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Episode 1.06 Suzanne Siracuse on the future of financial guidance
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Suzanne Siracuse is the former CEO and Publisher of InvestmentNews, where she oversaw a transformation in the news business and supported the evolution of the financial guidance profession. Suzanne now advises on game-changing trends that affect the financial services industry.
Suzanne discusses how financial guidance has changed, what financial professionals can do to grow their business right now, and her predictions for what the industry will look like in the future.
Go to Suzanne Siracuse’s website
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Transcript
Adapting to Changing Client Needs
00:00:01
Speaker
We've been exploring how retirement and the financial industry have changed in recent years. So what's next? We know that more change is on its way, and that requires ongoing adjustments to the way you meet clients' needs. Our guest today has ideas about how financial professionals can be ready for the future.
Introduction of Suzanne Syracuse
00:00:19
Speaker
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.
00:00:29
Speaker
Joining us today is Suzanne Syracuse. Suzanne Syracuse is the former CEO and publisher of Investment News.
Experience in Financial Advisory Since 1998
00:00:36
Speaker
In more than 20 years at Investment News, Suzanne oversaw a transformation in the news business and supported the evolution of the financial guidance profession. Suzanne now works advising on game-changing trends that affect the financial services industry.
00:00:50
Speaker
So today we're going to talk with Suzanne about the ways financial guidance has changed, how financial professionals can grow their business right now, and her predictions for what the industry will look like in the future. I'm so excited to hear what's on Suzanne's mind. Suzanne, welcome to Rebuilding Retirement.
00:01:07
Speaker
Thanks for having me on, Travis. If you don't mind, I think I'm going to dive right on in and talk about how you got into the business as an observer of financial services and then working for publications, covering the industry. And in that time, what are some of the biggest changes or trends that you feel have affected wealth management industry advisors and how they work with clients?
Rise of Independent Advisors
00:01:32
Speaker
Sure, I love this question. My name may seem familiar to some of the advisors that are listening. I've been in the business since 1998, and I got my start in the financial advisory business because I was working at Investment News.
00:01:54
Speaker
In that role i started out in sales and eventually became the publisher and ceo but really got to understand the business of financial advice got to understand all the motivations behind
00:02:10
Speaker
firms that are trying to sell to financial advisors, how financial advisors sell to clients, they can tuck their business, but also at Investment News reported on the industry as a whole. And during the time that I started, again in 1998, which was a long time ago, to when I left in 2019 and now as a consultant to the industry for the last four years,
00:02:36
Speaker
there are some significant changes that I think are interesting to kind of point out and for advisors to sit back and think about a little bit. The number one thing, and actually Investment News was born out of the sister publication, which was Pensions and Investments. And the publisher at the time in 1998 saw that there was a huge growth
00:03:01
Speaker
in the an interest in the wealth management industry. And so that's why he decided to start a newspaper specifically serving the wealth management community and especially growth in that independent financial advisor. So the independent model.
00:03:19
Speaker
So I think that was, that's been a significant change that's happened in the last 20 odd years is just so many more independent advisors forming, leaving wire houses or leaving a captive model and either going to work at a broker dealer or actually becoming an RIA. And I think there's lots of reasons for that. But I think that is one of the biggest trends that you're seeing right now, because quite frankly, the growth of advisors,
00:03:49
Speaker
number of advisors hasn't been significant quite frankly, but within the move into those channels that independent broker dealer affiliated with an independent broker dealer and an REA has been a huge, huge, huge trend.
Diversification of Investment Options
00:04:05
Speaker
Another trend that I see is the entry of more
00:04:10
Speaker
investment options. So again, when we first started in investment news, mostly stocks, bonds, and of course, mutual funds. And I remember going to the Investment Company Institute conference, which was a huge mutual fund conference. You probably go to it now, Travis.
00:04:31
Speaker
And there was just starting to be ETFs starting to come into the equation. They had such a much lower flows into those products, but obviously became a huge part of the investment spectrum that advisors are using. Also too, in terms of investment options, much more transparent
00:04:57
Speaker
retirement income products that have really been developed for RAAs and the independent advisor, especially those that operate on more of a fee-based structure in the way that they're compensated. So I think that that's been another huge trend is just this access to all of these
00:05:20
Speaker
additional investment options that advisors can recommend to their clients based on the advisor's model and based on the client's need. Again, there's been a lot of alternative investments that are also been launched that were traditionally for, let's say, more institutional investors that are now readily accessible to advisors to their clients. So I think that entry of more investment options is another key one.
Transition to Advice-Centric Models
00:05:51
Speaker
The change in services delivered, you know, really justified by the client's demands, right? So there's been a real shift from using more of a transactional approach and a more investment-focused approach to an advice-centric focus.
00:06:09
Speaker
with all kinds of advanced planning solutions out there, with advisors being challenged by their clients to not just provide investment advice, but actually to provide a whole litany of different types of advice that can go from tax, insurance, estate,
00:06:30
Speaker
long-term care, et cetera. And I'll share my story too about how I work with my financial advisor in a little bit, but this real more holistic approach to advising clients and what they need is really, I would say, probably one of the biggest trends that I've seen over the last
00:06:56
Speaker
you know, 20 years. And also too, the way that, and I kind of mentioned this in my answer around the growth of the independent model, but also the way that advisors are compensated.
Shift to Fee-Based Models
00:07:11
Speaker
So again, when I first started back in 1998,
00:07:15
Speaker
very, very many of the financial advisors were utilizing more of a commission-based approach. And we're seeing that shift to go to fee-based, fee-only. And now there are subscription models where you can, a client can basically sign on for a set monthly fee with an advisor. And then there's also fee-for-service. And again, these are,
00:07:43
Speaker
designed more for, I would say, newer investors that maybe don't have that assets under management level to garner an advisor's attention. But you can say, hey, I'd like to save for my home. And so your advisor would work directly on helping you meet that goal. So that's that fee for service.
Impact of Demographic Changes
00:08:08
Speaker
So I think the change in how advisors are compensated and then
00:08:11
Speaker
Finally, and like probably the biggest thing is the change in investor demographics throughout our country, the way that both from a client standpoint, but also from an employee standpoint.
00:08:31
Speaker
the way that the country, the United States is going to look in the year 2050 is very, very different than it looked 20 years ago.
00:08:43
Speaker
Oh, of course. I mean, I've seen plenty of studies and numbers that support that. And then people trying to kind of transform their practice in order to support that into the future. And with that advice centric focus, well, coming into focus. So, wow, you covered a lot of ground there. And I imagine you would because you've been at it since. And I think you may have said this, 1998.
00:09:10
Speaker
I know it's a little scary, but but I love it. Right. It's a great profession and with great people in it. Just for sure. Yeah. Just came back from the Invest in Others event in which Alianz has been a wonderful partner and sponsor.
00:09:26
Speaker
where they honor and celebrate financial advisors who give back to their communities. And when you hear the stories of how these financial advisors are, because of their work, because of the flexible job, because of the income levels, they're able to do some amazing things for those in need.
00:09:49
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. You and I have talked in the past about kind of meeting those clients where they are. I know that you mentioned investment news and you didn't gloss over that. You went in depth, which is great because that is a huge thing, obviously. I mean, you hear that name and it reverberates throughout the industry. So when you were leading investment news as CEO and publisher, the news business was going through a huge transformation in its overall business model, including moving from more
00:10:18
Speaker
print-centric to digital.
Adaptation from Print to Digital
00:10:21
Speaker
What did you learn in that experience that can help financial professionals as the industry is changing? Well, I got a lot, right? So if you think about this, I would say number one, know that your business, as it exists today, and this is sometimes hard to even believe,
00:10:43
Speaker
will be different in the future. And so really just accepting that and knowing that that is a reality is part of the, I would say, the first step. You won't know exactly what this means. And I could never have predicted, quite frankly, the digital revolution that happened in media and in the world. But the only thing that is for sure is that things are constantly changing. So be open and ready.
00:11:13
Speaker
And I'll give you an example of how our revenue model changed, right? So when I started again, 1998, I keep saying that date, 100% of our revenues, by the way, this is not a smart business decision, 100% of our revenues were print advertising or print subscriptions or print reprints. They were all print centric, 100%. We didn't have a website when I first started.
00:11:42
Speaker
So when I left in 2019, which was four years ago, the majority of our revenue was coming from digital, was coming from digital advertising, email sends, webinars, custom content that lived on the website, video, and digital subscriptions, followed by then events. So we went from one event in 2006 to 15 in 2019.
00:12:10
Speaker
benchmarking and custom research offerings, which we had acquired the Moss Adams benchmarking study. That was a way that I was diversifying our revenue stream based on seeing what was happening in the industry. And again, that trend to independent advice because those benchmarking studies are really focused on the independent model. And print was down to 30% of our revenue model.
00:12:37
Speaker
So that was not anything I could have predicted. But I will tell you like just being very, let's say flexible and open and understanding that we needed to be creative and how we went about our business. So again, I would just say number one,
00:12:58
Speaker
like know your business as it exists today will not look the same in a few years from now, maybe even sooner. Don't rely on one source of revenue or one type of anything in your offering because that is a recipe for disaster. Luckily we were able to pivot pretty quickly.
00:13:15
Speaker
Your team is your most important asset. That is another huge lesson that I learned from running the business and working with just some of the most talented people in the business. They really will help you execute on your vision and best serve your clients. Another thing I would say and suggest is constantly be learning.
Importance of Learning and Adaptability
00:13:39
Speaker
Just because you've mastered one skill,
00:13:43
Speaker
You should always be curious about new things that you're not as good at, quite frankly. Invest in yourself. Get training for key areas that you may need more help with mastering. That could be leadership skill training. That could be how to hire the best talent. That could be being proficient in social media or digital marketing.
00:14:07
Speaker
But those things I would say is just always be learning because you don't know what's going to happen. We don't know what's next.
00:14:15
Speaker
And then finally, I do believe that a lot of success comes to how you respond to change. And you need to have the right attitude. You need to be interested. You need to be curious. You need to have a great team, a great support system, and be okay with knowing that what is now in existence may not be
00:14:41
Speaker
that way in the next few years. So really trying to stay ahead of trend, reading, listening to podcasts like this. So those are just a few things that I learned. I could probably do an entire podcast and what I learned from that experience. No, absolutely. And you and I have been think tanks together and something that's always emerged out of that for me is the message that
00:15:04
Speaker
you know, you get people that want a cultural fit, but you also need a cultural addition, right?
Diversity and Business Growth
00:15:09
Speaker
Someone that knows something you don't know. So part of that curiosity, part of that learning is bringing in diversity of thought and talent, people with fresh ideas and
00:15:18
Speaker
perspectives that differ from here so they can add to a culture and not simply fit into it. And back to that, you know, investor demographic changing and actually the country demographic changing. So if you are looking to serve a diverse client base
00:15:37
Speaker
or attract diverse team members to your organization or to your practice, you need to be thinking about that. And the best way to do that is make sure that you're either employing diverse talent and so that you know how to best serve diverse clients.
00:15:54
Speaker
No, absolutely. So it seems like you've seen it all and done it all, because after all, you did start working in this profession in your 20s, which is much earlier than many. How is that experience working with a financial professional changed since then?
00:16:13
Speaker
Yeah, so great question. And I actually started my career working in Philadelphia, which is where I'm from. And I was working at the Philadelphia Business Journal. I was in my 20s. And I think I was at a restaurant or a bar or something with a bunch of my friends and my friend's husband.
00:16:32
Speaker
We were, you know, we were just talking in general and he was like, yeah, I started working with a financial advisor. And I'm like, what's that? Who's that? Like, I had no idea what that even was. I didn't know any financial advisors. My parents didn't work with a financial advisor. And he started telling me, he's like, yeah, you know, I work with this guy from Morgan Stanley, and he, you know, helps me
00:16:55
Speaker
you know, invest my money in stocks, mutual funds, IPOs were a big thing back then, and he helps me make money off of my money. And I always was fascinated with that, right? So I'm like, ooh, can you connect me to this guy, right? So he introduces me to his advisor.
00:17:16
Speaker
That's how I got into or acclimated into the financial advice industry is actually having my own advisor first.
Benefits of Holistic Financial Planning
00:17:26
Speaker
At the time, he was very focused on investments and returns.
00:17:35
Speaker
very much on mutual funds, some stocks. And as I mentioned, I really loved IPOs. They were really big back then, like how to get in on something in the beginning. And then when I started working at Investment News and learning about financial advisors in their business, I became a little bit more savvy, I would say, in what else an advisor should be doing for you.
00:17:58
Speaker
And I was referred to my current advisor who's been just amazing. I've been with her for over 20 years through another advisor in our industry. So you should work with this person.
00:18:14
Speaker
My interaction with advisors went originally from portfolio management, which she still does, obviously, but she has assisted in so many facets of my life. That's why I fully understand and advocate for a holistic financial planning approach.
00:18:34
Speaker
because I see what she's done and how she's helped me and my husband. So like she helped us in determining buying a second home, right? Did we have enough that we could do that, right? After my father passed away, she helped with
00:18:50
Speaker
his investments and helping with my mom and navigating through assisted living and selling the home and all of those fun things that we all have to go through and don't have experience doing until you actually do it. And to have that third party kind of be a guiding light and source and just a helpful resource was amazing. She also
00:19:20
Speaker
helped my husband and I determine if we wanted to pursue long-term care insurance, which we did, and she helped facilitate those policies even though she does not get paid on any of that. This was something that she did as a service. When I left Investment News and started my own consulting practice, she helped with setting up my own company's retirement plan.
00:19:46
Speaker
finding an accountant that could help from a small business perspective. Now we're working on updating our very outdated estate plan and she's referring us to someone and like referring all the options there and she's on the calls with us. Again, this is not something that she's
00:20:07
Speaker
getting paid on, right? She is referring that, but I'll give you a great example of how this paid dividends for her. When I left Investment News, obviously I had the company 401k plan and was there for a long time, 23 years.
00:20:26
Speaker
what i said sir so there was something in that 401k there was something in that 401k and so i could have left it at you know the the where it was or i could have start taking it and and set up a new one which is exactly what i did so guess who
00:20:42
Speaker
got the benefit of now managing and setting up that 401k. So again, just things that she was doing, not because she was getting paid on them, but because they were things that were going to make me and my husband better investors and more financially stable.
00:21:04
Speaker
Now, that is a great answer. I didn't quite know what I was in store for when I asked it, but that is thank you for doing that because you kind of see the evolution of the role, right? When you talk about entering into it and a person, frankly, doing their job, do what they're supposed to do in terms of investments and stocks and IPOs and things of that nature.
Building Trust with Clients
00:21:24
Speaker
to a person really looking at the full picture of retirement and lifestyle and what that means. And then having that person just being curious by nature to expand things and work even harder for you. So that's an amazing answer and I hope people can take cues from it. And also, well, thank you. She will probably never lose my business because of all of those things that she did because she cared.
00:21:53
Speaker
And that's pretty standard when you're working with a professional service company firm. You just want to know that they care and that they're there for you. So I think that, again, those types of things, advisors should really be thinking about that. It'll pay dividends in the long run. What three tips would you give a financial professional to grow their business right now?
Business Planning and Marketing Tips
00:22:24
Speaker
So this is a tough question because I think there's a lot of different things based on what the goals are of that particular financial professional. But first and foremost, creating a business plan for the year ahead and beyond. So analyze what worked.
00:22:41
Speaker
and what didn't from a revenue growth standpoint. Did that revenue have a good ROI? Sometimes you can have revenue, but maybe it was pennies on the dollar for what you spent. So really kind of looking at your business strategy, reflecting at what worked, what didn't.
00:23:00
Speaker
and then writing down and having a written out business strategy for this year and for the year ahead and the future. I think that's really, really, really important. How much money did you and time did you and your staff spend on getting new business and just really seeing what you uncover by doing that exercise?
00:23:26
Speaker
So next, within that business plan, I think there should be a fairly large section on business development and what your plan is around that. And marketing is usually a big part of business development. So regarding that, so again, because again, there could be 50 things of what I would recommend.
00:23:47
Speaker
But one of them within the marketing element is ask yourself, what do you want to accomplish from marketing and business development? It's a broad term. There's a lot of specialties within marketing. Usually you can't find one person that is good at all of the specialties.
00:24:06
Speaker
So just really identifying what you want to get out of your business development efforts and marketing efforts, right? Is it to attract more clients, establish yourself as an expert on a particular topic like tax planning or working with widows, making sure that you realize that you'll need different tactics and strategies based off your objective.
00:24:29
Speaker
in getting in front of prospects and engaging with them and engaging with current clients, right? So those are two different tactics, right? So if you're like, I want to grow my new business, I wanna convert prospects to clients and or I want to capture more wallet share from my current client base. So knowing that those may be two of your goals, you're gonna have very different marketing strategies
00:24:57
Speaker
to achieve both of those goals. So some considerations around that are, so if you're looking to drive new business with prospects, like do you have a niche, right? That will inform on where and how you market. And if you don't have a niche, is that something that you want to consider?
00:25:17
Speaker
Right. Review how you've gotten most of your clients to date. You may see a real trend that has come up. Maybe it was from a networking event, a client referral, a relationship with a center of influence, but really go through that process to see where you actually are getting your business from. And if you uncover that maybe 90% of your business is coming from
00:25:43
Speaker
you know, social media or going to a chamber event or referrals or because you're really involved in, you know, an animal rescue group, whatever it would be, like really understanding that first before you embark on a marketing strategy.
00:26:03
Speaker
Is social media marketing right for you? I mean, there's so much conversation around social media, just making sure that it's the right thing for you and that you are starting to learn a little bit more about it. I think it's important. If you have a database of prospects, could you do a webinar with
00:26:22
Speaker
You know, a centers of influence utilizing PR, et cetera, et cetera. And then regarding increasing share of wallet with current clients, you know, what is your strategy on working with the client's children, engaging with their
00:26:36
Speaker
with maybe not just the primary partner, but maybe traditionally, if it's the male that you are working with, the husband, and if he is married to his wife, is making sure that she's engaged in that conversation as well. And then I think third is understanding the changing demographics of the country,
00:27:04
Speaker
what Gen Z is looking for is very, very different than what your baby boomer clients are looking for. Right. So there's it's really like setting your business up to serve the client of the future. You have to understand a little bit about the client of the future and how vastly different they are than even Gen X and
00:27:33
Speaker
That also, again, requires, is your team reflective of the changing investor demographics? Is your culture an inclusive one? Is your website, which is really the first place somebody finds you digitally, is your website
00:27:58
Speaker
indicate the type of firm that you are from more of a personal nature. People want to know you and they want authenticity. So again, some of this stuff is very different than the way that maybe how a financial professional originally started in the business and maybe even how their business is set up now.
00:28:18
Speaker
What do you see as the next waves of change for financial professionals in the industry and what trends should they be following and like what will soon be table stakes instead of cutting edge?
AI's Role in Financial Advising
00:28:32
Speaker
So I think I have to answer the first thing is maybe one of the most talked about terms right now going on in our profession and it's the use of AI.
00:28:47
Speaker
Right. So artificial intelligence has significantly changed how advisors are thinking about technology and its future in their business. And like it's it's almost it's still misunderstood. I think there's still a lot of myths. I think there's still a lot of skeptics. But what I would say is I don't I think that it's here and it's all about again how you embrace change and how do you use it to
00:29:16
Speaker
to serve your clients better and scale your practice better. And so starting with chat GPT, which I think really came on strong and advisors are trying to figure out how they can incorporate it into their practice. And this could be, again, its own podcast.
00:29:37
Speaker
And I'm certainly not an expert, but I'm curious enough to make sure that I'm playing around with it myself, seeing where it can and where it cannot add value to me personally and professionally. I think to turn a blind eye, in my opinion, is a big mistake no matter what industry you're in around the concept and around artificial intelligence.
00:29:59
Speaker
I want to give an example. My friend Helen Yang, who's the founder of Andes Wealth Management, she recently wrote a great column for advisor perspectives around chat GPT. And she asked chat GPT.
00:30:14
Speaker
I think this is fascinating. I hope you do too. About whether it will replace human advisors. So again, she's asking the chat GPT about whether it will replace human advisors. And I'm going to read you what it said as I think it's important for advisors to have really as a basis for what it can and cannot do. So here we go.
00:30:37
Speaker
As an AI language model, I have access to vast amounts of information on a wide range of topics, including finance and wealth management. I can help provide information on financial concepts and strategies, answer general questions about investment options, and provide insights based on available data. However, it's important to note
00:30:59
Speaker
that I, remember chat GPT, am not a replacement for a professional financial advisor, especially when it comes to personalized financial advice tailored to your individual needs, goals, and risk tolerance. A financial advisor can provide customized guidance, take into account your specific circumstances, and provide recommendations that are tailored to your unique situation.
00:31:21
Speaker
They can also help you navigate complex financial situations, manage risk, and make informed decisions. In summary, while I can provide information and insights on finance and wealth management, I cannot replace the expertise and personalized advice that a professional financial advisor can offer.
00:31:42
Speaker
So, I wanted to read that because I think it's important for skeptics or those that are feeling defensive about what AI is going to do to their business or what have you. I think first of all, it's interesting that a tool can
00:32:01
Speaker
just basically say all of that like an individual can. For sure, yeah. But also that it is very clear on what it can and cannot do. So I just want to say AI is a huge part of the future of this business. And you need to start dabbling in it. You need to start dabbling in it. Yeah, no. Absolutely. I mean, I guess in some ways you can kind of breathe a sigh of relief to having heard that answer. Like, OK.
00:32:29
Speaker
Exactly. And I think it's just interesting, but I think just again, I said it in another answer I gave, but like be curious. Be curious because this is not going away. I think second and kind of adding to the AI trend is just technology in general, right? So there are some really great tools out there that are in market that are utilizing AI and wealth management.
Technology Tools in Client Service
00:32:58
Speaker
and you know what so what kind of services are they providing and how and why can an advisor access those tools. So based on a lot of recent studies about what clients want from their advisors and aren't getting right so this is all documented there's been several studies about this.
00:33:19
Speaker
estate planning guidance tops the charts, okay? So, there's a couple of firms that can help in that way. So, F.P. Alpha was started by a financial advisor, Andrew Outfest, and it basically reads client documents like taxes, wills, trusts, insurance policies, summarizes some data points and
00:33:42
Speaker
identifies planning insights. And so, if you think about it, just reading a tax return or reading a healthcare derivative, whatever it may be, would take hours, 10 hours. With this tool, it essentially
00:33:59
Speaker
I don't know how it all works, but scans it and uploads it. And then the insights are presented in a visual deliverable with the top key things that an advisor should highlight and talk to their client about. That is mind-blowing. They're not doing the estate planning. Imagine what a great referral source. This could be like, hey, Travis, it looks like this and this are highlighted from this planning tool that I found.
00:34:29
Speaker
And I think maybe we should call your estate planner and just make sure that all of your documents are updated based on some new legislation that's coming down the pike. That again, you're being proactive as an advisor, you're saving time and you will have a client for life if you can really uncover some planning gaps.
00:34:52
Speaker
So imagine not implementing those things and then going up against someone who is using those tools and has that arrow in their quiver. Exactly. There's definitely an advantage for the person that's curious in using that kind of technology.
00:35:08
Speaker
100% and there are so many technologies that are out there, actually so many that it's confusing to advisors. So again, I think that there are plenty of consultants out there that you can go to. There's lots of reading that you can source, but there's another one called AlphaThena, which delivers AI-powered custom indexing to help advisors
00:35:32
Speaker
you know, provide personalized investing solutions. It was the winner of the Morningstar FinTech's Showcase this year. Wealth.com is another estate planning tool. There are so many tools out there. And so again, if you as an advisor, if this isn't your thing, make sure someone on your team or someone that you know is starting to look into this because it's not only about providing additional services, it's the only way that you're going to be able to scale in the future.
00:36:00
Speaker
Right. Yeah. So I say having having that addition versus that fit. Right. So if you have someone that's bringing something else to the table, I think this will fit nicely into this this next question. When we think about the technology and kind of what we just went over, you know, when you think about offering financial guidance for retirement, thinking about what business will look like in the future or even further down the road and then what will change beyond technology.
Future Client Interactions and Technology
00:36:26
Speaker
How will financial professionals connect with
00:36:29
Speaker
the investors of the future.
00:36:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think that we've already seen it with, I think COVID escalated this trend for being able to do business without being in person. And I'm not saying that you will never meet with a client in person, but I can tell you personally, I live in the same state as my financial advisor and I prefer to do all meetings via Zoom.
00:37:01
Speaker
So I think the way that advisors are gonna be working with clients of the future is definitely there's gonna be a whole other, you know, this whole virtual aspect. And what that's gonna do too, it's gonna allow the advisor, maybe you don't need as large an office space as you currently have. That's one of the, other than people, that's the second largest expense in an advisor's practice, real estate costs.
00:37:30
Speaker
So, if you are to eliminate that or significantly reduce that, think about what you could be spending using that money for from an investment standpoint. Again, from a digital marketing standpoint, I think, you know, keeping your clients engaged, your current clients engaged, how do you
00:37:52
Speaker
How do you use them as referral sources through digital marketing? So I think digital marketing will continue to be a huge trend in how you also do business and communicate with clients and clients of the future. But again, they really want that holistic advice. And I feel like that's kind of the number one thing I think that advisors are really going to have to drill down into.
00:38:20
Speaker
Wow, Suzanne, I got to tell you, this has been phenomenal. I got all I wanted and more out of it. Again, I don't want to say we searched for the perfect guest, but as there is one, gosh, you got to come close to it. You have a wealth of knowledge and experience.
00:38:36
Speaker
are really on top of all of this stuff.
Suzanne's Vision of Retirement
00:38:39
Speaker
So, live from New York, and we know that that was happening because we heard Sirens and your busy city, let's have a final question that we ask all of our guests, final two, one, and then you can end it by telling us if they enjoy this conversation, where they can find you online. But I want to know, what does your ideal day look like in retirement?
00:39:00
Speaker
Gosh, this is so hard because I like change. I would say, you know,
00:39:09
Speaker
at my house by the beach with my cats and my husband working part time. I don't think I'll ever fully not work or retire. And I think that's the redefinition of retirement, right? Like nobody is, people are living longer. So are you really retiring or are you just
00:39:31
Speaker
taking a different approach to your work. So I would say still getting still have my hands in a lot of things in our industry because I love it. And but also just a little bit, you know, a little bit more mellow, definitely by a beach, definitely with my husband and my cats and my friends. That's awesome. What's the best thing you have done or are doing to make sure you can achieve that vision for your retirement?
00:40:00
Speaker
Do you already have the house on the beach? Well, we have a house. It's not on the beach. It's near the beach, but we are renovating it. I think always making sure that you don't live
00:40:15
Speaker
beyond your means, but that you take the time to enjoy the money that you're working so hard to earn. And I think that's always the dilemma. How do I save enough to be comfortable and not outlive my money?
00:40:33
Speaker
with how can I enjoy my time now because you never know what's going to happen tomorrow. So I am a big believer in taking vacations. And if you see something you absolutely love and you do have the money to afford it, get it for yourself. Don't
00:40:52
Speaker
Don't be pennywise and pound foolish, but also know that there's that fine line that an advisor can help you with in terms of understanding, not overspending, but also not keeping your money so tight that you don't enjoy life.
00:41:16
Speaker
Yeah, finding that balance. Well, your passion is evident, so I don't anticipate you'll be slowing down and certainly won't be going away entirely. For listeners who have enjoyed today's conversation, where can they find you online?
Suzanne's Online Presence
00:41:28
Speaker
Well, I'm on LinkedIn. You can find me there. I have a podcast with wealthmanagement.com called Focused on the Future. I do a lot with the various media organizations, but also work with a lot of
00:41:47
Speaker
companies in the space so you can see me speaking at a lot of industry conferences. And my website is susancearcuse.com. If you wanna get a hold of me, have any questions, also DM me on LinkedIn. Well, I gotta say, you're better than the best. This has been an absolute pleasure and I really appreciate the time you gave us here today. Oh my gosh, it was so great to be here. Thank you so much for having me on, I appreciate it.
00:42:16
Speaker
So, what we learned from Suzanne is that financial professionals will need to be ready to adapt to change as it comes. Yes, we've experienced significant shifts in the wealth management industry, but new challenges, trends, and needs will continue to emerge. And you'll need to be ready to adjust to those too. Thanks for listening to Rebuilding Retirement. I'm Travis Walker.