“Awareness or lack thereof was the number one barrier,” Boersen said. “They didn’t know about the degree or profession, but once we educated them about the fact that the career provides a good salary, offers work-life balance and flexibility, and serves others, we found they were interested and receptive to learning more.”
Boersen said the CFP Board also had plans to reach out to older adults who also may never have thought of becoming a financial advisor.
“I recently added a planner to my team after he spent three-plus decades in M&A work at a publicly traded company here in Grand Rapids,” he said. “The knowledge, experience, and different way of thinking that he brings to my team is invaluable.”
Boersen said that the key to changing public perception was to make young and old alike understand that financial planning is not just about investment management, but a shared partnership with the clients who came to them for professional help managing all aspects of their financial lives.
“This career has been incredibly fulfilling,” Boersen said. “Every day, I get to wake up and help people make better financial decisions. Sometimes these are happy moments, as people successfully retire or accomplish some other goal they worked hard to achieve. Other times, these are incredibly sad moments that we walk through with clients, like an unexpected death of a spouse. I think the most rewarding moment of my career was when a client who unexpectedly lost her husband told me, with tears in her eyes, that she had no idea how she would have made it through the death of her husband without us.”
Boersen said that the need has never been greater for trained and caring professionals to help as many people as possible.
“We know we will have a shortage of financial planners in the coming years, and we already have a dramatic shortage of diverse planners in the profession, so the CFP Board is ready to play our part to help close that gap,” he said.
Boersen has served on several nonprofit boards, including that of a private school. He currently serves on the board of directors and is treasurer for Christian Mission Aid, an NGO that provides healthcare, community development services and ministry training in Kenya and South Sudan.
Boersen began his career in financial planning by interning at an independent firm during his sophomore year at Grand Valley State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in finance. In 2011, he founded Straight Path Wealth Management from the home he and his wife had just purchased, converting the business to an RIA in 2013, the board said. In 2014, he started an accounting and tax practice, further expanding his business, which now includes a team of 11 financial services professionals.
Boersen joined CFP Board as a director in 2020 and currently serves as chair of the Finance and Investments Committee, as well as a member of the CEO Oversight and Compensation Committee.