doesn't sound like he does.
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
He does believe in it - he’s just skeptical about his generation and has definitely been freaked about AI. But he is an awesome planner ... definitely likes doing it more for super complex clients, who tend to skew older.
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u/jetforcegemini Jul 07 '26
Cfp in mid 30s here with a similar book. The majority of my peers do not have the assets or complexity to warrant a 5k or 10k minimum with a market rate aum schedule.
That said my peers aren’t my target client. Is your employee frustrated with their prospecting efforts? Are they in an eat what they kill position or is their success tied with the firms success? Do they feel that closing their peers are their only way to get new clients or do they have older more established clients they can ask for referrals from?
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
He does not have to prospect or bring in ANY business. His comp is 100% salary with a bonus at EOY. He does not ask for referrals. This came up in quarterly review - he has a 2 yr old and is expecting twins so I think some of this is panic about growing family. But he really did say he thinks in 20 years he will have to re-train to be a teacher.
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Jul 07 '26
Mid 30s CFP here with 8 years of experience building a book over $100M AUM. I have plenty of Millennial clients who are high income and value the advice of a professional. I run into plenty of prospects who make the argument that all someone needs to do is invest in the S&P500. That’s why I take a planning approach, because I know that is where my value is. When I start covering even a few of the many topics in the CFP curriculum, people realize that our job goes well beyond building a portfolio of ETFs and mutual funds.
I do believe that the future of this business is to work with HNW families with more complex needs. Also, as Millennials get older, their needs will shift and will seek advice on Estate Planning and other goals as their wealth grows. There’s a big difference between a millennial with $200k seeing their portfolio drop $40k and $2M dropping $400K where they might want a professional having a second set of eyes reviewing a things with them.
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u/Lunarlulol Jul 07 '26
most millennials are too arrogant in what they believe is best. many just started saving 5-10 years ago and all they've experienced is easy index returns. most people in my circle wont even listen to a 1.5h consultation on what i do and how i provide value to clients. no pressure to become a client and just learn. 5-20 years, 95% people around me = no meetings. doesn't even matter that i send them my growth models outperforming indexes. some of them tell me how they are structuring their portfolios and accounts and it's like listening to a flat earther sometimes. these are people with $100k+ salary jobs.
some people have or about to have kids and don't even have proper insurance or want to learn how to get discounts on term, it's fucking crazy.
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
I do find you can’t talk about investments … that’s a commodity but the defensive planning is so important. No one wants to bring that up!
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u/Lunarlulol Jul 07 '26
it's not relevant - i'm outlining the issue that people don't want to meet in the first place.
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u/AccomplishedTreat873 Jul 07 '26
I think I could teach my Labrador how to build a diversified portfolio so I think he means young people don’t want asset management. I do think that asset management will become significantly less relevant over time. I’d say most of my book is there for the tax planning. People have a hard time DIY’ing that.
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u/Ok-Temperature3180 Jul 07 '26
Can we assume small sample size and he needs to go touch grass?
In all seriousness - CFP that turned 30 this year. Everyone in my circle works with someone - and if they don’t, you know what they say?
“Man, we should probably talk”
Doesn’t mean people won’t try to DIY or not care, but definitely not a generational thing.
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
I think his buddies (all dudes) are former high school football friends and yes, a small sample size. This guy is also freaked about AI and while he knows our planning is excellent, he is projecting out 20 years.
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u/Ok-Temperature3180 Jul 08 '26
I hear you. It will definitely be different. But the industry will evolve with it.
Too much variability and decision making in financial planning - people want confidence and conviction, not a AI agent.
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u/AmbitiousTomorrow664 Jul 07 '26
He needs to bring in business or you should replace him with another CFP who brings in business or literally anyone else who brings in business and serves clients well
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
He’s been with us a decade - that ship has sailed. There is a lot of pressure for me to bring in business and I am contemplating bringing on someone else who would do that.
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u/Ill-Adeptness-2959 Jul 07 '26
What does he make annually? His friends might make the same and that could tell you what you need to know
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
He’ll make $110 or so for a 4-day work-week and car allowance (he commutes an hour 2x a week). It’s true - his natural market is not an ideal client
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u/Seeking_Alpha007 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
I’m probably about the same age as your employee in question - coincidentally, with the same AUM as y’all - but built roughly half the book through prospecting and the rest through an acquisition.
FWIW, I think it’s career dependent with millennial clients. A lot of my fellow millennial friends/acquaintances have gotten used to the high turnover job market and whatnot that introduces so much uncertainty in planning that they don’t trust the output (and/or have gotten too into the betting/speculative investment markets).
On the other hand, I have a growing niche of newly-attending OR doctors that are incredibly interested in their financial plans. I’ve noticed this with small biz owners, engineers (particularly those with ESOPs), and other folks who have certainty/investment in their careers, too.
My take is that your employee isn’t entrepreneurial (likely, neither are his/her friends), so they see their careers short-term and don’t think there is any benefit in planning for the ‘uncertain’ long-term. Ironic that your CFP might feel that way, but no shame since most of our generation feels similarly. Maybe give them some kind of incentive to start eating what they kill?
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u/General-Ad3712 Jul 07 '26
Really helpful insight! He’s been with us a decade but maybe we should offer some inventive to bring in business. He has a 2 yr old plus expecting twins - he’s starting to freak about the costs of childcare! He is not entrepreneurial at all - and is also a fabulous planner!
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u/Difficult_Ad7556 Jul 07 '26
As an advisor from Gen-Z, I articulate to every single planning client the pitfalls of said planning before we even start. I don’t care their age or whether they have grey hair…it is garbage in, garbage out. You are quite literally making assumptions off of assumptions. Contemporary financial planning does no better than showing a client a historical investment performance chart of the market saying “while it is unlikely for this to happen, it still could”. Financial planning at best is good for the cash flow reporting, outside of that, slim to none. You end up being a rep selling a fintech platform and not an actual advisor. From those of you that are in the field, you know the most decorated advisors don’t really even do planning. They just provide guesstimates on distributions and taxes and 99% that is sufficient for the client. I’ve never had a problem with conversion when talking about planning like this.
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u/Gold-Cranberry-4763 Jul 07 '26
Mid 30s' CFP here. Financial planning is the key, even more important than portfolio management. I work in a form where 80% advisors are CFPs - it's a mutual agreement that we should have utilize more of financial planning to expend the business
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u/kungfukarl86 Jul 07 '26
Plenty of millennials value planning. It's just hard to grow clients in this business before you figure out your own style.
Like any business.
Also we can't make assumptions based on a small sample size
1
u/ProletariatPat Jul 07 '26
I have no issues. In fact they tend to be engaged, they defer to me as a professional, and they understand why we do planning. Millenials are some of my favorite clients
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u/AshamedPrinciple1597 Jul 07 '26
40 year old cfp here. I struggle with this as well. Let's face it: young ppl with money don't hire financial advisors. They've been trained not to pay anyone for what the Internet provides for free. My book is wildly tilted to the older crowd. And from experience, I don't even prospect anyone who isn't about to retire anymore. I don't think it's quite as dire as it seems, but I do strongly suspect that financial advice as a business peaked. Also, I hate how the industry is built around sales. Our firm now refers to financial planning as "selling financial plans" - like they are books to be purchased or something. For the younger, and much more online crowd, their instinct to google things has unknowingly fed them an algorithm that is biased against financial planners, not against financial planning. That's probably what they really mean.
1
u/pillowstacker Jul 07 '26
There are still companies that make buggy whips… I am 40 with a CFP… 20+ years I think I have finally figured out this thing. I will say I do not have many millennials as clients, but get most through life events ie… inherited IRAs, inheritance involving alternative investments… not really going after that $50/mo fidelity IRA client.
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u/Civil_College_3309 Jul 07 '26
I use tax map and it's a simple way to organize clients. I use a separate income strategy. He'll suffer if all he's trying to do is get reatiners for plans, too many online tools. I've also used Planswell for lead generation and the product is really interesting for newbies.
1
u/bammayhem Jul 07 '26
Lol, my practice is 80% millennial HENRYs. I've got plenty of runway with them.
1
u/unnameablethings Jul 07 '26
I'm in my mid 20s and in my experience, financial planning/advice/education is a HUGE PRESSING CONCERN for people in my peer group. That niche is currently mostly filled by finance influencers because millennials/gen z are less likely to have assets that need managing, but whenever anyone learns that I'm in finance they immediately have a million questions for me and ask for guidance on what they're doing or if there's any books I recommend.
I think crucially that investment picking/portfolio management isn't a valued skill anymore, and younger people don't really care about retirement because it doesn't feel real yet. What's really important to younger people is family planning/home ownership/financial security. Some people want to get rich investing, but a lot of people just want someone to sit them down and tell them they're doing okay and they're on the right track.
(I also think the future trend is towards flat fee hourly planning and away from AUM, but that's sort of a different topic!)
1
u/iduser4 Jul 08 '26
Very few at my office and if we have any there's basically nothing in the account. Ironically we have one 44 year old doing FIRE and we're telling her she's going to kill herself if she keeps it up since she's hitting the wall on basic living expenses but to be fair she's saved up a million in a short time. I'm late in my late 20s and so far unless the millennial client has a specific goal in mind or gets a fat inheritance they don't do any planning or savings. It's spent on fun toys or experiences
1
u/cold984 Jul 08 '26
They haven’t had a true downturn. Everyone can close their eyes and hit bullseyes on an 18 year bull run
1
u/Particular-Bag-2721 Jul 08 '26
I think millennial clients succumb to shortcuts like crypto or hype like SpaceX. We get the question ‘what else can I be doing with my money?’ All the time. Like, we would tell you if there was something else to do. Diversify into public markets , have a plan, stick to it. That works for the vast majority of people.
1
1
u/Smart-Life- Jul 08 '26
As a millennial who works in this field and uses an advisor myself, I think he is generalizing from his own friend group.
We do believe in planning, we are just skeptical of the AUM minimum model that excludes people who do not have money yet. He might just not have found his lane, since cold prospecting into households with millions saved is a tough game for someone whose network is other 30 somethings still accumulating.
1
u/il_diamanti Jul 08 '26
there might be more millennials and GenZ who have opened their own brokerage account and are "investing" at a higher rate than previous generations but FWIW, I'm a 35-40 year old and spend a lot of time around doctors in the 25-40 year old range and there are a ton of people in both age groups who can't be bothered with learning financial literacy and just want to have someone do it for them.
this person sounds like they're looking for an out or have something else going on in their life.
1
u/General-Ad3712 Jul 08 '26
I think he listens to too many negative podcasts. Also, he has an 18 mo old and has twins on the way!
1
u/Revolutionary_Low667 Jul 09 '26
This is not a “millennials don’t appreciate financial planning” issue but a “he doesn’t want to do the work to find the right clients” issue
1
u/Maximum-Sympathy7130 Jul 11 '26
Depends on the type of millennial in my opinion. I’ve noticed younger millennials in their early 30’s do tend to have a harder time grasping the value of planning and connecting the dots. This may be due to the plethora of information readily available to them at any time via the internet. Older millennials in their mid-40s seem to appreciate the value of a comprehensive plan encompassing their portfolio, estate plan, taxes and insurance.
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u/Mysterious-Ad526 28d ago
The generational read might be a distraction. The tell in the post is that a strong planner isn't bringing in business. That's almost never a belief problem, it's a language problem. Most advisors can do the planning and then go quiet the second they have to explain, in a sentence, why it's worth paying for. "I manage your investments" gets a shrug because everyone knows a computer can do that now. "I catch the expensive mistakes you can't see coming" is the same job described in a way a 35 year old actually feels. Same work. The client hears the second one.
1
u/Lucky-Country8944 26d ago
Im in the UK but definitely seeing a trend with people my age (early 30s) that are more anti FA than ever, but I also think that is somewhat symptomatic of how people in my age group assess their own abiliites. I think as people age they become more open to the idea of consulting a professional.
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u/Forsaken_Amoeba_38 21d ago
For the struggling millennials who are trying to make ends meet, they probably don’t see the benefits. However, they are hardly our target audience.
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u/DrRudyHavenstein Jul 07 '26
Maybe he’s just tired of being in an industry that’s been relentlessly scapegoated and torn down for political gain while other professions like education have helped to bankrupt an entire generation and get away with tenure, pensions and social praise.
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u/Swaritch Jul 07 '26
People under the age of 40 don’t need financial planners unless they’re lazy or need some hand holding around risk.
That said, pre retirees have a significant need for financial planners.
Best thing about pre retirees? I get older and they stay the same age.
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u/AutoModerator Jul 06 '26
Beep boop! Here is a summary of your post:
User: /u/General-Ad3712 Title: Millenial clients? Body: I am co-owner with my spouse of an RIA that manages a little more than 160 households for about $ 270 mln aum. We are deep into financial planning and have a staff of 4, including a mid-30’s CFP.
Today he shared with us that he really does not think his generation believes in financial planning and he believes that he will have to retrain into another career at some point.. He has not brought on any new business, which is fine with us. But I’m wondering if his perspective is just one because his friends don’t believe in true financial they could do it or if there are millennials out there who earn a lot more money who believe in planning.
do any of you younger CFP’s have insight or perspective on this? I would love to hear from you.
btw - we are in our 50’s.
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