Remember when you first started in this industry? Someone said or did something that sparked you to embark on this career? I remember that moment distinctly. A friend and I were sitting around one afternoon and he was reading Money magazine. There was an ad in there for obtaining the CFP designation. He tossed it to me and said, "You'd be good at this." That may have been my inspiration to begin my long journey into financial planning, but what kept me growing was my engagement with more experienced planners who shared their time, talent and knowledge with me. I didn't get here by myself and neither did you.
When I started out, there was little formalized training for financial planning. We were all career-changers with various backgrounds and education, but many of us helped carve out the profession as we know it today. Because of all the hard work of dedicated advisers for the past 40 years, I feel it is essential that we continue to engage in the education and training of subsequent generations to secure the integrity, ethics and standards that we have come to enjoy.
It was a major decision for me to leave my thriving practice and return full-time to the academic world. I remember telling my husband, "I have to move to Lubbock, Texas, to teach."
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He checked my forehead for fever, then began to help me figure out how to make it happen. I recognized early on that advisers were not preparing our next generation of planners to take the reins. We were not preparing ourselves to pass the baton, either. We needed academia and industry to work together to bring about change or we'd all be dying off and leaving our clients to flounder.
For me, this issue was not only a passion, but a necessity to protect our professional legacy in this ever-changing financial environment. I wanted my firm to outlive me, owned by people who share my ideals and values. I wanted our planners of the future to share our same vision of high integrity, ethics and competence. You might want that, too. I'm not asking you for the highest level of commitment. But do remember that you are a walking resource of knowledge, information, courage and compassion, as well as a great role model for women who want to succeed in this profession.
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There are plenty of ways that you can use your own education and experience to further the education and experience of others, without abandoning your practice and moving away from home. Here are a few:
1. Mentor. Offer to mentor young women who are already in a personal financial planning program at a local college or university. Offer to mentor young women in related industries to familiarize them with the value of planning and the rewards, both tangible and intangible, of becoming a planner.
2. Be an ambassador. Visit your local high schools, connect with their career counselors and volunteer to speak to students about planning. Dispel any myths they may have that this is an industry of shysters and crooks. Speak at local community service organizations, or at young people's organizations like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
3. Teach. Local colleges and universities can always use practitioners to teach planning subjects, imparting their real-life experiences. Your involvement increases the experiential learning that most programs want to achieve.
4. Write. Write an article for your local paper or community newsletter about how planners can improve the quality of people's lives. Write about what it's like to be a planner.
5. Hire. Connect with academic planning programs around the country and hire these fresh new faces, who graduate full of new enthusiasm, creativity and dedication. Alternatively, connect with women who have raised their children and are ready to come back to the work force: They are mature, responsible and eager to learn.
6. Volunteer. Look for opportunities to volunteer your services and/or abilities in places that could benefit from financial literacy programs, such as addiction and recovery centers or military bases. As well as bringing people good, solid information about taking charge of their financial lives, you could be the inspiration for a new career.
Finally, make the commitment to encourage one new woman to embrace planning this year. You'll be glad you did — and so will she.
Deena Katz is an associate professor in the Department of Personal Financial Planning at Texas Tech University and co-chair at Evensky & Katz/Foldes Financial Wealth Management.
