Are we really going to make the case that people with these kinds of rapid life changes, so typical for those in their 20s and 30s (and even 40s), don't need and would not benefit from getting quality financial advice from a financial planner? Of course not! The reality is that people facing these kinds of transitions -- from marriage to divorce, from starting a family to starting a business, from working down student loans to getting a job, from losing a job to getting another -- can benefit from the outside guidance of a personal financial planner. Not everyone has the time, knowledge or inclination to just “learn it from the Internet and do it themselves.” Yet our industry says there are no opportunities to provide financial planning value when serving Gen X and Gen Y?
Of course, not every financial planner needs to work with young clients. Near retirees and retirees need financial advice too, and there’s nothing wrong with helping those clients. But being a retirement advisor who focuses on portfolios and distributions and doesn’t work with Gen X and Gen Y isn’t a basis for saying that no young people need a financial advisor. Young people need help with everything else in their lives that is financial but has nothing to do with saving for and spending in retirement! To say otherwise is like telling Gen X and Gen Y that they don’t need a doctor because they’re young and healthy right now, and that they shouldn’t bother with health insurance or check-ups until they’re older and more likely to have serious health issues to worry about. This is clearly not prudent advice.
Saying that the advice of financial planners who work with Gen X and Gen Y clients -- including the nearly 150 who have joined XY Planning Network in the past 18 months -- has no value for their clients is both offensive and insulting. It's offensive to those advisors because they are delivering value to their clients and insulting to their clients because they are happily paying for the value they see in having access to a planner who provides real financial planning advice.
Despite Ms. Juge’s personal opinions about how her retirement-centric services aren’t valuable to young people, the rapid growth of the XY Planning Network makes it clear that other financial planners are willing and ready to step up to the challenge and opportunity of delivering valuable advice on everything from student loans and credit card debt, to building good spending and budgeting habits, to how to grow income by asking for raises and engaging in side hustles and starting businesses, to making good decisions about college savings and life insurance and mortgages, and a wide range of other financial planning advice that has nothing to do with managing a portfolio for a percentage of AUM.
Rather than one-sided interviews with financial planners who acknowledge they don’t serve young clients, perhaps it’s time to interview financial planners who are serving young clients profitably while delivering value to them for lessons and guidance and advice on how to do it? It’s certainly better than insulting young advisors serving their peers because their services and expertise happen to be different and not revolve around just portfolios and retirement.
And in the meantime, as long as the traditional financial advisor industry does continue to mock and insult young planners who provide value to young clients, we’re happy to continue to provide a home and community in XY Planning Network for those who recognize the opportunity in delivering comprehensive financial planning services to those in Gen X and Gen Y who really want it, need it, and are more than willing to pay for real value.
Alan Moore and Michael Kitces are co-founders of the XY Planning Network and advocates for bringing real financial planning to Gen X and Gen Y consumers.