Boomers may be changing the way they think. But as financial services marketers, are we ready to change the way we think?
You couldn’t have lived through the last two decades without wondering at some point and time, “How are all these people around me affording these luxury cars? These vacations? These homes?” As the great recession has revealed, the majority couldn’t afford any of it. It was leveraged using home equity and credit card debt. Boomers are especially guilty as a generation. But are we starting to see a change in attitude?
According to this article in Bank Investment Consultant, a recent study by TD Ameritrade shows that there may be a trend among boomers to define success as eliminating debt and saving for long-term goals.
This could be good news for us financial services marketers if we understand what this large (and valuable) group prospects really needs. In other words, it’s going to take a change of attitude on our part as well. That’s not easy. Because we tend to focus on products and not necessarily solutions. After all, it’s easy to push the tools of accumulation, but remember, this is a group that is used to spending – not saving.
So how do we together change our ways? For starters, let’s help this group understand all the issues surrounding the life stage they are entering. Take for example the boomer who is entering pre-retirement. He or she is inundated with IRA rollover messages. You don’t see messaging around things like reevaluating changing insurance needs (which could save them money), or ways to leverage home equity to pay college costs while getting a tax break. Sure the information is out there for them to go find. But if all you are focusing on is getting them to invest more or rollover an IRA, then a savvier financial professional is going to come along and help them solve those problems that are really weighing heavy on them. And after they do, guess who is going to get the IRA rollover?
The good news is that this is a group that has immediate needs. And as the TD Ameritrade study indicates, they may be truly having a change of heart about what’s really important to their future. We just need to make sure we’re ready to change the way we think about their needs. And to approach them with real help and not just a sales pitch.
