It is not difficult to think of topics to discuss with your personal financial planner as a younger person. Do I need life insurance? What are the best practices if I get married and need to merge household finances with my spouse? How do I deal with my student debt? Consumers should expect to pay between $70 and $200 per month to have an XYPN planner on retainer. During our discussion, Michael had a unique way of putting this recurring expense into perspective. “Have you made money mistakes in your life that amount to two percent or more of your annual income? For most people, the answer is yes. Therefore, paying between one to two percent of your annual income for a licensed CFP professional to rely upon to prevent you from making those mistakes going forward with the other 98 percent of your income is an excellent investment.”

Millennial Advisors Make Themselves Known

The good news for investors in the Gen Y and Gen X age brackets is that advisors of that age are very comfortable making themselves known on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others. They speak publicly with frequency, they write and blog, they are very social and readily share their marketing best practices with others. There are even conferences about financial topics not unlike Comic-Con; one is called Fincon, where younger advisors speak, exhibit and meet other financial gurus who are media savvy.

Not Your Father’s Financial Planner

Sophia Bera is the founder of Gen Y Planning focusing on millennials. Sophia is a CFP and understands what it’s like to be a twenty-something figuring out how to prioritize all of life’s financial decisions, from home buying to saving to paying off debt. As a virtual planner, she makes herself available at night and on the weekends to accommodate the busy lives of young professionals. She has appeared on TV, been interviewed, created a blog and written an eBook titled What You Should Have Learned About Money But Never Did.

She makes the point that she is relatable to her clients, making them feel like they are speaking with an old friend via email, phone or Skype. Sophia writes that she helps people use their money to create their ideal lives. She, like other advisors catering to a younger age bracket, charges a monthly retainer fee for planning services. A common point that has been made is that this younger generation pays many bills monthly, such as cable TV, rent, insurance, gym membership and others; a financial planner or coach cost is acceptable as a monthly expense as well. A frequent public speaker, Sophia has addressed advisor audiences, consumer audiences and employee audiences at firms like Google.

Addressing A Huge Disconnect

Workable Wealth LLC is a financial planning firm catering to those in their twenties to forties. Mary Beth Storjohann is a CFP who has been making financial advice approachable and fun to professional and entrepreneurial women, young couples and families, and military families, for the last 13 years. She makes the point that the Gen X and Gen Y market has not been served as well as it could be by the educational system nor the broader planning and financial sector. Mary Beth is part of a growing group of advisors that charge some manner of fee for planning services, normally a monthly retainer.

Mary Beth stands out, as she has been embraced by the media and has been interviewed by NBC, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Women’s Health and many other publications. As a military spouse, she has great affinity for those that serve and their families. As a young mother and entrepreneur, she has empathy for the financial and literal distractions that can make it difficult to master your financial life. 

From Google To Planner-Robo