Financial professionals can choose to go beyond their prototypical roles and fill the gap. Of course, this is not just for the sake of establishing some moral high ground, and advisors shouldn’t suddenly feel obliged to start teaching night classes. But as businesspeople, advisors tend to seek the most obvious opportunities and therefore ignore massive segments of the population, particularly young people that need the most help facing difficult decisions. After all, we should hope they become our next generation of clients.
Young adults still need to make important choices like buying that first house—the perfect opportunity for a professional to take their hand. Accountants and financial advisors, for example, can work together to identify and answer financial questions early in the process. When that newly married couple buys their first home, various mortgage and tax escrow options are often available. Before closing, professionals can clearly explain the process and work together to run models to illustrate the annual cost of ownership as well as the income tax savings from never-before-taken itemized deductions.
Starting to provide situational financial education will separate advisors from a herd that doesn’t necessarily have the best reputation among younger audiences. Authentic education that supports real-time, specific client needs allows advisors to heal these self-inflicted reputational wounds. Most important, effective education breeds long-lasting trust and relationships. Most of us remember those great teachers who guided us through class and our early lives.
Professionals like advisors and accountants can work together to help young adults build and preserve wealth before they pass financial milestones or miss goals. Such a team can provide the most comprehensive education and financial planning that factor in the tax effects of growing wealth. Fortunately, the most righteous reasons for education can align with a professional’s capitalist agenda: to attract more clients willing to listen. And such an idea—to provide a service beyond the typical role—is likely one advisors never learned in school.
Zachary Conway is an associate at Conway Wealth Group, and Jo Anna M. Fellon is a principal at Friedman LLP.