[Travis] The US is becoming more diverse ethnically, socially, and financially. Our guest today is gonna talk with us about how these changes in demographics require a new approach to how you provide financial services. Welcome to "Rebuilding Retirement: Navigating a New Reality with Your Clients," a podcast series from Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. I'm Travis Walker. I talk to thought leaders and innovators for a closer look at how retirements and the financial industry are evolving, new approaches to risk management, and how you can help your clients prepare for the future they want. Today, we're talking about the next generation of clients, who they are, and how we can help them. An Allianz study found that millennials, more than previous generations, say it's important for their advisor to be empathetic towards their financial struggles and meet them where they're at. Joining us for this conversation, we have Lacy Garcia, the founder and CEO of Willow. Willow is a wealth-tech platform that helps financial professionals and firms better serve tomorrow's investors. We're gonna talk to Lacy about her journey to financial services, the changing demographics of investors, and how financial professionals can prepare for the next generation of clients. Lacy, thanks for joining us. We talk about people's lived experiences shaping their money mindsets, but I wanna pause there really quickly and, if you can, just define money mindsets. I don't wanna assume that everyone has the same definition of that.
[Lacy] Well, that's an excellent question, Travis. You know, there are multiple ways to define money mindsets, and I think, probably, the most commonly kind of understood or accepted out there, and I was double-checking this on Investopedia earlier, is that there are five really commonly thought of or known money mindsets: one being an investor, a saver, a big spender, a debtor, and a shopper. And there are also other ones. You've probably ... people have heard of protector or kind of entrepreneur. There's lots of different understandings of what a money mindset is. I think one of the things, though, that's really key is that very few people are just one type of money mindset or money personality, just as, as individuals, we tend to be an accumulation of the intersectionality between all of our different personality types or all the things that make us up, and that is the same that goes into our money mindset and why money can be so emotional and complicated.
[Travis] Absolutely, and I mean, they toss out terms like, you know, behavioral finance, and I don't want to say toss 'em out as though that's not legitimate, but you know, that absolutely is a thing. And so when thinking about how people's lived experiences shapes that mindset, if you don't mind my asking, how would you describe your money mindset?
[Lacy] Yes, so, I think, above all else, money, to me, is seen as a means to provide for my family and my kind of life and to be able to support and care for and really to empower the people and the causes that I care about and that I want to help to enrich and to help them to grow and to help them to succeed. I was very kind of fortunate growing up. I am the daughter of a Cuban refugee, so that certainly played a pivotal role in shaping my money mindset, where I was ... you know, I was very fortunate, and I was provided with a lot of opportunity, but there was also a keen awareness that things could change any moment and, all of a sudden, we could be without. So we had to be really, really smart about money. We had to be very thoughtful in terms of saving in terms of making sure that we weren't wasting money, so that I was lucky to have been kind of instilled, I think, with a balance early on, being given opportunity but also really understanding the value of a dollar and how important it is to be able to not only earn those dollars but to protect them and to make sure that they'll be there to take care of you and your loved ones in the future.
[Travis] No, absolutely, so I'd say then, "How did that shape your career?" right? So if that's how you view money, that's what it's important ... you know, that's how it shows up in your life. How does that dictate kinda your career path? Your career choices?
[Lacy] Yeah, it's such a great question. So, you know, early on in my career, I first went into education, and that was because my real passion was to help people and to create opportunities and sort of increase access. At that moment, I had been ... as a student, I was a really great student, but I wasn't ... I felt like I wasn't good at math, so I didn't even see financial-
[Travis] You too?
[Lacy] Exactly, exactly, like, I didn't even see financial services as an option, right? So I went into education because I knew firsthand the value that an education could provide and how it can really transform lives, through my father's journey and through firsthand experience. And I will say I did not ... I did not pivot into financial services until later in my career, where I actually realized how important a role money plays in that empowerment, in that ability to help people to achieve the things that they need and to be able to really kind of provide and care for and to create opportunities for people, so. So it was that, more of a, I'd say, heartfelt connection and understanding not just the numbers, but really the emotions and the importance around the value that money and that wealth can provide, which brought me into really wanting to be in this field.
[Travis] Yeah, I mean, you hear that a lot where people kinda stumbled into the industry or found it when they were looking for something else. It sounds like maybe you were a little bit more intentional about that and how, again, your money mindset played a role in that in kinda seeking it out. Is that ... would that accurately describe your foray into the financial services industry? Or are you, like a lot of us, where, you know, you found yourself in a room and said, "Oh my gosh, I'm in the financial services industry. How did this happen?"
[Lacy] Oh, I'm so glad I sounded intentional about it, but it was totally not . No, I definitely found myself in this industry and initially wondered how I'd ended up here and whether or not I really belonged, you know, because I was ... I honestly questioned a lotta things about how things were done within the industry, so yes, so no, I ... Although my money mindset certainly has been something I've been able to harness and has actually fueled sort of my ability to grow in this industry, it wasn't as intentional as it might sound in hindsight.
[Travis] Gotcha. No, that all makes sense. Yeah, in thinking about money mindset and, early on, you describing kind of your roots and your beginning, I remember being a young boy, and my dad was paying for airline tickets, and he literally had a few $100 bills spread out over the table, and I walked in. I was like, "Wow, look at all that money," and he scooped it up and said, "Get outta here," ya know? And it just set the tone for me, like, "Ya don't talk about money. It's personal. It's private." It's funny 'cause different people have different experiences with it, and I know in one of, you know, your presentations, the content you created, one of the questions you do have is ... you urge an advisor to ask a client, "How do you feel about money?" And so as we move forward throughout this interview, I just ... I was thinking about that. It's such an important question, and when I raise it, I don't know that a lotta people necessarily think about that or have pondered it themselves: "How do I feel about money?" And so thank you for clearly defining money mindset and then, you know, kinda sharing your path to that initially. You and I have something in common. You, like me, had a divorce, and we know how difficult that can be. What made it so difficult? And then how could the financial service industry have served you a little better in that moment?
[Lacy] You know, I very much ... when I got married initially and began my family, like many, many women out there, I did not expect that I would be fully responsible for my financial life, for my family's financial life, for sort of our future. I, in many ways, kind of thought I was abdicating a little bit of control of that, so I can understand and empathize with so many women and not just women. Sometimes, it's the male partner, and obviously, in same-sex couples, one partner will maybe kind of step back from that. And one of the reasons was the process leading to which I became divorced and also became the sole provider, and then going through that divorce was a really rude awakening for me and a lot of ketchup, you know? And I always say, despite a great education, multiple advanced degrees, you know, I ... and I knew better, but I didn't actually have all the answers. And I needed them, right? You know, I needed them.
[Travis] Right.
[Lacy] And I think that this is something that a lot of women find and not just women, but you know, women perhaps are more vocal and open about it. And certainly, going into a divorce, I mean, there is... If you have not been ... either if you haven't been the breadwinner, you know, or a co-breadwinner or you have not been in charge of the finances and you don't even ... there's lots of things you don't know. You're ashamed. You're embarrassed, I mean, many times because we're so accomplished in other areas of our life in terms of career, in terms of parenting, but it's really something that I think is a huge ... I know it's a ... It wasn't just me. There are millions and millions of people in the U.S. alone who feel this way and who struggle through a divorce from a financial, not only the emotional but through a financial perspective, and it's really an area where the industry can provide far, far better support, and it's a huge opportunity for wealth growth and really wealth creation as well.
[Travis] No, absolutely. You mentioned something there that kinda stuck out to me. It's the word embarrassed. Allianz does a retirement study each year, and one of the questions they do ask the people taking the study, participating in it, is "what's keeping you from seeking financial advice?" And some of it, a lot of it, actually, is embarrassment, and sometimes, that number looks a little low, and I'm thinking to myself, "Well, they're probably embarrassed to say that it's embarrassment."
[Lacy] Probably.
[Travis] So it's kind of a vicious cycle, but especially after divorce and being a woman, thankfully, you know, you were really good with math. No, I'm kidding.
[Lacy] Exactly.
[Travis] So that made it a little easier, but you decided to do something about it, and that brings me to my next question, the question I've been waiting for to bring up and talk about, and that is to give you an opportunity to tell us about your company, Willow. You call this audience the new majority. Who is that?
[Lacy] Yes, so the new majority, or call it tomorrow's clients, is the fact that historically underserved groups of clients or investors, namely women, younger clients in the now millennial and really Gen Z generations, and underrepresented groups, such as Cubans and Hispanics and Latinos over here, and really the Black and African American investors and Asian investors and, obviously, so many other, you know, diverse groups are fast really becoming the majority. If we look at ... you know, the U.S. Census Bureau tells us that, by 2044, the U.S. will reach its kinda major majority-minority moment, which means that, collectively, all of these different groups of, call it, non-white Americans will make up the majority of the country, and we're seeing ... you know, as we look at kind of wealth accumulation, We will, A, start ... Let me take a step back, sorry. We start just with the great wealth transfer that, obviously, everybody is buzzing about kind of in the industry. The greatest recipients of the great wealth transfer are, first, women. Next, it's, you know, the next generation so really beyond just the Gen X but the millennials and the Gen Z, and obviously ... and more and more groups of underrepresented or historically kind of underserved clients are represented there, and those ... we're becoming a much more diverse population, and so that's what we mean when we talk about the new majority. This industry was really based around kind of one demographic originally, and really the country's evolved, and the wealth creators and holders have evolved, and it's a much more diverse group these days.
[Travis] Now I've been around you enough to hear you switch up to saying that changes in the market require a new approach to investing, but you're saying changes in demographics require a new approach to financial services. Can you define that?
[Lacy] Yes, so these clients that we are talking about here are looking for something different from their relationship with their advisor, for instance, and really, their relationship in general with kinda insurance providers and financial services overall is that they really want, first and foremost, a trusted relationship. It's a personal connection, and that requires just a new mindset as we talk about really ... you know, it's not just about kinda performance anymore. It's not about products and performance. It's really about, equal measures, human understanding coupled with the right financial guidance and then the right kinda products and the right services.
[Travis] Yeah, no, I've been in a lot of, ya know, conferences and meetings and had a lotta conversations with people, and it's funny. The older generation did tend to think, like, "Well, what do you care about connecting with someone?" right? Is it a Fortune 500 company? Is it a blue-chip stock? I don't care about any emotion tied to it, and I see that that is kind of a departure. You know, when you talk about the younger generation, they don't think like that. That kinda stuff absolutely matters to them, but we are seeing -
[Lacy] And to ...
[Travis] Go ahead.
[Lacy] Oh, sorry. No, and I was just gonna say and it's not just the emotion. Obviously, we know the younger generations are digital-first. They're not digital-only. They still want to work with real people, but they need the ... they've grown up with tech. They've grown up with technology, and they need a digital interface. They need that ability, that communication that's seamless and easy. You know, they're also need kinda products and services that're more aligned with their values, their not only financial but really their life goals, because we see that financial and life is becoming more and more merged as it should be.
[Travis] Well, we can't just take care of that with a firm handshake? Fine, we'll use technology. We'll go incorporate it. So what're some of the changing demographics right now in the United States that, one, a financial professional needs to be aware of? And then how will changing demographics affect the way financial professionals offer guidance to clients? I think you kind of alluded to it a little bit talking about technology, but what are those things that they should be aware of in this changing world around them?
[Lacy] I think the three most important things that financial professionals should be aware of is first, when we look at kind of the great wealth transfer and who the wealth holders are, by 2030 alone, we know ... McKinsey has predicted that women will control $30 trillion of wealth in the U.S. alone, and we also know that I think the latest stats from Bank of America were that 94% of all women believe that they will be solely responsible for their finances at some point of their life, whether that be through widowhood, through divorce, through never marrying, and through their own wealth creation. So I think that's incredibly important to be aware of. Second is the next generation with a real focus on millennials because, by 2030, they will hold five times as much wealth as they do today, and Gen Z's income is projected to be $33 trillion or already to account for 27% of global income just by 2030 alone. And then the third most important fact that we spoke about was the fact that, you know, in terms of underrepresented clients, by 2044, they will represent the majority of people in the U.S., and we are seeing some of the fastest wealth growth in these sort of ethnically underrepresented communities as compared to the general population.
[Travis] Yeah, no, those are three important bullets to talk about and for financial advisors to consider, but in looking at it, you're gonna get people saying, like, "There's a changing focus between the generations, but that's happened many times before." Like, people that have been in the game for a while probably went through this moment with the Silent Generation; you don't hear much from them, probably 'cause they're silent; which transferred to the baby boomers, and now the focus is on Gen X and millennials. But what makes this next generation of clients unique? What economic or historical events have shaped them?
[Lacy] Well, what's crazy if you sort of look at ... despite being on the younger side, you know, the majority of, call it, millennials have lived through three to four once-in-a-lifetime events, right?
[Travis] Right.
[Lacy] Where we look at everything, well, starting with the dot-com boom to 9/11 to, you know, most recently, COVID pandemic, and these events have completely shaped their perspective.
[Travis] Housing crisis.
[Lacy] Oh yes. Yeah, we can keep going, right? So they have Great Recession of '22. I mean 2008, so you know, where we talk about these once-in-a-lifetime catastrophic events, they're waiting for the next one to be just around the corner.
[Travis] Sure, sure. Well, yeah, it's funny. They're often described by older generations as not being very tough or wanting participation trophies or even ... you know? But here they are very resilient, having experienced a lot of these events that, like you said yourself, are, quote, "once in a lifetime." Now we're going on three, four or five of them, and yeah, I really do think that it's kind of fortified them, so we have seen the differences in the generation. I don't know that we've seen this great of an amount of the transfer of wealth. Maybe that plays into it a little bit, too. That makes it a little unique from when it's happened in the past, so when you get pushback like, "ah, we've seen this before," I'm like, I don't know if we've seen it on this level, and I know ... I don't think that we've seen the shift in demographics either, so I think this makes it a little different this time around, so.
[Lacy] And on a positive note for financial advisors and financial professionals in general, so, the fact that these generations have experienced or watched their parents, their grandparents, and then themselves go through financial hardships you know, that were not just because of ... they might have been, you know, tied to larger economic factors instead of just their own kinda work or production. You know, they have become increasingly more open to working with an advisor. I know, back in 2016, less than 50% of millennials polled by Nationwide said that they needed to use a professional; however, according to new research, nearly 2/3 of millennial and Gen Z investors believe working with an advisor is key for financial success, and 85% indicated that they would like some form of behavioral coaching; that comes back to your point about behavioral finance; to help them avoid making financial mistakes, procrastinating, or making rash decisions.
[Travis] We do a study, and we look at that, and one thing that I'm always encouraged by is the number is relatively low when you look at people that say they can just do it themselves. I don't know about that. Yeah, I would always say, seek financial help. I'd say there's two reasons, generally, why you don't do something. It's 'cause ya can't do it or you don't wanna do it, and not everything can be done on your own or even answered through a series of really exciting YouTube videos, so thankfully, they haven't cut out the financial professional.
[Lacy] But I do think, Travis, like, what's different is that, ya know ... and the older generations were more willing to just trust the advisor, right?
[Travis] Sure.
[Lacy] To be like, "Okay, you're the professional. I turn it over to you," whereas we see with these younger generations, A, they are ... you know, they're finding a lotta information online. You know, they're looking at social media.
[Travis] Yeah, they're doing research.
[Lacy] They're looking at their friends. They're doing their own research. They have their own opinions. They want a much more collaborative kinda give-and-take, debate, even, style relationship with their advisor, so advisors really need to be kinda prepared and equipped for that. That's, I think, an important, like, nuance and real change in that advisor-client relationship that is coming with those younger generations.
[Travis] Yeah, absolutely. I think you said something very important there is that the default setting, if you will, for the older generation was just to trust, but I think so much has happened in this world and information gets around so quickly and ya hear, you know, some of these things done in bad faith. And over time, that does build up a perception not just of that advisor but sometimes as an industry as a whole. So knowing that, that's the reality, we're set against that backdrop, what questions do financial professionals need to be asking new clients? Like, I know we need to convey authenticity and show that we have their best interest, but in doing that, you do have to establish trust, and I think a way of doing that is asking questions and seeing what it is that they need from you. So if you're sitting in a client's chair, or, I'm sorry, an advisor's seat, what questions do you ask to get to the heart of it?
[Lacy] Yes, I think, as you said first of all, asking, asking questions, and then listening for two-thirds of the conversation, even more so, right?
[Travis] Yeah.
[Lacy] But starting with, you know, understanding and asking what that client's values are and starting at, as we talked about, like, "what's your relationship with money? How do you feel about money? What is it that you want your money to do for you? What do you wanna achieve here?" It's not just a performance or dollar amount but, like, what is important to you in your life that money can help to provide. So it's really -
[Travis] Yeah, when you say, "The relationship with money," I mean, like I said, it's such an important question. I know that, when it was posed to me, I mean, it stopped me in my tracks. Like, you know what, I'd never really considered it to that point. It just, you know, was kind of a tool, a very useful one that we all need. In that vein then, what assumptions can no longer be made? I mean, what're we moving on from? I mean, again, this is Rebuilding Retirement, after all. I mean, we can't just default to what we knew before. What assumptions are there that can no longer be made?
[Lacy] I would say pretty much all. One of the things is that, ya know, you can no longer assume. You know, you have to seek to understand.
[Travis] Yeah.
[Lacy] Obviously, any unconscious bias that we hold when we see a woman walk into our office ... And by the way, these days, 90% of the time, she's not walking into your office. You know, she's showing up in email or on the other side of a video call, but don't make any assumptions about what role she plays in the family in terms of her, if she's not a provider, if she's a caregiver, what she is. Similarly, that goes for all different types of clients is that, really, we can't assume. We have to ask. We have to listen. We have to seek to understand. There are commonalities. Clearly, there's a lotta great data out there. There's frameworks. There's roadmaps, you know, once you understand sort of that mindset of that client, what their kind of financial relationship is in the family, and there are certainly best practices that you can leverage once you get a better understanding, but the first thing you need to do is seek to understand really who that client is.
[Travis] No, absolutely. You're literally talking about financial advice and working with people and trying to help them facilitate a dream. It would be in your best interest to really get to understand them, know them, approach them, meet them where they're at, but that doesn't just apply to clients, right? I mean, we've been talking a lot about clients, but what about the next generation of financial professionals? Like, what does it mean for recruiting new financial professionals onto a team or into your office? How is that approach going to differ?
[Lacy] Okay, well, if we know that, you know, tomorrow's investors/clients, who are really today's and leading into tomorrow, look different, we wanna make sure that our teams also look different, that we are creating more diverse and inclusive teams, for starters, to help us to better understand, to raise our cultural awareness, and to better connect with these next generations of clients. I mean, it starts today. You know, we can't all create the diversity that we want immediately overnight. We know that the industry itself struggles from a kinda representation standpoint, and I'm also not saying that you have to look exactly like the person at the other side of the table. I think there are many amazing advisors who are white men who work incredibly well with women, who work incredibly well-
[Travis] Oh, absolutely.
[Lacy] With younger folks who are you know, from different ethnic backgrounds, but they need to really create a culture among the team that kind of honors/celebrates diversity of opinion, and that will start to begin, A, not only to kind of attract the talent that they need, but also, that is part of that authenticity that so many of these next generation of clients are seeking from that individual and from that team.
[Travis] Yeah, I mean, you know, it's funny. Everyone you meet knows something you don't know. I've run into so many older financial advisors who have been doing this and doing it very well for a long time, and either they haven't fully embraced the technology or they don't leverage social media, but what they are smart enough to do is then bring in someone either for an internship or flat out hire them and say, "Hey, you have a diversity of thought, opinion, and idea, something that I'm not necessarily doing, but I can bolster my practice if I bring you on board, 'cause you know something that I don't." And it's worked out well, but again, like you said, it's not gonna happen overnight. Some people are in an area that just geographically lends more to that in terms of giving them an opportunity to build a diverse team. I met a gentleman. He said he is from Fargo. He said he had no diversity, and I said, "Really? So there are no young people in Fargo? There are no military veterans in Fargo? There's no, you know, women in Fargo? I've done a study. I think there are women in Fargo." And then once he didn't so narrowly define diversity, he thought, "Oh, well, you know what? There actually is." So looking at it from that standpoint, when you've broadened the definition, 'cause it is a broad definition, how can they start preparing that next generation within their own team?
[Lacy] Yes, it's not only finding those people, but then retaining them and growing them is critically important, but certainly, as you mentioned, just in terms of finding them, it's, like, if you can't find them, maybe you're just not looking in the right places, so you know, broaden your search. Put something out on LinkedIn. Connect with the local universities, right? You know, and internship programs that start at the high school level is a great way to bring in diverse pools of talent at a young age and kind of open up the network. And then yeah, it's really critical that we are not just, you know, bringing these people in and then expecting them to just grow and develop and be ... we need to proactively support them. We need to provide them with mentorship. We need to provide them with sponsorship. You know, we have programs at Willow that are specifically designed to help younger advisors to get the knowledge, to get the skills, to get the experience that they need, and to grow their networks so that they can succeed in this industry.
[Travis] Yeah, no, Willow's amazing. I'm always too happy to talk about it every time I'm in front of someone, and you know, we've co-branded some things, so every time, I see, I'm like, "Ah, ya know, Willow, lemme tell you a little bit about it." I know that you know, and so I'll say, "What are three things a financial professional can do right now to help prepare for this next generation of clients?"
[Lacy] First is knowledge. Second is skills, and third is the tools, which includes, right, the content, kind of the technology, the marketing really, and if you break it down to a very tactical level and there are resources out there ... I know this is what we do at Willow. We equip advisors with the knowledge, with skills, you know, with access to those resources so that they can understand and they can connect and they can acquire and grow relationships with these clients.
[Travis] Yeah, no, it's a wonderful how-to guide. I've had the benefit of going onto your site and kinda navigating it and looking at content, and there's just, like you said, tools. There are so many, so it's not like you're having to feel your way through the dark. If you're looking for resources, looking for tools, then, like you said, even with trying to fill out the ranks in your office with diversity, it's there. You just may have to look for it. I wanted to back up and discuss something really quickly because we defined earlier money mindset, and you did a masterful job at talking about all that that includes. We touched briefly on digital native, so one, if you can, I'd love for you to define digital native, and then we'll dive into a little bit of how, you know, advisors can use that. I know that they're not, you know ... they're digital first but not digital only. But if you could describe it, what is digital native?
[Lacy] Well, first of all, growing up in the world of technology that we live in today, right? You know, I mean, those of us in the earlier generations did not have cell phones, did not have internet, did not have the ability to transact financially online, right, all that that's at these younger generations' fingertips, but it's also the fact that they grew up with it, right? So they have a high expectation around technology and that technology works and that technology provides greater efficiency in that they can get things quickly and easily, and so their level of patience for some of the more kind of antiquated practices within this industry is not there. So that's just, I think, an important thing to understand with the digital and native, and one of the disconnects we see a lot of times is that, you know, the sort of majority of advisors are over age 55, so they did not grow up digitally native, you know?
[Travis] Right.
[Lacy] And so there's just this ... we have to bridge this gap, right? We have to make sure that we are technologically savvy, that we are presenting a seamless integration with technology and the fact that our client service is bolstered through technology, and that we're able to kinda meet the demands and the expectations of these clients.
[Travis] Yeah, no, I agree wholeheartedly, and thank you for that definition. That's what I was gonna say, so now I know. We're on the same page there, and looking at it, I mean, these older advisors have a wealth of knowledge. They do have a way in which they've done things for a lot of years, many years, and it's proven successful for them, but then looking at this and knowing that this is what this next generation of potential clients is going to want, what are some things that they could or should be doing to market themselves or to better integrate, again, their knowledge with these tools so that they can really demonstrate the value of their practice.
[Lacy] Yeah, so, advisors who are looking to attract and to grow relationships with these next generations of clients, they need to make sure that their value is clearly communicated online through their website, through their social media, their LinkedIn profile, you know, and not sort of in ... I hate to say it but an old-school way, right?
[Travis] Yeah.
[Lacy] They need to show who they are as a person. They need to show their why. They need to ... You need to show why you care about these clients. You know, they're not gonna wanna work with you. You might have a great resume and experience, and that's great. That's a check-the-box that is critically important, but they're really looking to understand, like, who you are and why you care about them and why you can provide them with value, so they need updated ... You need updated websites and, as I mentioned, a LinkedIn kinda profile and a strategy around social media, and obviously, the new kind of rules are helping to make this easier, and certainly, advisors who are looking to connect with younger investors, you know, having sort of a digital marketing strategy is critical as well.
[Travis] Yeah, I mean, I don't wanna take this time to promote anyone's particular platform, but yeah, as you and I well know; we've gone to a lotta these industry events; there is some software out there that just does amazing things. I am heartened by the fact that, a lot of times, I do see some of the older advisors in those rooms trying to learn about it, at least taking some cues from what this younger generation would like to see, and at some point, they roll up their sleeves and get into it as well. But you know, again, not wanting to name any particular platform or company, there are a lot of really amazing ones out there when you think about the technology and how that's kind of integrated into what they do, so they should and will continue to do that, 'cause the younger generation certainly will.
[Lacy] Yes, and I think that's a really important thing, Travis. There are resources. There's platforms. There are, you know, growing companies that are out there specifically focused around helping advisors to do just this. I mean, and I know it's one of the things that we do at Willow, right?
[Travis] Yeah.
[Lacy] It doesn't have to seem like this is this big mystery. It's actually something that you can do much easier than you think you can and probably way more affordably than you think you can, as well.
[Travis] Oh yeah.
[Lacy] And you will see a return on this, for sure.
[Travis] Well, and then you're able to reach more people, right?
[Lacy] Yeah.
[Travis] A Willow didn't exist in the world, and now it does, and it's doing, ya know, great things. And it's, like, well, if you had access to that, now you can kinda learn a new trick, learn a new language, and, hopefully, be able to reach more people. We've just about arrived at our destination, but one, or actually, a couple questions that I like to ask people before telling them where they can find ya online, I'd like to do that now, and you can tell me your thoughts, and the question ... One is, what does your ideal day look like in retirement.
[Lacy] Love that question. I'm, like, laying on a beach, sipping a cocktail. No, I really think that retirement for me, you know, would be surrounded with my family and friends. Ideal day: family, friends, you know, and knowing that I can sleep at night, there's no stress, there's no worry, that everybody's provided for, that, like, hustle, actually, that you've reached the top of the mountain and you can kinda just relax, right?
[Travis] Yeah.
[Lacy] That would be my ideal day in retirement.
[Travis] No, absolutely. I think more than anything, we all want peace, and so that's the what. I'd like to kind of ask the how. What's the best thing you have done or are doing to make sure that you can achieve that vision for your retirement?
[Lacy] Well, as I mentioned, you know, kinda most important to me is the ability to provide for my family. Critical to that is, for instance, my son's education, so I set up a 529 plan. I have been kind of investing in that, as well as having sort of a diversified portfolio of investments, and it's really important everybody knows to max out your 401(k) . A conversation for another day is those who are in sort of the startup or the contractor world, where you don't always have a 401(k) , but I think that that's more than we can get into right this minute. But I think, like I said, for me, most important is to make sure that my kinda family is provided for, so that's been what I feel like I've been really focused on and doing my best to make sure that I achieve that goal.
[Travis] Okay, so for listeners who have enjoyed today's conversation, where can they find you online?
[Lacy] You can find us at trustwillow.com, so trustwillow.com.
[Travis] Thank you so much for your time today. From our conversation with Lacy, we learned how changes in demographics require a new approach to financial services. That means meeting younger and more diverse clients, where they are in life. With more diverse investors seeking financial guidance, you'll wanna be ready to help. I'm Travis Walker. Thanks for listening.
