Young advisor believes the challenges facing younger clients aren’t necessarily harder to overcome, but they are harder to escape
Spare a thought for the generation that came of age during and after the great financial crisis. Those millennials have stared down the barrel of a succession of ‘once in a generation’ economic events. The GFC kicked things off, followed by a rapid increase in house prices relative to income, the COVID-19 pandemic, historically high inflation, whipsaw monetary policy moves, and now the threatened imposition crippling tariffs on the Canadian economy by our largest trading partner. It can be hard for the advisory mantras of ‘plan, invest, and grow long-term’ to resonate with a generation that looks at their recent history and asks, ‘what’s the point?’
Evan Inglis has watched those historic events transpire firsthand. The Executive Financial Consultant at IG Wealth Management began his career in 2009, in the depths of the GFC. Inglis, however, takes a wider view of history and argues that while millennials and gen Z face a slew of unique problems, they are not inherently more challenging than what many other generations faced. More importantly, perhaps, he tells his younger clients that the macro challenges they are staring down are a reason to plan and persevere, not a reason to give up.
“There is this notion that the people who are just getting started have the deck stacked against them, but I think that sells people short. You’ve had prior generations who were starting down this path facing challenges of their own. Yes there’s a lot going on in the world right now, but there’s no replacement for consistent saving and sound investments,” Inglis says. “The cost of living is a huge factor, so is the cost of university education. And there are parts of our generation who have been left behind or have it tougher in certain respects. But I think all of that can be overcome with sound planning.”
Inglis believes that many younger clients feel a sense of hopelessness because the news is so inescapable. Push notifications and endless doomscrolling produce a feeling that things are more immediate, acute, and scary than they might actually be for an individual. Add to that a subculture of day-trading among some young people encouraged by social media.
While many young investors find it hard to escape the news, they’re also forced into a state of constant comparison by social media. They’re subjected to influencers who appear to be living the dream and ask themselves ‘why not me.’ It’s a form of thinking that encourages riskier moonshots and discourages disciplined investing.
Inglis addresses the questions of comparison by refocusing his young clients on themselves, their goals, and their needs. He tells them they don’t need to be considering themselves in competition with those influencers, but they do need to look at where they are relative to their own goals.
In working with those younger clients Inglis doesn’t try to push against the tide and tell them never to look at social media. Instead, he works to build their financial plans as a way for them to ‘touch grass’ and retain perspective on their own needs and goals. He offers contrary evidence to the high-risk strategies pushed on social media and simply shows his clients that many don’t need to take on that risk to achieve their goals. Adding that risk may subject them to worse market volatility and could more easily derail their progress.
Today’s crisis brought about by US tariffs on Canadian goods may well impact more than just market performance. With many industries facing a possible existential threat, Inglis acknowledges that many younger clients could see a change in their work or income situation. For those clients at risk of a job loss, Inglis once again refocuses them on the plan. He ensures emergency funds are in place and that high-cost debts are managed. If he’s worked with clients long enough he’ll have made sure they can afford their mortgages easily. He can reassure many of those clients that they have a buffer to weather any short-term storms.
As other advisors and their clients stare down this latest crisis, Inglis’ core advice revolves around focusing on the plan and gaining perspective, with the idea that this storm, like all the others millennials have faced, should pass.
“It’s a frightening time, but we all need to give it a minute,” Inglis says. “The Trump administration made one announcement on Monday of last week, and by Tuesday afternoon there was a second announcement, with more changes on the Wednesday… I want all my clients to give it a minute and see what happens.”
