Why the sizable void?

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I thought originally of naming this blog “A Sizable Void.” (As you can tell from my posts so far… I spent quite a bit of time deliberating over many different names, almost 2 weeks actually:)

I almost went with that name because I thought it was a fitting description for the sizable gap between the amount of young people that need good financial planning advice and the amount that are actually receiving it.

There are tens of millions of Americans in their 30’s and 40’s that are working very hard for a living and I believe many aren’t even doing the basics when it comes to financially securing their futures. The basis for that statement is 100% anecdotal but I feel comfortable saying it… because I see what is happening with many of my own friends and people my own age (and older) that I come across.

Light conversation

Over the years I’ve had light conversation with many of them and from less than a 5 minute conversation I can confidently say that only a handful are making good planning decisions.

Some think that they know what they are doing, which is dangerous, others are paralyzed or scared because they are unsure where and how to get started… so they keep their money in their bank accounts, scared to death to risk anything… still others just don’t seem to care much.

Some have company sponsored 401k’s, some have self directed IRA’s, some even have Roth IRA’s. The point I’m trying to make is much of what I see is a mishmash, a patch job, a little here, a little there type thing… nothing is air tight… there are few road-maps being used on this journey.

Do you think if I asked you to drive from New York to Los Angeles without a road-map you could do it? God only knows where you’d end up. Well, think of NOW as New York and your future as Los Angeles.

I think its time to tidy up the ship… because truthfully its not that hard for someone 35-45 yrs old to take inventory of their situation, put a solid plan together and start investing in their future.

I handle many complex financial planning cases where we focus on gifting strategies, ILIT’s, CRT’s, buy sell agreements, etc. We are not talking about any of that. Maybe some day you will be lucky enough to have some of those problems:)

What we are talking about is addressing the NOW and spending some time putting a road-map together…

To be fair…

A big part of why there is such a sizable void is no fault of yours. No one in the planning community cares much about the GenX marketplace… from a business standpoint it makes little sense to focus on us. And for that reason no awareness is being created, no one’s lighting a fire under your ass, no one is pushing you and educating you on what you should be doing.

All you hear is how Social Security is going to run out in 50 years and how scary a predicament that is… maybe striking the fear of God in you is enough to motivate some people but for my money there are much much better ways.

I can’t remember the last time I saw a finance commercial on TV talking to our demographic about the mighty Roth IRA and why we need to start investing in our future today!

Be Realistic

No… what you see is commercials targeting the Baby-Boomers (the sweet-spot), commercials talking about stock trading starting at $5 a trade or (my personal favorite) the infomercials all over the place these days with testimonials from people saying things like, “I made 8K in my second month out trading options…”

Another contributing factor to the sizable void is you have people in my position that could help you and give you the necessary guidance you need but our attention is elsewhere (for the most part), dealing with the baby-boomers and those that have more complex planning issues.

The thinking is… it’s hard to justify spending the time giving you the personalized service I give them, when you don’t really need my help and you don’t really have much money.

And that’s understandable…they’re just like you and I, trying to put food on the table and make a better life for themselves and their families, striving to earn a better living. Financial planners, like everyone else, have to make smart decisions that they believe serve them best… so its only natural that they focus on the sweet-spot.

So does that mean you’re SOL? Come on now, you think I’d do that to you… what do you think the purpose of this blog site is for

Tags: Featured, Financial Planning Retirement and Now!