A couple years ago, the CFB Board announced there were more CFP professionals over the age of 70 than there were under the age of 30, and that nearly 20 percent of financial planners were approaching retirement. Preparing the next generation to fill the empty shoes requires more than money lessons. They must also be mentored on how to develop relationships with clients in different generations and how to read between the lines.
Lauren Locker, the founder of Locker Financial Services in Little Falls, N.J., and an adjunct professor at William Paterson University, invites prospective financial planning students in her undergraduate-level financial fundamentals course to her office to teach them about soft skills.
“Soft skills is a huge barrier for them,” she said. It includes being able to actively listen, empathize and encourage. It also involves helping people who may not be adept at (or even familiar with) the technology the younger set has grown up with. Next-gen advisors can’t ignore older clients, she said, noting, “There aren’t a lot of 25- to 30-year olds with a million dollars to invest.”
According to Locker, young advisors must learn to guide clients so they’ll uncross their arms, open up about their goals and engage in meaningful conversations. They may have to help a 98-year-old client write checks, she said, even if they personally bank online.
(You can meet Locker and hear more of her suggestions during “The Inside Story on Next-Gen Advisors” session at FA’s Invest In Women conference.)
When students initially arrive for a meeting at Locker’s firm, she turns down the lights and lets them wander around until they find the room with chairs. This is to give them a sense of the confusion felt by clients with failing vision, hearing loss or cognitive decline.
She “infiltrated herself” into William Paterson’s program about seven years ago by saying she’d be happy to volunteer, talk to students, be a mentor and have them visit her practice. Universities are likely to be more receptive to advisors who present an idea rather than simply asking how they can help, she said. It’s like when one person says to call for help when “you break your leg,” she said, “and another shows up with a new pillow, a new ice bag and five videos.”
Locker plans to retire in 10 years and would like a female advisor to take over her practice. She has a recent William Paterson graduate who’s working for her (and who’ll take the CFP exam in July) listen in on client calls and meetings. Locker asks her to take notes and observe. They then discuss and debate the situations -- and hypothetical situations -- after the clients leave.
“Clients come in and their budget went down the drain because their son crashed the car -- that’s not in the textbook,” she said. “Or Grandma has to go to a nursing home and she won’t -- how do we deal with this?” Mastering patience is also important, she said, because sometimes it takes a client two to three years to agree to additional help or care.
Locker doesn’t feel the profession goes far enough at trying to meet the next generation half way. “They’re not kids,” she said. “They’re very entrepreneurial, they’re very smart and I think they’re open to a lot more than we give them credit for.”