Age is just a number, right? That’s what they say, at least, but young people who are early in their careers sometimes are looked down upon or seen as inexperienced simply because of their age. However, age doesn’t reflect competency, and sometimes it doesn’t necessarily reflect experience. There are many benefits to working with a young financial planner rather than an older one.
Motivation
Who do you think is more motivated, someone who is young and beginning their career or someone who is established, has been doing the same thing for 30 years, and is on the verge of retirement? The answer to that question seems like a no-brainer to me.
Many older financial planners were brought up in the product sales environment rather than the true financial planning environment. You know the drill – they continue going to the same networking events or finding clients at the same places they always have, sell them some sort of financial product, and never have much personal contact with them again. And the next thing you know, they have hundreds of clients and don’t know anything about most of them outside of their names.
By this time, they’re living very comfortably and don’t have to worry too much about providing more value to their clients because people hate change and continue to stick with “their guy”. However, the new age of financial planning is different. No longer is it solely focused on financial product sales, but is shifting more towards requiring financial professionals to actually provide financial planning services and advice.
Going forward, financial planners will be required to provide more value to their clients and maintain great relationships as their services become more and more commoditized. This may not always be the case, but an older financial planner may be ready to retire and continue coasting along rather than continuing to grow as the profession progresses. Younger planners are more motivated to continue learning and doing the best for their clients. They aren’t going to coast along because they have decades of their careers left that they need clients to stick with them.
Time Horizon
Would you rather work with someone who’s likely to stick with you throughout your career or someone who may not be working for much longer? A financial planning relationship requires a long-term mindset from all parties involved and working with someone who can guide you throughout your financial journey rather than only a few years can provide a huge benefit. Someone who has studied financial planning and loves practicing it as a profession will be there for you over the long haul and will be able to guide you throughout the many situations you’ll face throughout your lifetime.
Younger financial planners are likely to have the support of other older and more experienced planners who they can go to for advice and help. So, if you’re worried because they’re “green” or “inexperienced”, you should know that they do have access to experienced advisors who they can speak with and get help from. If you’re not sure whether they maintain these types of relationships or not, just ask.
Even younger planners who start solo firms typically maintain a solid network of diverse mentors. In fact, in my experience with those who I know in the industry, they’re probably better at because they don’t want to feel like they’re going at it alone despite owning their own firm. On the other hand, those who work within financial planning firms already have built in mentors who they can go utilize so they have less need to find outside professionals who they can go to for help.
Having these mentor relationships in place can help a young financial planner be successful in the early stages of their career and lead to a long, successful financial planning relationships.
Education
It can be argued that an older financial planner has more experience and knowledge than a younger planner, but younger planners have been highly educated on the profession more recently with the most up-to-date best practices and information. An older financial planner is probably less motivated to stay up-to-date with the most recent findings and best practices if they’re planning on retiring soon. How many 60-year-old financial planners do you think are actively educating themselves about things like crypto currency and new financial planning technologies? How many financial planners in their 20s-40s do you think are doing so?
More experienced planners have sat through the same continuing education sessions hundreds of times and can recite them word-for-word while shooting off emails the whole time. However, I believe that younger planners have more motivation to educate themselves and become experts on certain subjects. Additionally, they have more access to innovative and exciting professional education through the use of technology and being able to connect with peers through asking questions and reading discussions in professional forums and financial planning specific social media groups. It’s not the same old continuing education sessions that you sit through at the quarterly FPA meeting.
While there’s no denying that older financial planners have more experience and potentially more technical financial planning knowledge than young financial planners, there are great advantages to working with a younger professional. Not only will they be motivated to do their best and maintain a great relationship with you by providing you with great advice and recommendations based on the most up-to-date information and best practices, but they also have a time horizon that may be more aligned with yours that will allow you to have a successful long-term relationship.
