Published by Mark Petersen, Vice President of Affluent Wealth Planning
The Millennial generation (“Millennials”) is changing the world. In my world, that means Financial Planning will evolve and Planners will adapt to meet people’s changing needs. One must then ask, “How will financial planning adapt to serve the Millennial generation?”Millennials were born into a world of Twitter (140-character limit), instant messaging, continuous connectivity, emojis, abbreviations and blogs. All the above items relate to the way Millenials communicate and, by extension, the way they think. In my experience, Millennials tend to focus on one topic, achieve resolution and move on to the next. It is not that Millennials do not want an entire financial plan, they simply want the pieces at the appropriate time. This is the antithesis of traditional financial planning which incorporates all financial aspects into one Holistic plan by integrating the disciplines into a cohesive and synergistic roadmap which encompasses:
o Financial Reporting
o Education Planning
o Tax Planning
o Risk Management
o Retirement Planning
o Estate Planning
o Investment Management
Several years ago Carson Wealth observed that the future of financial planning will evolve into transactional based planning. A specific event will trigger the desire for planning which is oriented to a specific goal at an opportune time. These goals may include:
o Starting a business
o Saving for a down payment to purchase a first home
o Setting up a tax efficient college saving plan
o Succession planning for an existing business
o Evaluating cash-flow before leaving the workforce
o Providing for next generation inheritance
Many of these activities take years, if not decades, to plan for effectively. In 2015, Carson Wealth developed the ‘Focused Plan’ which is narrow in scope and addresses limited but meaningful topics. Focused Plans are tailor made for the way Millennials want to receive a Financial Plan and it works for their parents, too.
o Determination of your ‘Family Index Number’, the annual rate of return necessary to accomplish your goals and not outlive your assets
o Risk Management Analysis
o Personalize cash-flow consisting of Education planning or Social Security planning or Retirement planning
The one piece of advice I would give to anyone regarding finance would be to: “Develop and implement a written financial plan which is flexible to handle your changing circumstances and incorporates a means to monitor, adapt and measure progressive accountability.”
We have a saying in the Carson Wealth office, “What gets written, gets done!” Whether you are a Baby Boomer, Generation X or a Millennial, get started today on your written Financial Plan, by contacting your Carson Wealth Advisor or a member of the Wealth Enhancement Group.
