Financial Planning for Generation X and Generation Y: Kile Lewis of oXYGen Financial Interviewed by Generational Expert Anne Loehr

Kile Lewis is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of oXYGen Financial—a full service family office offering financial services for the X and Y generations. It was founded in response to increasing requests from successful young people — Generation X and Generation Y investors, families, and entrepreneurs — for financial planning and advice matched to their unique needs.

I have been following his company for several months and was excited to hear his insights into financial planning, specifically for generations X and Y.

Here you will find the video of our conversation as well as a cheat sheet of key points if you don’t have time to watch the full 25-minutes. If you’d like to watch the segments you are most interested in, the topics below are listed alongside what time they appear in the video.

 

• Why Gen X and Gen Y are Important for Financial Planners 1:13
  The financial industry is chasing the parents of Gen X and Gen Y – the Baby Boomers—because they traditionally “have all the money.” These generations don’t think or act like their parents. Financial planners need to learn that Gen X and Gen Y have very different needs and objectives in order to remain relevant in the industry.

• Financial Lessons Learned from Gen X and Gen Y  2:21
  Gen X are the biggest cynics of all the generations; their trust must be earned. They are less interested in being “talked to” and more interested in a collaborative approach. Living in the information age (not the knowledge age) means they have a lot of information with no clear path to navigate it. In addition, Gen X doesn’t work the traditional 40-hour week—so when it comes to finding out the latest health plans, retirement plans and tax laws—they just don’t have enough hours in the day to inform themselves.

• What Type of Financial Planning Does Gen Y Want? 5:53
  Generation Y is looking for input and gets their information differently than other generations. They do not want their financial planners in a tie and they won’t stay in an uptight office space. This generation needs things to be open and inviting.

• How oXYGen Financial’s Office Design Reflects Gen X & Y Culture and Values 8:13
  Gen X and Gen Y often work at home and lose their sense of community. Therefore, oXYGen designed their office to create a sense of community and included Gen X & Y must haves: technology, refurbished wood and a gaming system.

• How Gen X and Y Evaluate Marketing Tactics 9:37
  The old days of charging a lump sum for financial plans doesn’t work. A monthly fee and a single sign-on, aggregated site accessible by smartphone is what they want. Text marketing may be the next step with Gen X and Gen Y.

• How to Attract Clients Using Social Media in 140 Characters or Less 12:37
  Gen X and Gen Y don’t really read anymore, meaning word count needs to be kept low. Videos and point and click options work well. You have to be clever and provocative when titling a blog, such as “How a Threesome Will Help You in Retirement.”

• Empowering Gen X and Y in a 401K World 16:05
  In the New York Times, Thomas Freidman writes in his article, “It’s a 401(k) World,” that we have gone from a connected to a hyperconnected society. This huge expansion of an individual’s ability to access learning, engage in commerce, invent and invest. means more responsibility rests on them as individuals to take control—including finances. Gen X & Y clients require full transparency; business relationships must remain collaborative. As an example, the hierarchy of leadership has changed from VP’s to “Team Leaders.”

• Collaborative Consumption’s Effect on Generation X & Y Finances and Worklife 21:40
  It’s time to retire the word retirement. Gen X & Y are more likely to use their 401(k) to take five years off and then reenter the workforce. Gen X & Y stay in jobs for less time and often end up with many orphaned retirement and 401(k) accounts, which they then cash in, incurring tax penalties.

To learn more about oXYGen Financial, check out their website, read their blog and follow them on Twitter. Kile can also be heard on 100.5 FM The Regular Guys during the 8 o’clock hour EST every Tuesday morning for “Your Smart Money Moves.” To contact him directly, send him an email or call (678) 551-7944.

If you’re interested in content like this, take a look at my blogs for financial advisors, follow me on Twitter and subscribe to my newsletter. Also, you can download my free financial advisor report on how to create deep client relationships and see how I can help financial advisors manage intergenerational wealth.

Finally, what do you think? Should Gen X and Gen Y be marketed to differently than Baby Boomers? Please leave me a comment, shoot me an email or tell me on Twitter.