KNOW: When it comes to understanding money and financial planning, 75% of all women across the generations are trapped between knowing the importance of saving and investing and then actually doing something about it.

DO: Set up a call or appointment with your female clients for an “update” on their financial picture. As the trusted advisor, you can serve an important role in nudging them across the divide between knowing and doing.

KNOW: Silent Generation clients read newspapers and place trust in authority figures. That means stories like this one from The New York Times this week, “For Older Investors, Old Rules May Not Apply,” will get read, passed along and quite possibly show up in your next meeting with an older client.

DO: Stay abreast of the current thinking and media coverage on investment strategies for older consumers. Spend a few minutes each day with Google News searching for advice stories for Silent Generation and/or senior investors. By knowing what they know, you’ll strengthen your position as their trusted advisor.

KNOW: Many adult children remain dependent financially upon their Baby Boomer parents — not just for rent but for everyday living expenses, education and healthcare, shows a new VibrantNation.com survey. One third of Boomer women over 50 is drawing on their savings to help out.

DO: Trusted advisors ask clients about their children not simply as a way to break the ice but to understand their client’s priorities in life. Clients, especially women, like talking about their children, and discussions can yield productive insights into clients’ life priorities as well as new ways to address them financially.

KNOW: Gen Xers are in the life stage where getting married, buying a home and raising a family are the key steps. Independent, self-reliant and task-driven, they won’t want an advisor to determine their financial plan; they’ll want to do most of it themselves.
DO: There are plenty of online resources you can point them to — “retirement calculators” and such. Many are insufficient, but some provide a good start. One to consider, found at eTrade, is called the Retirement QuickPlan. Point your Gen X clients there to start.

KNOW: The financial services industry is poised for significant change in the coming years, in part because of the recession and government intervention — but also because Boomers’ changing needs for “retirement income” will demand new solutions from new providers.

DO: You’ll be better positioned as an advisor to capture more business from Boomers if you stay on top of the coming changes and new solutions. A good assessment of both the opportunity and the likely strategies financial services firms will pursue can be found in this new free report from Deloitte, “Mining the retirement income market” (2 mb PDF file).

KNOW: Despite two years of economic turmoil, American couples aren’t talking any more about their retirement finances than when times were flush, according to a new study by Fidelity. Fewer than two out of five married couples in the 45- to 72-year-old bracket discuss their retirement investments with each other. Three out of five can’t even agree on when both spouses will retire.

DO: As a financial advisor, one of your key goals is to persuade your clients to create and update their retirement plans. The trick is finding a hot button that gets them off the dime. For some couples, that hot button may be the spouse. If you can nudge a client into discussing retirement finances with his/her spouse, they may end up seeing the need for that financial plan.

KNOW: Millennial generation clients, those under age 26, are in the early days of their careers and therefore will have the most opportunity to benefit from saving for retirement over the long term. They may be self-assured and confident about many things, when it comes to managing their money, they want guidance.

DO: When advising your youngest clients, act more like a mentor than an authority. Millennials have strong relationships with their parents and value the mentoring older adults can offer. But they aren’t sure about trusting authority figures. Cast your advice as a mentor and guide, shepherding them to smart financial decisions, rather than dictating in an authoritative role.

KNOW: The debate on financing healthcare beginning in Congress will be of key interest to your Silent and Boomer generation clients. That’s because they know that the relationship between their health and wealth is critically important: better physical health, better financial health.

DO: Use this heightened awareness to talk with your older clients about long-term care insurance and other financial steps to take to protect their wealth in the event of failing health. Clients may resist taking bold action until the dust settles on healthcare, but the time to start the conversation is now.

KNOW: A majority of Americans on the “threshold” of retirement (ages 50 to 64) say they have thought about retiring later, reports Pew Research on the basis of a new survey. It matters little how much money people earn. The differentiator: Those inclined to work longer are twice as likely to have lost 40% of their investment nest eggs in the recent financial unpleasantness than others.

DO: Be aware that the impetus for later retirement is based in part on transitory emotions related to losses in investment portfolios. If investments rebound, sentiments could change again. At the risk of beating a dead horse, we reiterate: the concept of “retirement” is too elastic to build a financial plan around. Articulate “life” goals instead.

KNOW: According to Jerome Corsi and his Red Alert newsletter, before the recession about 15 percent of Boomers intended to work until they die. Now that figure has risen to more than 25 percent.

DO: Trusted advisors work with Boomer clients not on “retirement” planning, but financial planning. Those who say they’ll just keep working still need a financial plan for their future. Think about how you can reduce your usage of the “R” word in your practice, since more and more clients have no idea if they’ll ever retire.