PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS


An Intergenerational Perspective on Working in Financial Planning

By Yonhee Choi Gordon

One of the great benefits of financial planning’s maturity is the growing generational diversity of our professionals. People of different ages often offer different strengths. For example, seasoned individuals are often hailed for their breadth and depth of knowledge gathered over the years. In contrast, young entrants into the workforce are often relied upon for their embrace of new ideas and their thirst to take on new challenges. Given the challenges faced by financial planning—including the need of each client for a tailored plan that best fits their needs for income, risk tolerance, and long-term generational planning—firms need a healthy mix of generational diversity and a shared drive among their staff in order to effectively serve and thrive.

To show the importance of generational diversity, I interviewed individuals who represent the different generations at our firm, JMG Financial Group. Even though a couple of the interviewees had internships during college, each started their career at our firm in entry-level positions.

In reflecting upon their responses, it seems to me that the differences in learning the skills to be successful in this career are a result of technological advances. Because the newer generation doesn’t have to grapple with the old-fashioned way of learning how to navigate a financial calculator to understand the numbers, its members are more eager to advance quickly. You could say that Gen Z and millennials have paved the way for the establishment of a new, streamlined career path. However, it’s also interesting to note that Gen Z realizes that one has to do more than just learn a financial planning platform to provide meaningful advice to clients—it’s a balance between using technology and using high emotional intelligence. This underscores that it’s crucial to identify and embrace differences within the workforce because, without this, it will be difficult to motivate employees.

At the same time, there is a common thread that binds the individual interviewees together: a belief that outstanding service cannot be achieved without encouragement from mentors, a desire to work with people, and a recognition that hard work cannot be fast-tracked.

Here are the interviewees, starting with the oldest:

I asked each of them the seven questions you’ll see below. However, to avoid overlap, I didn’t include every answer from every person.

How and Why Did You Pursue This Career?

Looking at their answers, I noticed that after almost four decades of the evolution of our profession, millennials and Gen Z generally are still not aware of the Fee-Only financial advisor career path as they start their college coursework. This is a problem that NAPFA should continue to address through outreach to high schools and colleges.

Michelle (Gen X): I didn’t have time to focus on an internship, and most of my interviews were in the insurance industry, but I didn’t like the sales aspect. When I met someone at JMG, I became interested in the planning side of things. He encouraged me to call him weekly to learn more, and I was eventually hired as an assistant. 

Brian (millennial): My father worked at a bank with clients, so I saw how it was possible to help people and work with money. I didn’t know about the RIA profession, but after joining the firm, I found mentors who kept me interested and showed me how my path could evolve over time.

Josh (millennial): Taxes became my favorite subject in school, so joining JMG was a great fit, given the emphasis on tax. Throughout the interview process, I was able to talk with eight different employees and get a true sense of the job. I liked working with people and was good with numbers, but I didn’t want to just work at a computer. Financial planning was a great combination of analytics and interpersonal communication. 

Chloe (Gen Z): I originally wanted to be an attorney, so I majored in finance to have the skill set to open my own law firm. After speaking with some friends who steered me toward an internship in financial planning, I attended a conference while interning and was impressed to see so many women in business. That was eye-opening and made me realize the opportunities that existed in the profession. 

Samantha (Gen Z): I was undecided in college and didn’t like finance, but a mentor suggested financial planning to me. At the same time, I started attending conferences as a student and joined women in business groups. I decided to pursue a position at the firm after seeing our chief operating officer [Yonhee Choi Gordon] speak at Schwab IMPACT.

What is the Most Critical Skill for Someone in This Profession?

We should really pay attention to the individuals who, starting in college, convey maturity and a high level of emotional intelligence.

Michelle (Gen X): Working with people is key, so you need to be able to read others, have effective interactions, and communicate well. These are skills learned over time (not at one moment in time), and I sharpened them while in my role as an assistant. 

Josh (millennial): You have to be adaptable and flexible in order to work with different personalities—both in the company and client spheres.

Chloe (Gen Z): Both the industry and the role of a financial advisor, in particular, require us to be sharp problem solvers. Taking ownership of wins and failures is key, and learning to build relationships in a hybrid era means putting in more effort to strengthen communicative skills.  

What Would You Want to Tell Your Younger Self?

Have you ever asked yourself this question? As effective leaders, we should all learn from our own mistakes and experiences and share them with the next generation.

Michelle (Gen X): My advice to myself as a young woman would be to embrace the fact that it is achievable to have a family while continuing to work. Seek out words of advice from those at the firm who are parents; you might also find advice, as I did, from clients. Own the room when you walk in and have a mindset that you are not automatically beneath anyone else. 

Brian (millennial): I would have pushed myself more in terms of education and studying harder—following the guidance I give now of helping others avoid mistakes so they can advance earlier. 

Josh (millennial): Don’t stress about whether things will work out after graduation, and don’t sacrifice your professional interests. I didn’t interview until after I got my degree, and while I had an offer in the insurance industry, I couldn’t stomach doing a job I didn’t believe in.  

What Do You Wish You Knew Before Joining This Profession?

The answers to this question reinforced my impression of how important it is to educate people about how great a fit this profession can be for women.

Michelle (Gen X): As a young advisor, I wish I knew to seek out more support and interactions with seasoned, more senior advisors. That would have helped me secure mentors earlier on in my career and check what I could have improved on in my role.  

Chloe (Gen Z): I wish I knew there were more women in the industry and that so many of them had such elevated stature and positions. 

Samantha (Gen Z): It would have been helpful to know that I didn’t have to be an advisor the second I graduated. I thought I was ready to work with clients on day one, but then I had a huge awakening during my first week. On the one hand, it was a huge wake-up call, but on the other hand, no one can really tell you that in advance; it has to be a self-recognizing experience. 

What Advice Would You Give to the Younger Generation?

There has to be a balance between learning how to use the amazing array of technology tools and being patient in gaining life experiences.

Michelle (Gen X): Make sure to spend time on learning how to speak to colleagues and clients. Young professionals today have less time to work on people skills, given the adoption of technology, but relying too much on web communication can adversely impact the development of human interaction and interpersonal skills.

Brian (millennial): There isn’t always a ton of value in sitting in on client meetings right off the bat, so don’t be upset if advisors take time bringing you in. Younger workers must have relevant experience—about two years’ worth, in my opinion—before sitting face-to-face with clients on their own. Think about it from the perspective of the client, as you would want to have confidence in who is managing the relationship. 

Josh (millennial): Be engaged and don’t have conversations purely through email. Talk through things in person, as that is the best way to discover learning opportunities and sharpen skills. Younger advisors can be put in front of clients at an earlier stage in this era, but that doesn’t mean training should be sacrificed. 

Chloe (Gen Z): Don’t rush; make sure you maintain a certain degree of focus on your personal life. When trying to solve problems, learn to talk less about the problem itself, and use that time and effort to think about how you can get to a resolution. 

What Have You Learned from Experienced Advisors, and How Has That Affected You?

As seasoned professionals, we need to remember how critical it is for us to mentor others. They crave this type of relationship but may have difficulty articulating this need.

Brian (millennial): Seeing one of my mentors make partner was a critical moment for me, especially because I had started to see my job as a bit repetitive and boring after about seven years. His success was a clear example of how I could improve myself and reach the next level of my career. 

Josh (millennial): One of the members of the executive committee invited me to attend a client meeting after I was in the role for just over two years. I was thrilled, and it helped solidify the fact that I wanted to be an advisor. Seeing how he worked opened my eyes to the fact that achieving work-life balance is possible. 

Samantha (Gen Z): It makes a difference when seasoned advisors and executives are engaged with everyone at the company. I saw early on that the chief operating officer was willing to have one-on-one conversations with all employees, and I was impressed by her prompt responses to our messages. Additionally, it was encouraging to see the CEO regularly eat in the lunchroom and talk with all staff.  

What is a Major Lesson Learned in Your Career?

It is interesting that there are common themes across the different generations: Be patient and work hard.

Michelle (Gen X): As an advisor, you need to be a jack-of-all-trades and have the ability to pivot at any moment for the client. 

Brian (millennial): You can push yourself harder. 

Josh (millennial): Even if you have found the dream job and love the career path, don’t rush it. 

Chloe (Gen Z): Competitiveness is an individual trait, not necessarily something that can be controlled by the firm. 

Samantha (Gen Z): You have to wield certain life experiences before becoming a client-facing advisor.

My Take on the Responses

Our profession has evolved immensely throughout the generations, and we have the benefit of relying on rich experiences from the ranks of our workforce. Some advisors have lived and managed through multiple bear markets, brutal global recessions, and geopolitical flare-ups. Some on the younger end of the spectrum have only experienced the shortest bear market in history, followed by an inflationary spike that hasn’t been seen for 40 years.

While those experiences might separate us, what binds us together is that our shared experiences support the overarching goal we strive for in effectively serving clients. Generational barriers are not strong enough to overshadow the shared desire for hard work and experiential development with client interactions. As the advisors’ responses indicate, shared experience includes how established professionals in the firm can help educate, train, and mentor newcomers.

Yonhee Choi Gordon joined JMG Financial Group in 1986. She is a principal, chief operating officer, and chief marketing officer at the firm.

image credit: istock.com/Portra