December 1, 2017 • David Storch
Conventional wisdom has it that we millennials are entitled, lazy, shallow people. Everyone seems to want to tell us how different we are from the generations that came before us. Here’s a secret: We want the same things you do. We want a stable career, a family and a home. The differences appear when you look at the means we use to reach those goals. Think about it: We’re digital natives. We watched Ponzi schemes swindle billions of dollars. We watched our parents’ savings disappear during the Great Recession. As we grew up, we watched the country grow apart along political fault lines. We took on staggering levels of student debt. We’re wary of establishment figures. We don’t trust the markets, but you have to reach us. I’m a typical millennial. I grew up playing with LEGO bricks and watching Recess and Rugrats. I played basketball and soccer in high school. I attended the University of Miami to study finance and accounting. I was active within my fraternity and on campus. In fact, I ran for student body president. I organized events and raised money for charities focused on opioid abuse and cancer treatment, issues of personal significance to me and my family. On top of that, I attained my Series 7, Series 66 and life and health insurance licenses during my senior year. And this year, at age 23, I studied hard to earn the right to call myself a certified financial planner. Does that sound in any way like a “lazy” life? I have enjoyed my social life, but more importantly I worked hard and gave back to the community. I see firsthand how hard my peers work and how dedicated they are to succeed. As more of my friends have come to me for financial advice—asking whether they should save money or find out if they could still use their parents’ Netflix accounts—I realized our generation is still a blind spot to the financial services industry. Think about the typical financial advisor: 49 years old on average, dressed in a suit, and more comfortable with industry jargon than with plain English. This is a person who didn’t grow up with the internet, who didn’t have to contend with $37,000 of student debt on graduation, who spent most of his or her career managing money in bull markets. We don’t have the same perspective on money. Our experiences with the markets have been the exact opposite of yours. How are millennials expected to share the faith you have in the market? Again, you have to reach us. In the years to come, millennials are set to inherit some $30 trillion from their parents, but we’re not getting the attention we need from advisors. We can feel that disconnect, and if we don’t believe our parents’ advisors understand us, we’ll vote with our feet and find someone who does. We need you. Many of us are millionaires-to-be, and we need guidance to develop good spending and saving habits while minimizing our tax burden and contributing to our portfolios. Here’s the thing—we’re not stupid. One of the main differences between our generation and yours is that we grew up with a greater access to information. My parents didn’t have Wikipedia in their back pocket. They couldn’t do comparison shopping on the fly, but it’s something we’re used to. If you want to build respect with a millennial client, put away your one-size-fits-all models and listen to our priorities. You can’t push products to us like we’re every other consumer. You have to understand our lifestyles and the ways in which our values differ. For example, some of us have no use for a car, or don’t want to break the bank paying for insurance and registration, or maybe we just think calling a Lyft is easier. First « 1 2 » Next
We want a stable career, a family and a home. The differences appear when you look at the means we use to reach those goals. Think about it: We’re digital natives. We watched Ponzi schemes swindle billions of dollars. We watched our parents’ savings disappear during the Great Recession. As we grew up, we watched the country grow apart along political fault lines. We took on staggering levels of student debt.
We’re wary of establishment figures. We don’t trust the markets, but you have to reach us.
I’m a typical millennial. I grew up playing with LEGO bricks and watching Recess and Rugrats. I played basketball and soccer in high school. I attended the University of Miami to study finance and accounting. I was active within my fraternity and on campus. In fact, I ran for student body president. I organized events and raised money for charities focused on opioid abuse and cancer treatment, issues of personal significance to me and my family. On top of that, I attained my Series 7, Series 66 and life and health insurance licenses during my senior year. And this year, at age 23, I studied hard to earn the right to call myself a certified financial planner.
Does that sound in any way like a “lazy” life?
I have enjoyed my social life, but more importantly I worked hard and gave back to the community. I see firsthand how hard my peers work and how dedicated they are to succeed. As more of my friends have come to me for financial advice—asking whether they should save money or find out if they could still use their parents’ Netflix accounts—I realized our generation is still a blind spot to the financial services industry.
Think about the typical financial advisor: 49 years old on average, dressed in a suit, and more comfortable with industry jargon than with plain English. This is a person who didn’t grow up with the internet, who didn’t have to contend with $37,000 of student debt on graduation, who spent most of his or her career managing money in bull markets.
We don’t have the same perspective on money. Our experiences with the markets have been the exact opposite of yours. How are millennials expected to share the faith you have in the market? Again, you have to reach us. In the years to come, millennials are set to inherit some $30 trillion from their parents, but we’re not getting the attention we need from advisors. We can feel that disconnect, and if we don’t believe our parents’ advisors understand us, we’ll vote with our feet and find someone who does.
We need you. Many of us are millionaires-to-be, and we need guidance to develop good spending and saving habits while minimizing our tax burden and contributing to our portfolios. Here’s the thing—we’re not stupid. One of the main differences between our generation and yours is that we grew up with a greater access to information. My parents didn’t have Wikipedia in their back pocket. They couldn’t do comparison shopping on the fly, but it’s something we’re used to.
If you want to build respect with a millennial client, put away your one-size-fits-all models and listen to our priorities. You can’t push products to us like we’re every other consumer. You have to understand our lifestyles and the ways in which our values differ. For example, some of us have no use for a car, or don’t want to break the bank paying for insurance and registration, or maybe we just think calling a Lyft is easier.
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