A next-gen planner, building and documenting as she goes.
Jenna Smith is a financial planner based in Utah. She writes and speaks about how the profession recruits, develops and retains next-gen talent.
Financial planning has one of the greatest opportunities of any profession.
People need good advice more than ever. At the same time, thousands of experienced advisors are approaching retirement while firms across the country struggle to attract and develop the next generation.
I believe solving that challenge is one of the most important conversations happening in our profession.
That’s why I created The Future of Planning.
Through articles, research, speaking, and conversations with leaders across the industry, I explore how firms can attract exceptional talent, how young advisors can build meaningful careers, and how we can strengthen the profession for the generations that follow.
Working full time in financial planning while completing my degree gives me a perspective that’s uncommon. Every day I move between classrooms, client meetings, industry conferences, and conversations with firm owners. I have the opportunity to see where expectations align, where they don’t, and where small changes could make a lasting difference.
My goal is to ask better questions, share what I’m learning, and contribute to building a profession where both seasoned and new advisors can thrive!
Jenna Smith, AFC®
Registered Investment Advisor, CFP Candidate
Currently writing about
- The talent pipeline into financial planning
- How firms develop advisors in their first five years
- Technology, advice delivery and what stays human
- The economics and ownership of the next-generation firm
Financial planning is in the middle of the largest handoff in its history. I write to make that handoff go well. For the advisors leaving, the ones arriving, and the clients who depend on us.
The profession is short on planners and demand is increasing. Most of what has been written about that gap is written by people looking at it from the end of a career. I am looking at it from the beginning, and hoping to add a new perspective to the conversation.
The Future of Planning is where I think in public: what draws students in, what pushes them out, what technology changes and what it never will, and how firms build the kind of place a twenty-two-year-old wants to spend a decade.
Why I write about this.
Like many advisors, spreadsheets and investments are not what drew me to the profession.
I chose it because I know what financial stress feels like. I know what it looks like when money creates tension at home, and I know how different life could have been if my family had access to good financial advice.
Helping families starts long before the first client meeting. We need to build a profession that attracts great people, develops them well, and gives them a reason to stay. If we want more families to experience the life-changing impact of financial planning, we need more exceptional financial planners.
That’s what led me to this. I became fascinated by what makes someone choose this profession, what makes them stay, and what firms can do to become places where great advisors help people. Every talented student who enters the profession, every young advisor who finds a mentor, and every firm that invests intentionally in its people creates a ripple effect that reaches hundreds of families.
That’s why I write. I want to help firms better understand the next generation, help emerging advisors build their careers, and ultimately strengthen the profession that has already changed my own life.
Or reach out directly: thefutureofplanning@gmail.com